Sherryl Vint, a UCR professor of English and media and cultural studies, is teaching and researching in Warsaw, Poland, as a Fulbright scholar.

Vint is among more than 800 scholars teaching and conducting research abroad as a 2024-25 Fulbright scholar as part of the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program. She began her stint abroad in October and will be there through June.

The grant has enabled Vint, whose research focuses on speculative fiction, to join the Speculative Texts and Media Research Group at the University of Warsaw where she is continuing her research project on economics and speculative fiction, an umbrella genre that encompasses fantasy, science fiction, horror and other imaginative elements.

She is also teaching a course for American Studies graduate students on ways speculative fiction offer critical perspectives on contemporary American life. She also hopes to organize discussion panels, symposiums, and other public engagement events.

Vint said she was excited for the chance to engage with European scholars and students, exploring issues such as climate change, global governance, and the impact of Artificial Intelligence on the future of work.

“I wanted to be based in Poland because of the country’s location in central Europe and the country’s centrality to the political and economic structures that shape our experience of the world following World War II,” she said. “We are in another period of political and cultural restructuring, and I look forward to engaging with the perspectives and priorities that address this moment from this central European framework.”

UCR was recently included among 51 Hispanic-Serving Institutions, or HSIs, recognized by the U.S. Department of State as Fulbright HSI Leaders for its support of the international academic exchange program.

The campus was also named a top Fulbright-scholar producing university for 2023-24.