Nov. 18, 2004 – Dr. Erika Waters, a former University of the Virgin Islands English professor, will be a Fulbright Scholar in Finland starting in January 2005.
Waters, a former English professor on the UVI St. Croix campus, was editor of "The Caribbean Writer" and has written articles and reviews on Caribbean literature. She is editor or co-editor of a number of collections of Caribbean fiction, criticism and drama, and her work on early West Indian women writers was funded by Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
As a Fulbright Scholar, Waters will spend six months teaching at two universities in Turku, Finland. Since the city is bilingual, she will teach one course at the Swedish-speaking university and one at the Finnish-speaking university, the University of Turku She will teach Caribbean literature at the University of Turku.
The Fulbright Program was founded in 1946 by Sen. J. William Fulbright as a vehicle for mutual understanding that would provide the opportunity for future leaders to observe and better comprehend the institutions, cultures and societies of other countries and peoples. The Scholars Program awards grants in 140 countries; American lecturers have been going to Finland since 1952.