Product Description

This year (2006) is the 60th Anniversary of the Fulbright Exchange Program, this book is published to celebrate it. Book contains the stories of current Fulbrighters in USA who came from different countries for higher education. The experiences and definitions present in these stories are image of America in foreigners mind and this is how they perceive the American culture. The book can give you so many interesting definitions of America, its people and culture you have never heard of. For example, some of the "obvious" and acceptable things that pervade American culture can be offensive to people from other countries. Thus, the book’s overall theme is one of mutual understanding among nations and people.

In "Five Definitions of America," a student who came from a remote region of Pakistan describes the United States as "a new planet." Even more profound, however, is how his perception changed during his stay. Primed by his hometown media to view America as "the land of prejudice," he was reluctant to discard such sentiments right away. His story is a timely and insightful examination of the struggle between reality and perception, and how people and their culture combine to give an impression of an entire nation.

"The world is a collection of diverse cultures and people. We should not try to make them one. Instead, we should be open enough to accept them as they are," is the theme which evolves throughout the pages in this unique collection.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1894933 in Books
• Published on: 2006-06-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 172 pages

From the Author
The book offers a rare perspective on internationally known Fulbright Program and is comprised entirely of essays gathered from among the ranks of those who have come to the United States to study as Fulbright Scholars. Each author's experiences and definitions give readers an image of America from a foreigner's perspective.

There are essays of Fulbrighters from Italy, Uganda, Philippines, Pakistan, Russia, Cameroon, Malaysia, Austria and Netherlands.

If you are interested in Cultural Studies, or if you are a foreign student or an American who would like to go for Foreign Studies, this book is for you!

From the Back Cover
"These stories of foreign Fulbrighter in the United States, "Experiencing America: Through the Eyes of Visiting Fulbright Scholars" gives the reader a firsthand account of the value of the international education exchange program. Each story is unique and personal, describing different impressions and values."

Harriet Mayor Fulbright

"The backgrounds of these individuals are as diverse as their experiences! This book is valuable document of their experience and an excellent reference to future Fulbright scholars."

Ronaldo Menezes Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL

"This year (2006) is the 60th Anniversary of the Fulbright Exchange Program, and a few of their stories have been gathered for this collection of essays. All of the contributors are grantees who came to the United States from other countries, some for the first time. The stories of these citizen ambassadors may be humorous or heart-wrenching, but they are all true. "

Eric S. Howard Executive Director Fulbright Academy of Science & Technology

"Every person interested in or involved with the Fulbright program should read this book. It helps to restore perspective about the experiences of real grantees. It provides excellent examples of what happens after students receive their grant and arrive in the U.S."

Grace Clark, PhD. Executive Director United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan

About the Author
Zeeshan ul-hassan Usmani, is currently pursuing his graduate studies at the Florida Institute of Technology in Computer Sciences. His field of interest is swarm intelligence, self-organization, War Strategies and Complex systems. He was awarded the Fulbright scholarship in 2004. He is a member of National Association of Science Writers (NASW), IEEE, ACM and a chartered member of the British Computer Society. Zeeshan is freelance a journalist for over 6 years and has written 3 books and more then 200 articles on computer science, religion and cross-cultural issues. He lives in Melbourne, Florida.

Customer Reviews

Simple Language, Straight Talk
I like the book very much, specially the essays from Uganda, Italy and Malaysia. There are so much to learn about our own culture and there are so many thing i've learned about american from these foreign fulbright students.

I like the title as well.

Great addition for your bookshelf.

Intellectual, Funny, and Eye-Opening
I really like the book, kind of unique and different reading.

"The book can give you so many interesting definitions of America, its people and culture (that) you have never heard of," explains Usmani. For example, he points out that some of the "obvious" and acceptable things that pervade American culture can be offensive to people from other countries. Thus, the book's overall theme is one of mutual understanding among nations and people.

"At the end, (everyone) loves peace, friendship and love, and life is all about our struggle to cope with different cultures, meanings, settings, people and places," he explains.

"To understand others is the key to living a peaceful life."
Throughout the pages can be found the words of Usmani's contemporaries.

In "Five Definitions of America," a student who came from a remote region of Pakistan describes the United States as "a new planet." Even more profound, however, is how his perception changed during his stay. Primed by his hometown media to view America as "the land of prejudice," he was reluctant to discard such sentiments right away. His story is a timely and insightful examination of the struggle between reality and perception, and how people and their culture combine to give an impression of an entire nation.

"The world is a collection of diverse cultures and people. We should not try to make them one. Instead, we should be open enough to accept them as they are," says Usmani.

Highly Recommended for students!

From the Editor
The book offers a rare perspective on internationally known Fulbright Program and is comprised entirely of essays gathered from among the ranks of those who have come to the United States to study as Fulbright Scholars. Each author's experiences and definitions give readers an image of America from a foreigner's perspective.

There are essays of Fulbrighters from Italy, Uganda, Philippines, Pakistan, Russia, Cameroon, Malaysia, Austria and Netherlands.


If you are interested in Cultural Studies, or if you are a foreign student or an American who would like to go for Foreign Studies, this book is for you!