Grantees AY 2021-2022

Fulbright Slovak Student Program

Vlasta Kubušová

Vlasta Kubušová is a material designer, ArtD. student at Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava and co-founder of crafting plastics! studio. She holds a Mgr.art. degree in Media Arts Production from Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava and M.A. in Design from the University of Arts in Berlin. In 2016 she co-founded crafting plastics! studio (cp!s), an award-winning multidisciplinary material design studio. By combining science and design, cp!s focuses on revolutionizing properties, the aesthetic and values of biobased materials and offers solutions for consumer goods and closed-loop systems in various fields. The studio’s projects have been presented at some of the most renowned design & art institutions, including London Design Museum, Salone del Mobile, MAK Vienna, Expo Dubai, and many more. Vlasta and cp!s won several international prizes, including Diploma Selection (2016), Slovak National Design Award, and was nominated for German Design Award (2018 and 2021), Green Product Award (2017, 2021) and Beazley Designs of the Years 2019. In 2018, Vlasta was appointed a member of the Slovak Forbes’ 30under30. Vlasta is a Fulbright recipient and currently, she is conducting her research in Interactive Biomaterial at the University of Pennsylvania in collaboration with scientists and architects from UPenn, RISD and MIT.

Marek Lüley

Marek Lüley graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts, Institute of Architecture in Vienna, in 2013. After his studies, he ran his own practice dealing with refurbishment and reconstruction of residential projects. Since 2017, he has been a PhD student at the Institute of Ecological and Experimental Architecture at the Faculty of Architecture at the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Slovakia. There he primarily focuses on his research thesis, “Strategies for adaptable architecture“, dealing with time and change in architecture and its ephemeral functionality in the context of sustainable building industry.

Adam Máčaj

Adam Máčaj is a PhD. student at the Institute of European Law of Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Law. In his research, he focuses predominantly on the issues related to the protection of human rights and the rule of law, the values of the European Union, and the prohibition of discrimination and issues related to vulnerable groups. In the past, he participated in traineeships at the Slovak Ombudsperson’s Office, as well as the European Court of Human Rights. As a grantee of the Fulbright Slovak Student Program he is in the US as a Visiting Student Researcher at Northeastern University School of Law (Boston, MA), where he performs research devoted to the realization of human right to water for vulnerable groups and measures devoted to protection of this human right.

Michaela Mokrá

Michaela Mokrá graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava in 2012. As a costume designer she has been working on various theatrical, dance and audiovisual projects for different institutions and independent productions. Since 2018 she has been a postgraduate student at the Academy of Performing Arts, where she has been working on the research of contemporary clothing and costume in the film industry.

Alena Vachnová

With her background in law, Alena Vachnová finished her PhD. studies in social work in 2020. In her research, she focused on the topic “Integrated Health and Social Care for Homeless People”. She has been professionally involved in developing projects for more than 17 years. Working for almost ten years with the local and regional governments, she was instrumental in regional development, cross-border cooperation and the transformation of cities through culture, such as Košice – European Capital of Culture 2013. For the last 7 years she has been addressing the issue of growing homelessness of families and individuals. In her role of Development Manager of Foundation DEDO she is focusing on prevention and ending of homelessness, such as the Housing First approach and integration of health and social services. Alena was selected for the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program 2017-2018 as a fellow in economic development at Boston University. Currently she is a Mid-Career MPA candidate, Fulbright Student, and an Edward S. Mason Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. She is also part of the prestigious Social Innovation + Change Initiative and as a 2021 Cheng Fellow she is working on developing a systemic approach towards ending homelessness.

Fulbright U.S. Student Program

Evelyn Berryhill

Evelyn is an English Teaching Assistant from Newton, Iowa. After receiving an undergraduate degree in anthropology and linguistics from Grinnell College, Evelyn spent a year teaching English to adult immigrants and refugees in Iowa through the AmeriCorps national service program. She has never worked with secondary school students, but she looks forward to the challenges and rewards that come with being an ETA at a gymnázium in Bratislava. While in Slovakia, Evelyn is excited to try Slovak foods, visit museums, and attempt to learn the language. Evelyn is passionable about making U.S. society more inclusive and equitable for linguistically and culturally diverse people, and she hopes to help further this in her future work.

