LAS Faculty Henrik Aratyn and Sally Sedgwick Selected as 2014-2015 Fulbright Scholars
Five faculty members from the University of Illinois at Chicago have been selected as Fulbright scholars for 2014-15. Two of the five are LAS faculty. They are among 1,100 U.S. faculty and professionals who will travel abroad through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program, the flagship international educational exchange sponsored by the U.S. government. It is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.
Henrik Aratyn, professor of physics and associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, works in theoretical particle physics and mathematical physics. Using a Fulbright flex grant, he will travel to Brazil twice for a period of two months each to study non-linear differential equations and solitons — solitary waves that behave like particles — with scientists at the State University of São Paulo. “Their expertise complements my own,” Aratyn said. “These flex grants allow senior faculty, who may also have administrative responsibilities, the luxury of time to concentrate on their research.” Aratyn has collaborated with physicists in São Paulo since he was in graduate school, which has enabled him to help educate the next generation of physicists in Brazil.
Sally Sedgwick, distinguished professor of philosophy and affiliated professor of Germanic studies, specializes in the history of 18th- and 19th-century thought, particularly the practical and theoretical philosophies of Immanuel Kant and G. W. F. Hegel. Beginning in January, she will spend five months at the Free University of Berlin in Germany, where she will conduct research for her book titled “Fate, Necessity, Contingency: Hegel and the Historical Nature of Reason.” The project examines Hegel’s concept of the relation of human reason to history. “Contrary to those who hold that Hegel’s interest in history has no significant implications for his philosophical system, I’ll be defending the thesis that human reason is dependent on history, according to Hegel, for its very nature,” Sedgwick said. “I’ll consider the role he awards history both in the generation of our freedom and in our evolving understanding of our freedom.”
More information in this UIC News article: http://news.uic.edu/fulbrights-2014-15