Recent times have demonstrated the importance of understanding and accepting that there are those in the world that though they are different from us culturally, they are nonetheless equal and deserving of respect. No one knows this more than Dr. Lombuso Khoza whose dedication to this mantra was rewarded recently by the Fulbright Scholar Program.
The Fulbright program “is devoted to increasing mutual understanding of the people of the United States and other countries.” Fulbright is the world’s largest and most diverse international exchange program.
Khoza, the acting director of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s Center for International Education and professor in the Department of Human Ecology, was selected to participate in the U.S. Scholar Fulbright International Educator Administrator seminar program. She will travel to Taiwan next year to investigate the potential for collaborative global experiences.
“I am eager to experience this new destination, gaining more knowledge about the potential to benefit each other through faculty and student exchanges, professional development and research opportunities for faculty, and building a long-term relationship,” Khoza said. “It’s UMES’ mission to provide our students with a holistic education and globally competitive skills to address challenges and address workforce and development needs for the Eastern Shore, state, nation and the world.”
The Center for International Education, she said, also serves international students with their transition to university life and provides international education awareness programming for the campus and the community. Khoza has proposed developing an English Language Institute in collaboration with UMES’ Foreign Language Instructional Center. Students from Taiwan interested in transitioning to UMES for a semester or a year of study would be able to benefit from preparatory courses to enhance their language skills during summer sessions. They would return to their home institution to complete their degree after their experience in the U.S.
“As the world shrinks even smaller, it is more critical than ever to encourage our current and future underrepresented students to seize opportunities to explore global classrooms at destinations such as Taiwan,” Khoza said.
Khoza’s interest in Taiwan stems in part from a relationship with an institution there established by UMES’ School of Pharmacy in 2016. As part of the collaboration, the university “still has some faculty and students originally from Taiwan that form part of the diverse and rich presence on campus.” She also has a friend from Taiwan that she met in high school and her father worked with counterparts in Taiwan through his post with the Kingdom of Eswatini’s Ministry of Agriculture.
“As someone who first came to the United States as an international student, I travel a road filled with rich and diverse experiences,” Khoza said. “Learning to be flexible, adaptable, culturally sensitive and collegial is in my DNA. However, it takes great patience and skill to learn how to live in an environment that is not your own. Little did I know that this baptism by fire was preparing me for a rewarding career serving diverse students deserving of the same experience.”
“Serving as a cultural ambassador for the U.S. is an honor and privilege,” Khoza said. “One gets to share themselves with others and learn from others in the process. Understanding your culture in order to share it in a positive light is important to me as it encourages others to aspire to know more and in turn reciprocate. This espouses the values of the Fulbright experience by ‘promoting international goodwill.’”
Khoza is among four UMES faculty members selected as Fulbright U.S. Scholars since 1983 and the second from the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences. Dr. Youssef Hafez (biology) went to Jordan in 1985-86 as part of the program. The university has also hosted five Fulbright visiting scholars.
Gail Stephens, agricultural communications associate, University of Maryland School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, gcstephens@umes.edu, 410-621-3850.