Colleen Gair

Colleen is a graduate of Middlebury College where she double-majored in Neuroscience and English and American Literature. She will integrate her background in neurolinguistics with her knowledge of American literature to help her students explore the relationship between the English language and American culture. Her excitement and interest in Slovakia originated when her older sister bought her a Bratislava backpack when she was 14 and she will take that bag with her to Bratislava this fall.

Morgan Johnson

Morgan was born and raised in a small town in New Hampshire. For her undergraduate, she attended Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and minors in Mathematics and Environmental Policy. She is currently a Software Engineer and is planning on going back to graduate school. Her hobbies include hiking, rock climbing, skiing, and traveling. She has had the opportunity to live in Australia and Denmark. She received a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship award in 2020. She is teaching at a technical secondary school where the students are specializing in electrical engineering, graphic design, or tourism management located in Tisovec.

Devin MacGoy

Devin MacGoy is an English Teaching Assistant in Dunajská Streda. Originally from Virginia, he graduated from Georgetown University in Washington, DC, in 2019 with a degree in International Relations. His concentration was in the politics, history, and culture of Central and Eastern Europe, so he is excited to live and work in the region and develop a deeper understanding of Slovakia. Before coming to Slovakia, Devin worked for a variety of nonprofit organizations in international development and immigrant services. He loves traveling and learning new languages, and he is passionate about public policy, especially in the areas of migration, health, the environment, and post-conflict development.

Madeline MacLaughlin

Madeline grew up in the Washington, D.C. area and studied French and international relations at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is teaching secondary students at Gymnázium Leonarda Stöckela in Bardejov. She previously taught English in France and is excited to meet new students, colleagues, and fellow Fulbrighters. Her hobbies include drawing, traveling, jogging, baking, and hiking.

Matthew Morton

Originally from Rockwall, Texas, Matt Morton serves as a Fulbright ETA at Gymnázium Komenského in Trebišov. Morton is the author of Improvisation Without Accompaniment, winner of the A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize, selected by Patricia Smith (BOA Editions 2020), and a forthcoming chapbook, What Passes Here for Mountains (Carnegie Mellon 2022). His poems have appeared in AGNI, Gettysburg Review, Harvard Review, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and elsewhere. The recipient of a Creative Writing Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, Morton holds a BA from the University of Texas at Austin, an MFA from the Johns Hopkins University Writing Seminars, and a PhD in English from the University of North Texas, where he previously taught undergraduate courses in poetry writing, literature, and composition. Find more at www.mattmortonpoetry.com

Lydia Narum

Lydia Narum is a 2020 graduate from Salisbury University in Maryland where she started for four-years on the collegiate women’s soccer team. She majored in biology and minored in English and athletic coaching. Narum participated in biology research at the University and at the National Institutes of Health and Infectious Diseases. Through a year of the pandemic, she worked in a Covid-19 diagnostics lab at GeneDX. In her free time, she enjoys being outdoors and active whether it is causal walks with family or friends, working with youth, long-runs or bike rides. One thing that is certain, Lydia will be socializing amongst the community.

Margaret Nervig

Margaret was born, raised, and educated in the state of Iowa, growing up in the Des Moines area. She earned a BA and an MA in History from the University of Northern Iowa before moving to Austria to teach English for two years. She enjoyed the experience so much that upon returning home she enrolled at Drake University and earned a teaching degree (MAT) and a license to teach secondary social studies. In Slovakia, Margaret will work as an English teaching assistant at the Obchodná akadémia Dušana Metoda Janotu in Čadca.

Logan Petkosek

Logan Petkosek is a Fulbright ETA in the Nitra region of Slovakia. She received her B.A. in Economics and Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia in May 2020. While at UVA, she spent six months studying in Santiago, Chile and worked extensively with English learners both at the university and in the Charlottesville community. After graduating, she began her Master of Foreign Service (MSFS) degree at Georgetown University and worked at the Common Mission Project, a non-profit focused on mission driven entrepreneurship. She has taken a year-long leave of absence from the MSFS program, and will now graduate in Spring 2023. Growing up, Logan moved every few years with her military family but now calls Alexandria, Virginia home.

