Jeff Kelly Lowenstein arrived in Athens in late May 2024 as a Fulbright Specialist. During his time in Greece, Jeff worked with colleagues and students at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and connected with journalists in his capacity as the Executive Director of the Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism (CCIJ).  He has been part of the Fulbright community since 1995, when he taught and lived at one of South Africa's first private multi-racial schools as part of the Teacher Exchange program.  Jeff currently directs CCIJ and teaches Journalism full-time at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. He is deeply appreciative of all that Fulbright Greece and his colleagues at NKUA have done to make this opportunity possible, and look forward to establishing the foundation for a long-term and mutually beneficial relationship.

Dr. Mark Axelrod, a Fulbright Specialist to Greece, collaborated with Panteion University on a project titled “Creative writing: screen, stage & media art” which provided an emphasis on the writing process for students in the field.

Mark's expertise as an accomplished screen and prose writer, and as an experienced university teacher, was particularly beneficial for giving more attention to how scripts meant to be acted out are differentiated from prose narratives.

During his first week in Athens Mark provided a major lecture titled, FROM ARISTOTLE TO ROCKY in which he discussed aspects of the POETICS and how they applied to Stallone's ROCKY.  He then discussed the failings of Stallone's original script and had a question and answer session about the script and the adaptation of such.  

During his second and final week, Mark provided a major lecture titled, LOOK WHO'S TALKING AND WHY, which is exclusively devoted to film dialogue and the techniques used to write effective film dialogue using clips from THE GRADUATE and ZORBA.  He was also asked to read from some of his fiction including excerpts from two of his books, BORGES TRAVEL, HEMINGWAY'S GARAGE and BALZAC'S COFFEE, DAVINCI'S RISTORANTE as well as a chapter from a recently finished novel, MALARKEY, LOST AMONG THE GREEKS, which is a sequel to his novel, THE MAD DIARY OF MALCOLM MALARKEY the adaptation of which is currently being considered for film production starring Malcolm McDowell.  

Dr. Robert Baron's term in Greece centered around Folklore Theory and Public Practice. Main host institution was the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens but there was also collaboration with the Democritus University of Thrace.  The grant term consisted of lectures, round table discussions, meetings with government cultural agencies, visits to cultural institutions, and attendance at cultural events. 

During his visit as a Fulbright Specialist, Dr. Baron exchanged ideas about the public practice of folklore and intangible cultural heritage with Greek colleagues on an ongoing basis.  Over the course of his visit the scholar advised about the planning of the development of learning programs involving the public practice of folklore, intangible cultural heritage and heritage management as well a 2024 conference on intangible cultural heritage and archives.  There was also information provided about opportunities for networking with other nations involved in intangible cultural heritage.

RONALD RAND Goodwill Cultural Ambassador, Fulbright Specialist Scholar - recipient of four Fulbrights, Solo Performing Artist. Inspiring audiences world-wide, Ronald has dedicated his life to affirming our deepest humanity that brings us together on this planet. As a Fulbright Specialist, he has taught in Malaysia, Uruguay and Bosnia & Herzegovina, and will be teaching for six weeks (March-April, 2024) as a Fulbright Specialist Scholar at the University of Patras.

He has been a Visiting Guest Professor at more than fifty universities and colleges around the world. Celebrating his 23rd year touring in his internationally acclaimed solo play, LET IT BE ART! as Harold Clurman, the “Elder Statesman of the American Theatre,” his inspiring play has received standing ovations across five continents in 26 countries and twenty U.S. states, three critically-acclaimed productions Off-Broadway, including in London, Paris, Athens, Kathmandu, Nairobi, Buenos Aires, Sarajevo, Belgrade, Mumbai, Bangkok, Zagreb, Johannesburg, Frankfurt, New Delhi, Tbilisi, Kuala Lumpur, Colombo, Harare, National Theatre of Kenya, Tangier’s Palace Dar el Makhzen, and five tours across India. The Founder and Publisher of “The Soul of the American Actor,” in its 23rd year, Ronald is the best-selling author of "Acting Teachers of America,” “CREATE!” and his newest book, “Solo Transformation on Stage.” Ronald has appeared in several plays Off-Broadway and in regional theater including as the Stage Manager in Our Town, Polonius in Hamlet, and as Captain Keller in The Miracle Worker. His film and television includes over a hundred appearances including Quiz Show opposite Ralph Fiennes directed by Robert Redford, opposite Angelica Huston in When in Rome, opposite Yoko Ono in Homeless, opposite Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder in Another You, opposite Christopher Plummer in O’Keefe & Stieglitz, The Family Tanenbaum, In & Out, Family Business, The Jerky Boys, and in skits over several seasons on Saturday Night Live.

An internationally-acclaimed director, Ronald’s award-winning production of the hit comedy, LUV, in Bosnian, starring Zana Marjanovic, ran for eight sold-out years at Sarajevo’s Chamber Theatre 55 in Bosnian, and across Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, and Bosnia & Herzegovina, and he directed Our Town in Spanish in Paysandú, Uruguay. Ronald wrote the libretto for the first opera ever written about Henrik Ibsen, IBSEN, its World Premiere. LetItBeArt.com – SoulAmericanActor.com – CreatetheBook.com – IBSENopera.com