Leigh Obrien
GENESEO, N.Y. – SUNY Geneseo Professor of Education Leigh O’Brien has won a prestigious Fulbright Scholar grant to teach and conduct research at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik during the fall 2015 semester.
During her Fulbright tenure from late August through December of 2015, O'Brien will conduct research related to early care and education (ECE) with the University of Iceland's early childhood research group. She will use a variety of methods to attempt to ascertain the Icelandic societal values that influence preschool practices; what is meant by "the good childhood" and what that looks like in preschools; and whether all young children, including those with identified disabilities, have equal access to the good childhood.
“I’m truly honored to receive this award as it will allow me to build on the prior work I did as a Fulbright Scholar in Sweden,” said O’Brien. “Iceland also is a Nordic country and should offer interesting comparisons to my earlier work. Iceland also has one of the highest rates of pre-school attendance in the world and has a fairly homogeneous population, so getting a good understanding of values and practices in a relatively short time period is more likely than in a larger, more heterogeneous country.”
O'Brien also will teach undergraduate or graduate courses such as Introduction to ECE; Diversity and Inclusion in ECE; Families and Communities; or Dimensions of Teaching and Inquiry. She has been a member of the Geneseo faculty since 2006. She earned her doctorate, master’s and bachelor’s degrees from The Pennsylvania State University, and has worked in higher education since 1990.
Established in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late Sen. William J. Fulbright, the purpose of the Fulbright Scholar Program is to build mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries.
O’Brien’s award brings to 16 the number of Fulbright awards Geneseo faculty members have received in the past 30 years. Most recently, Scott Georgis, associate professor of geological sciences, completed a Fulbright experience in Chile focused on fault zone education.