Ohio University graduate student Amy Thompson won a Fulbright grant to study the evolution of women's roles in Moroccan society through documentary photography. Thompson will travel to Morocco as part of the Fulbright Program's Islamic Civilization Initiative.
Thompson, a photographer whose work has been published in National Geographic and The New York Times, lived in Morocco as a child. She looks forward to the opportunity to return to the see the country through the eyes of an adult. Thompson hopes to display her photographs in Morocco and in the United States to help educate people about the lives of Moroccan women and to help overcome stereotypes and misconceptions about Muslim women.
"It is especially important now for Americans to be educated about other cultures. It is equally important for people of other parts of the world to understand America," Thompson said. Through the images she captures, she hopes to show "that Islam has many faces‹that it's a very human thing that people can identify with in some way."
Assistant director of the Center for International Studies and Ohio University's U.S. Fulbright Program advisor Beth Clodfelter said, "It is wonderful to see such a talented photographer receive this opportunity to do a meaningful - and timely - creative project. Amy Thompson is Ohio University's first Fulbright recipient in the Islamic Civilization Initiative which is designed to create a broader understanding of Islam, its history, people and cultures."
Although she always enjoyed taking pictures, Thompson said she became more involved with photography in college when she realized it was something one could study. She holds a bachelor's degree in humanities from Michigan State University and has worked as a staff and freelance photographer for several major newspapers. Thompson recently spent several months taking photographs in Angkor, Cambodia, on a grant from the University's Southeast Asian Studies Program. Upon completion of her Fulbright year, Thompson plans to pursue professional possibilities for documentary photography as an international photojournalist.
For more information on the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, please contact Beth Clodfelter, the Fulbright Program adviser, at (740) 593-2302 or clodfele@ohio.edu or visit Ohio University's Fulbright Web page at www.ohio.edu/internationalstudies/fulbright/fulbright.htm.
