Larry Herrold ’19, of Sunbury, a senior history and religious studies major at 体育买球 University, has been awarded the prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Program award for the 2019-2020 academic year from the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.
Herrold will pursue his master’s degree at the University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom, researching the archives of Jeffery Amherst, First Baron Amherst, who was the commander-in-chief of the British Army during the American Revolutionary War.
“The University of Kent is very selective when awarding Fulbrights,” said Karen Mura, associate professor of English and faculty coordinator for postgraduate advising. “Only one Fulbright award is granted each year at this institution.”
Herrold’s research is a continuation of his senior capstone project, which examined the ways in which Loyalists to the British Crown were treated during the war.
Herrold has spent his four years at 体育买球 assisting history professors Edward Slavishak and Karol Weaver with their research, while also serving as a teaching assistant and the department’s Medical Humanities Fellow.
Through his Fulbright research, Herrold hopes to illuminate the ways in which government-created refugee populations are managed by other nations.
“I think there is a perception that this is a new issue,” Herrold said, pointing to the current Middle Eastern and South American refugee crises. “I wanted to look for a historical example and the biggest example to me was when the new American government created a refugee population (of British Loyalists) and Britain and Canada had to absorb those individuals.”
He plans to pursue his doctorate to eventually become a history professor.
Herrold is the 11th 体育买球 student or recent graduate to win a Fulbright since 2000. Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement as well as record of service and leadership potential in their respective fields.
The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government. It is funded through an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The program currently operates in over 160 countries worldwide.
Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has given more than 380,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists, professionals and scientists the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas, and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.
Fulbright alumni have achieved distinction in many fields, including 59 who have been awarded the Nobel Prize, 82 who have received Pulitzer Prizes, and 37 who have served as a head of state or government.
