Debating the Implications of a Human Right to Water

Fulbright Canada and the Network on North American Studies in Canada (NNASC) were pleased to support the participation of two exceptional American scholars in the recent symposium 'Water as a Human Right: Context and Consequences' hosted by the Faculty of Law and the Human Rights Research and Education Centre at the University of Ottawa. David Getches, Dean of the University of Colorado Law School (left) and Gabriel Eckstein, Professor of Law and George W. McCleskey Chair in Water Law, as well as Director of the Center for Water Law and Policy at Texas Tech University (right) traveled to Ottawa to take part in this event. The symposium, which brought together academics, practitioners, and policymakers, endeavored to address a broad range of legal and policy questions relating to water in the North American context. For more information about this event, and to view a video of the symposium proceedings, please go to http://www.waterandhumanrights.uottawa.ca/.

Nina Schwartzman
American Killam Fellow
Home: Smith College
Host: Université de Montréal

Nina is part of the 2009-2010 cohort of Killam Fellows. Nina will be studying Chemistry and French Studies at the université de Montréal.

Sonia Gunderson
American Fulbright Student
Nunavut Research Institute

“I had been to Igloolik to write magazine articles, and experience the people; however, it was entirely different to live there as a member of the community. This experience provided me with an opportunity to deepen my perspective of Igloolik, to begin to feel its pulse. When I had a chance to become friends with people on an everyday basis, without the constrictions of a limited timeframe, or a highly focused topic and publication deadline, I began to get a sense of how the community works, to discover what the real concerns and issues of people are, what events are having an impact on their lives, how they relate to one another and outsiders, how they respond to different seasons of the year, among other things”.

Kerri Shadid
American Fulbright Student
Home: University of Oklahoma
Host: McGill University

“I have had the wonderful experience of visiting many ethnic neighborhoods in Montréal and Toronto, and I feel as though I have traveled far beyond the borders of Canada. While I have always loved to learn about other cultures and to travel, the relationships I have developed and the experiences I have had in this one year in Canada have increased my cultural understanding exponentially. [...] For me, the cultural and personal growth that I experienced this year was the most important part of my Fulbright experience. It also taught me that one can find life-changing multicultural experiences in the most unlikely places, if you are willing to search for them.”

Sukumar Periwal
Canadian Fulbright Scholar
Home: Government of British Columbia
Host: University of Washington

“The Fulbright experience has given me the opportunity to engage more deeply with American students and professional colleagues, and to build stronger linkages that will last well into the future. The Fulbright program is an important bridge linking the United States with Canada and other countries, especially important in the current global context.”

Jack Corbett
American Fulbright Scholar
University of Alberta Visiting Research Chair

“As a Fulbright chair in Canada, and two terms as a Fulbright senior specialist in Mexico, my experiences allowed me to leverage a number of follow-on projects in both Canada and Mexico, including ongoing active engagement with colleagues and annual student programs. A direct consequence of my 2005 Fulbright at the University of Alberta is an on-going effort to bring some Canadian World Heritage sites into a North American alliance.”

Patrick Bélanger
Canadian Fulbright Student
Home: Simon Fraser University
Host: University of Southern California

“My experience as a Canada-U.S. Fulbright student has been exceptionally rewarding. The intellectual community at USC is robust and diverse, and the School of Communication, is especially so. The school's international focus, along with its location in Los Angeles, makes it an exciting and relevant site for my current studies. Entering a new program and field of study has challenged my preconceptions of academia and provided a much expanded appreciation for the array of perspectives undertaken in both the humanities and social sciences.”

Cory Doctorow
Canadian Fulbright Scholar
Fulbright Visiting Chair in Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California

“I published dozens of papers, thousands of blog-posts, and gave dozens of speeches. My classes attracted hundreds of “virtual auditors” who listened in via podcast and participated via the class blog, and the lecture series drew thousands of podcast listeners and is widely cited by practitioners in their work. I laid the groundwork for a major book on my subject.”