Jay Rumas

Jay Rumas is from North Smithfield, Rhode Island, on the border with Massachusetts. He graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 2021 with a double major in political science and history and with a minor in business. Much of his research focuses on democracy and engagement, populism, post-communist politics in the former Warsaw Pact, and the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. Outside of the classroom, Jay was kept busy by his commitment with the ACLU improving student access to voting and fighting discriminatory housing policies, his work in the US Senate researching the effects of PFAS contamination, rising pharmaceutical prices, and social unrest, as well as developing educational policy on the Rhode Island Board of Education. In Slovakia, Jay is collaborating with the Rusyn Institute of Language and Culture at the University of Prešov researching the appeal and effect of populist politics on the country’s Rusyn population.

Connor Schonta

Hi, my name is Connor. I grew up in Chicago and have spent the last several years living in Washington, DC. I studied History at university, and it is my favorite subject to teach. A few years ago, I met my wife, Kelsey. We began dating just before Covid-19 set in, and then we were married in October 2020! Kelsey and I are thrilled to be taking this adventure to Slovakia together. We both love board games, reading, and cooking big dinners. I love baseball and tennis. Kelsey enjoys knitting, pottery, and coding. We're so glad to be here!

Fulbright Slovak Scholar Program

Mária Havelková

Mária Havelková works as an assistant professor at the Institute of Clinical Legal Education, Faculty of Law, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia. Her research interests include various issues of administrative law (particularly administrative sanctioning and adoption of pandemic measures). As a deputy director of the institute, Maria manages practical courses such as the Student Legal Counsel or NGO Clinic. During her doctoral studies, she completed a semester at the University of Tartu in Estonia, and in 2018 she defended her dissertation on The right to free legal aid in non-criminal matters. She presented the results of her research at foreign conferences in Indonesia, Great Britain and Italy. Since 2021, she has been a member of the Appeals Commission for Civil Matters at the Ministry of Justice. She received a Fulbright award for research and teaching at the California Western School of Law in San Diego. During her 5 month stay in 2022 she will focus on the right to legal aid and how to promote pro bono activities among young lawyers.

Daniela Meressa Rusnoková

Daniela Meressa Rusnokova is a documentary film director, photographer, film researcher and film production assistant. She graduated with a Master of Arts degree at Film and Television Faculty, Academy of Music and Performing Arts (AMPA) in Bratislava in 2006 and with a Doctor of Arts degree in 2014. Her graduation student film project Soňa and Her Family, AMPA 2006 achieved a significant recognition at domestic and international festivals. In her filmmaking Daniela focuses on social topics within different minorities and foreign cultures as well as a topic of autobiography in documentary film. Her photographs were published in Ancient Roma Songs Book Phurikane Giľa by ethnomusicologist Jana Belišová. Daniela was granted scholarships for research, such as a Socrates Erasmus at the University of Arts and Design in Helsinki, Finland in 2004, and a Fulbright Scholarship at San Francisco State University, with consultations at Harvard University during school year 2008/2009. In 2015, she co-authored a screenplay for a television documentary series about a woman The First - Izabela Textorisová. In the years 2013-2015 Daniela was the head of research for the international production of a documentary film A Hole in the Head about the Roma Holocaust and memory, by director Robert Kirchhoff. Since 2016, Daniela is continuously working on a documentary about premature babies and mothers called Grey Zone (supported by the Slovak Audiovisual fund).

Pavel Mezei

Pavel Mezei is a researcher at the Institute of Forest Ecology at the Slovak Academy of Sciences. His main focus is on bark beetle population dynamics, natural disturbances and factors affecting these disturbances. He regularly publishes high-impact papers as a co-author of a bigger research team, and he was an invited speaker at an international conference. He did a study stay at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna and a summer university at the Central European University in Budapest. Pavel Mezei visited several countries where natural disturbances and insect epidemics are a common issue in forestry or nature conservation, such as the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Austria, China (Tibet and Inner Mongolia) and currently Montana (U.S.). He studied at the Secondary forestry school in Banská Štiavnica, later at the Faculty of Forestry and at the Faculty of Ecology and Environmental sciences in Zvolen, Slovakia.

Pavol Mudroň

Prof. Dr. MVDr. Pavol Mudroň, PhD., DipECBHM graduated as doctor of veterinary medicine at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Košice (Slovakia) in 1985. He defended his PhD thesis in 1996 and the habilitation thesis in 1998, and then he became an assistant professor at the University of Veterinary Medicine. His research and teaching activity was rewarded by getting a full professor title in 2007. Since 2004 Prof. Mudroň has been the vice-president of the Slovak Farm Veterinary Association, where he has regularly organized further education for the Slovak farm vets. He became a diplomate of the European College of Bovine Health management in 2006. From 1992 to 2006 he did several short-and long-term research projects on Diseases of Ruminants in different bovine practices and clinics (Germany, Austria, France, the UK). One of them resulted in his graduation at Veterinary School in Hannover in 1994. The Buiatrics society rewarded his effort with the „Gustav Rosenberger Memorial Award” in 1996 in Edinburgh. Since September 2011 he is a head of the Clinic of Ruminants at the University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice.

