“Lisa is the first Fulbright student award receiver at CSUN in as long as I can remember,” said Justine Su, coordinator of International Programs at CSUN. “We are very proud of her. She has established a good example for other CSUN students to follow.”

Awarded a Fulbright English teaching assistantship in Indonesia, Baughn will fulfill the program’s principal purpose of increasing mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other participating Fulbright countries through international education exchange.

“Lisa has cultural flexibility; she will be able to go to a foreign culture and have the awareness not to offend, but to become part of the culture,” said Antonio Hussey, geography department chair.

Baughn plans to implement a community literacy and American culture project in Indonesia, offering reading and writing instruction. She also will provide Western cultural activities involving books, the Internet, newspapers, field trips, slide shows and supplemental lectures on life in America.

“I am at a point in my life where I am really open to a new way of living. I’m ready to explore something different,” Baughn said. “I am also extremely interested in what it will be like to be a female in a Muslim country.”

The Fulbright program was introduced to Congress in 1945 by Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas. Approved by Congress and signed into law by President Truman in 1946, the program awards grants to U.S. citizens and nationals of other countries for a variety of educational activities, primarily university lecturing, advanced research, graduate study and teaching in elementary and secondary schools. Since the program’s inception, more than 250,000 participants have been chosen for their leadership potential.

The Fulbright program is sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The primary source of funding for the program is through an annual appropriation made by the United States Congress to the Department of State.

For more information regarding the Fulbright Program, visit its Web site at www.cies.org/.