Political Science Professor Elizabeth Larus
Political Science Professor Elizabeth Freund Larus has received a prestigious 2019-20 U.S. Fulbright grant. She has been named a Fulbright Scholar who will conduct field research throughout Poland and parts of Eastern Europe during spring semester 2020.
Elizabeth Larus will manage research on the impact China’s Belt and Road Initiative, known as the new Silk Road, in Eastern and Central Europe will have on the European Union. She will interview government officials, business associates and academics to determine if the initiative is dividing the European Union into countries that support the initiative – such as Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and other Central and Eastern European countries – and the core EU countries of Germany France and UK who are critical of the initiative in Europe.
“I will seek to determine if this split will have a negative impact on European Union stability,” said Larus, who will be hosted by the Marie Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin, Poland.
A well-respected expert on the politics of China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, Larus has been quoted in international media outlets, including The Financial Times, CNBC and the China Global Television Network (CGTN).
Before coming to UMW, Larus conducted field research when she lived three years in Asia and served as press secretary for former U.S. Congressman Hal Daub. She speaks Mandarin Chinese and is the author of books on Chinese economic reform, and politics and society in contemporary China. Her articles have been published in numerous professional journals. In 2015 Larus was awarded a Taiwan fellowship by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to conduct research on U.S. rebalance to the Asia-Pacific. Among her other awards, she was a 2007-08 academic fellow of The Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Other honors included a dissertation fellowship, two duPont fellowships from the University of Virginia, a Lingnan Foundation Research Grant and a Pacific Cultural Foundation Grant.
The Fulbright Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, is the U.S. government’s flagship international exchange program. The scholarship program gives professors a unique opportunity as ambassadors of American higher education, pursuing research and teaching opportunities around the world. The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program sends American scholars, artists, faculty and professionals abroad to lecture and/or conduct research for up to a year.
For more information, visit https://www.umw.edu/news/2019/02/26/umw-political-science-faculty-receive-prestigious-fulbright-awards.
