Toorjo Ghose, an associate professor in the Social Policy & Practice, has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award to India. Dr. Ghose will be hosted by Presidency University in Kolkata as part of a project to document and teach about the strategies deployed by sex workers to negotiate the COVID-19 pandemic.

The project will examine the manner in which lessons learnt in the HIV era are shaping community responses to the current pandemic. During his time in Kolkata, India, Dr. Ghose will connect his work to the classroom by exploring pedagogical strategies to bring together community members with students from Presidency University and the University of Pennsylvania.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Ghose will share knowledge and foster meaningful connections across communities in the United States and India. Fulbrighters engage in cutting-edge research and expand their professional networks, often continuing research collaborations started abroad and laying the groundwork for forging future partnerships between institutions. Upon returning to their home countries, institutions, labs, and classrooms, they share their stories and often become active supporters of international exchange, inviting foreign scholars to campus and encouraging colleagues and students to go abroad. As Fulbright Scholar alumni, their careers are enriched by joining a network of thousands of esteemed scholars, many of whom are leaders in their fields. Fulbright alumni include 60 Nobel Prize laureates, 86 Pulitzer Prize recipients, and 37 who have served as a head of state or government.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to forge lasting connections between the people of the United States and the people of other countries, counter misunderstandings, and help people and nations work together toward common goals. Since its establishment in 1946, the Fulbright Program has funded more than 390,000 scholars to pursue a diverse array of projects.