Martina Šemeláková

Martina Šemeláková is a researcher at the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University (UPJŠ) in Košice, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Biology, Slovakia. Her research area is focused on molecular cytology, cancer cell study, gene analysis, molecular mechanisms of anti-cancer therapy in various cancer models. Her scientific profile and publishing activity is also presented through ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0584-5331. In addition to the research, she also teaches medical students in cell, molecular biology and genetics, experimental techniques in biology, and also as supervisor of diploma and PhD. theses. She graduated with an MSc. from Molecular biology at UPJŠ in 2000. In 2004, she completed her PhD. in Genetics at UPJŠ in Košice, Faculty of Science, Institute of Biology and Ecology, Slovakia; work place was at the Institute of animal physiology, Slovak Academy of Science. Her professional experiences include a Marie Curie fellowship in microbiological laboratory, research on the international ERCULE projects supported by CORDIS at Rowett Research Institute, Aberdeen, Scotland in 2002; an international scholarship at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Hollings Cancer Center, USA in 2014. She is an ambassador of EACR European Association for Cancer Research. She contributed 747 DNA sequences and 158 protein sequences to GenBank database. She was previously awarded by EACR; https://www.eacr.org/news/image-of-the-month-july 2017; Investigation of NEDD9 protein during metastatic process of SCC9 shows high activation of actin filaments on the surface of head and neck cancer cells.

Štefan Tkáč

Stefan Tkáč is a Chair of Architecture and Civil Engineering at the American University of Phnom Penh (AUPP), Kingdom of Cambodia. His most significant accomplishment as a professional include: Fulbright Visiting Scholar to the University of Arizona – College of Engineering (CAEM – Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering and Mechanics); Dual Ph.D. in both the Theory of Designing Buildings and Environment and Civil Engineering from the Technical University of Košice (TUKE), the Slovak Republic, and Chung Hua University(CHU), Hsinchu, Taiwan R.O.C.; CEO of an international architectural company STUDIO Ltd.; An advisor to the rector’s office for the international academic relationships at the Technical University of Košice, the Slovak Republic; Founder of the first Slovak academic International Branch Campus; Head of the Slovak-Taiwan hydro energy research lab; Author of the first complex mapping of Taiwanese hydropower plants; The only Slovak member of the Asian Network of Industrial Heritage. He would describe fairness as the highest nobility. Probably the best definition of him and his life could be covered by the quote of Ms. Loreena McKennitt, who wrote: “Every journey brings its own surprises a challenge a sudden detour a new set of friends along the way, perhaps even a destination different from the one you indeed…”

Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program

Jeffrey Elton Anderson

Professor Anderson specializes in the history of the American South, African American history, and the Atlantic World. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Florida. His books include Conjure in African American Society (2005), Hoodoo, Voodoo, and Conjure: A Handbook (2008), and The Voodoo Encyclopedia (2015). His current project is a monograph on the history of Mississippi Valley Voodoo, for which Professor Anderson has conducted field research on African diasporic religion in Senegal, Benin, Togo, the Republic of Congo, Haiti, and Cuba. He currently serves as a full professor and associate director of the School of Humanities at the University of Louisiana Monroe.

Gretchen Frances Bennett

Ms. Bennett (American, b. 1960, Portland, Oregon) is an interdisciplinary artist whose work reimagines versions of self as protagonists of spiritual and psycho-magical narratives, which shape personal versions of beliefs and identity. Whether through drawing or literary non-fiction, Bennett experiments with how to name the integration of self, as she unravels received wisdom, personal history, and historical record. Bennett graduated with an MFA from Rutgers, Mason Gross School of the Arts. She has had a solo show with the Frye Art Museum in 2019, and past work exhibited with the Seattle Art Museum is also in their permanent collection. She has held residencies with the Bronx Museum of Art and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and created a public program with the Drawing Center in New York. Her work has been featured in the Seattle Stranger, New American Paintings, and Two Coats of Paint. She studied at the Academy of Art, Architecture, and Design in Prague, while on an earlier student Fulbright. She is presently at work on her first collection of essays.

