Santa Clara University political science Professor Jane Curry will travel to Poland in the fall to lecture and conduct research as a Fulbright Distinguished Chair in East European Studies. The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship program in international educational exchange, and is sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
“Santa Clara congratulates Jane Curry; she is well respected for the quality of her research,” said Santa Clara University President Paul Locatelli, S.J. “Her commitment to scholarship and her dedication to her students is remarkable. The University is very proud of Jane for winning her fourth Fulbright Fellowship.”
Curry teaches comparative politics, focusing on Eastern Europe and Russia. She has authored and edited several books: The Left Transformed; Polish Journalists: Professionalism and Politics; The Black Book of Polish Censorship; Dissent in Eastern Europe; Press Control Around the World; and Poland’s Permanent Revolution.
The Fulbright award will allow Curry to pursue her research in Poland at the University of Warsaw. She will research how history is used in political battles.
Curry, who went to Poland for the first time in 1967 as an exchange student, has been intimately involved with the country’s history and politics in the decades since. “Poland was a communist country,a part of the Soviet bloc,when I first visited as an exchange student,” Curry said. “This year, Poland joined the European Union. It is a very interesting time in the political history of Poland and I feel privileged to be a part of it.”
Curry earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Vassar College and a master’s degree in government from Indiana University. She earned a doctorate in political science from Columbia University.