BAY MINETTE, Ala. — Faulkner State Community College Anthropology and Sociology instructor Martha Daughdrill will have a first-hand experience of the cultures and wildlife in Africa this summer.

Daughdrill was selected as a Fulbright scholar for the 2009 Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad Program.

In this program, Daughdrill will be traveling to Senegal, Africa, for approximately four weeks.

“I was thrilled and terrified at the same time,” she said. “I have never been to Africa, which is one of the reasons I qualified for this particular seminar.

“The purpose of the program is to provide funds to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries through improvements in teaching, research in other cultures and languages and the training of specialists.”

Daughdrill first applied for the program in August 2008. There are approximately 14 people listed as Fellows for the Senegal Seminar.  The fellowship will cover overall costs including transportation, housing and meals. 

“I certainly am excited about doing this, but at the same time, I want to do a good job representing Faulkner State. I called an old friend from graduate school who had spent many years in Senegal, and he immediately started teaching me words in Wolof, the primary language in Senegal,” Daughdrill said.

She serves as the education coordinator for the Southern region of the Alabama Holocaust Commission. She is also on the advisory council for the Center for Autism and Asperger Resources.

Her past experiences include serving on the Farmers’ Market Advisory Board, serving as the District Supervisor for Charles County Soil and Water Conservation and serving on the Advisory Council for the Future Harvest Project.

According to the Council for International Exchange of Scholars web site, the Fulbright Program, which was established in 1946, is the “flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government.

The Program has provided almost 300,000 participants — chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential — with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.”

Daughdrill, who has been an instructor at Faulkner State for eight years, is the first instructor at Faulkner State to receive the Fulbright fellowship.