Georgetown University

Washington, D.C.-- Rod Solaimani (SFS’08) of Acworth, Ga., was selected by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board to receive a Fulbright award to Morocco.

There, he will study ethnomusicology, specifically the Afro-Arab-Gnawa-Western fusions created by cross cultural musical exchange.

“Today, misperceptions (are) abound between America and the Middle East, but so (are the) opportunities for cross-cultural exchange,” writes Solaimani in his application. “For over half a century, artists like Randy Weston, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Carolos Santana and Led Zeppelin have traveled to Morocco to participate in its intertwining musical traditions.”

At Georgetown, Solaimani studied foreign policy and business diplomacy in the Walsh School of Foreign Service. He served on Georgetown's international relations club and was a resident assistant on campus. As co-founder of camp I have a Dream, Solaimani helped design and facilitate a summer camp for Palestinian refugees in 2008, focusing on empowerment through education in technology, arts, sports, and non-violent civic engagement.

Congress established the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board for the purposes of supervising the Fulbright Program and certain programs authorized by the Fulbright-Hays Act and for the purpose of selecting students, scholars, teachers, trainees and other persons to participate in the educational exchange programs. Appointed by the president of the United States, the 12-member Board meets quarterly in Washington. The Board maintains a close relationship with both the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) at the U.S. Department of State and the executive directors of all the binational Fulbright Commissions. Since its inception more than 30 years ago, nearly 300,000 Fulbrighters have participated in the program. More information is available here: http://fulbright.state.gov/.

About Georgetown University

Georgetown University is the oldest and largest Catholic and Jesuit university in America, founded in 1789 by Archbishop John Carroll. Georgetown today is a major student-centered, international, research university offering respected undergraduate, graduate and professional programs in Washington, D.C., Doha, Qatar, and around the world. For more information about Georgetown University, visit www.georgetown.edu.