Randolph-Macon College Professor of Classics Elizabeth Fisher has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to lecture and research at Aksum University in Aksum, Ethiopia, during the 2015-16 academic year. The United States Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board made this announcement recently. Fisher will teach courses in archaeology in the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Management at Aksum University, and will research connections between Greece and Ethiopia from the Bronze Age to the Byzantine period.

“This is a remarkable opportunity, for which Professor Fisher is well-suited,” says RMC Provost William T. Franz. “Her expertise and scholarly achievements are tailor-made for this distinguished position. We congratulate Professor Fisher and wish her all the best in her teaching and research.”

“From literally the beginning of Greek literature, line 22 in Homer’s Odyssey, Ethiopia featured as a special place for the ancient Greeks,” says Fisher. “Intriguing details about both the land and the people of Ethiopia are found in numerous Greek and Latin texts. I’ve made two brief visits to Ethiopia; on my second visit in 2010, nine adventurous Randolph-Macon College students accompanied me. We learned that Ethiopia is a country with an astoundingly rich archaeological record, breathtaking landscapes, spectacular wildlife, and wonderfully hospitable people. I very much look forward to sharing with and learning from new colleagues at Aksum University over the next year as they work to uncover, conserve, and interpret the heritage of ancient Ethiopia.”

Fisher is one of approximately 1,100 U.S. faculty and professionals who will travel abroad through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program in 2015-16. The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The program operates in over 155 countries worldwide. The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program is administered by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars, a division of the Institute of International Education.

Elizabeth Fisher
Fisher, who joined the RMC faculty in 1988, earned her B.A. from The College of William & Mary, her M.A. from Florida State and her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. She teaches a broad spectrum of classics, art history and archaeology courses and has accompanied students on numerous travel-study trips—to Ethiopia, Israel, Egypt and other destinations—throughout her tenure at RMC. In 2013 Fisher was presented RMC’s Samuel Nelson Gray Distinguished Professor Award, which honors the faculty member selected by the president as the person who has made a distinguished contribution to the college.