KU sociologist Mehrangiz Najafizadeh earns rare third Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award
LAWRENCE — Mehrangiz Najafizadeh, associate professor of sociology at the University of Kansas, has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award to teach and conduct research in the Republic of Azerbaijan during the spring 2027 semester.
During her time in Azerbaijan, Najafizadeh will be affiliated with a leading research university and will teach courses and interdisciplinary seminars as well as continue her ongoing social historical and contemporary research.
“On the university level, my 2027 Fulbright award will be instrumental in fostering collaboration between KU and university colleagues in Azerbaijan, just as my previous Fulbright contributed to the signing of an International Memorandum of Agreement of Cultural, Educational and Scientific Cooperation between KU and two universities in Azerbaijan,” she said.
Najafizadeh previously received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award in 2004 and again in 2022, and she also was selected to serve as a Fulbright Specialist in Azerbaijan during summer 2005 and 2008. As a recipient of a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award for spring 2027, she joins a small, distinguished group of scholars who have been recipients of Fulbright U.S. Scholar Awards on three separate occasions.
She said the Fulbright also would provide her with opportunities to mentor students and teach seminars that are intertwined with her research on elements of social structural change in Azerbaijan.
“The award will advance my scholarship and facilitate my social historical research on various sociocultural aspects as Azerbaijan offers an intriguing research site given its four diverse and distinct historical eras: the Czarist Russia era (1800s-early 1900s), the era of independence under the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (1918-1920), the Soviet era (1920-1991) and the contemporary era of the democratic Republic of Azerbaijan,” she said.
The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program employs a multiphase review process, including peer review by national screening committees composed of U.S. academic peers and discipline specialists, followed by review by the U.S. Embassy in the proposed host country, the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.
Fulbright U.S. Scholars are accomplished faculty, researchers, administrators and established professionals who teach or conduct research in partnership with institutions around the world. They are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement and demonstrated leadership, and they seek to advance knowledge and innovation, foster solutions to complex global challenges and promote mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other nations.
The Fulbright Program, now in its 80th year, is the flagship international educational exchange initiative of the U.S. Department of State, with funding provided by the U.S. government and direct and indirect support provided by participating governments and host institutions, corporations and foundations around the world.