Michael Austin Lucas

Michael Lucas is Emeritus Professor in Architecture and former Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Architecture and Environmental Design at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. Following summers on his grandparents’ tree farm in the folds of the Appalachian Mountains he was a steelworker in Pittsburgh during several collegiate summers, adding a love for industrial vernacular. With a Bachelor of Architecture from Cincinnati, and Master of Architecture from Morgan State in Baltimore, he became an award-winning designer for Chesapeake Bay area architectural firms before moving west to research. Michael’s thinking and recognized pedagogy considers the intersection of individual tacit, phenomenological, and intuitive knowing with cultural conventions in disclosure of architectural and environmental attitudes. His place-based research began with 20th century Native American and vernacular architecture, and developed into eco-phenomenology and environmental ethics, with settings in the UK, Finland, Turkey, and his grandmother’s homeland, Slovakia.

Charles Martin De Bartolome

Professor of Economics at University of Colorado, Boulder, USA. Major areas of research include: public economics, government taxation, local public finance, state and local sectors, urban economics, metropolitan income distributions, smoking bans. 4 favorite publications: “Community income distributions in a metropolitan area”, (with S.L. Ross), Journal of Urban Economics (2007), 61, 496-518. “Integrating tax distortions and externality theory,” Journal of Public Economic Theory (1999) 1, 339-358. “Which tax rate do people use: average or marginal?” Journal of Public Economics (1995) 56, 79-96. “Equilibrium and inefficiency in a community model with peer group effects,” Journal of Political Economy (1990) 110-133. Current work in progress: The race to the suburb: The location of the poor in a metropolitan area; Why is Pigou sometimes wrong? Understanding how distortionary taxation can cause public spending to exceed the efficient level (With S.L. Ross); The impact of workplace bans on day-to-day smoking patterns (with I.J Irvine and H.V. Nguyen).

Michael Joseph Murphy

Dr. Murphy is a biomedical ethicist and a scientist. He holds graduate degrees (PhD and Graduate Certificate) in both the natural sciences and in the clinical ethics with publications in both fields, including the Slovak journal, Medicínska etika & Bioetika. Michael is a Distinguished Teaching Professor in the United States and an Honored Professor in China where his main interests involve clinical ethics and ethics across cultures and academic disciplines. He continues to attend Ethics Grand Rounds and further graduate studies at Albany Medical Center. Michael will be collaborating with Dr. Jozef Glasa of the Slovak Medical University teaching biomedical ethics and consulting in this field. Dr. Glasa and Dr. Murphy also plan on writing a textbook in biomedical ethics for international medical students. Interestingly, Michael is also a musician with the Bleecker Consort specializing in Medieval and renaissance music. His personal website is: https://murphymj.wixsite.com/website

Zuzana Tomaš

Dr. Zuzana Tomaš is a Professor of ESL/TESOL at Eastern Michigan University where she teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in TESOL and ESL. She has presented her work in many national and international conferences and conducted teacher professional development workshops in the U.S., Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Montenegro, Bulgaria, China, Indonesia, and Syria. Dr. Tomaš’ scholarly interests are in second language writing pedagogy, service-learning, global citizenship, and teacher education. In addition to numerous articles and book chapters, Dr. Tomaš has co-authored three books entitled “Teaching Writing” and “Fostering International Student Success in Higher Education” and “Teaching Effective Source Use: Classroom Approaches that Work.” Dr. Tomaš is an avid advocate for international and immigrant students in her community. She likes to spend her free time with her husband and two children. A 2008 Olympian in marathon, she also enjoys running and other outdoor activities.

Hubert H. Humphrey Program

Anna Podlesná

Anna Podlesná has extensive experience with public relations and attracting foreign investors to develop the Kechnec Industrial Zone. In Pontis Foundation she was responsible for strategic development of philanthropic projects. It was during her time here when she realized how difficult it is for people with specific needs to find their place in the labor market. She spent almost two years in the US as a volunteer helping refugees from Bosnia and one month volunteering in Kenya. Currently she works as a corporate social responsibility manager at Profesia. She helped found Academy for School Principals focusing on modern leadership at primary and high schools, and launched Help with the Heart program which supports and provides solutions for people with specific needs in the labor market.