The Pushpa V. Aggarwal & Minta L. Blackburn Visiting Scholars Program

The Aggarwal-Blackburn Visiting Scholars, named after Pushpa V. Aggarwal and Minta L. Blackburn is the visiting scholar program housed in the College of Education, Health and Human Services at Kent State University.

What is the Impact of Visiting Scholars?

Teacher and professor exchanges may not have the impact that grabs headlines.   Instead teacher and professor exchanges are like consistent and persistent drops of water...  wearing away a stone and joining together to form a life-giving stream for thirsty lands.  Teacher and professor exchanges are like water; the impact is felt months later.  Rain comes today, and weeks later flowers appear.   The Read Center is proud of its 30-year legacy of teacher and professor exchanges.  The Center’s collaboration with the US Government, various funding national agencies, and many international country’s exchange programs supports our VALUE ADDED Visiting Scholar Program, and our  belief that it is a  life-giving form of citizen diplomacy.

Are you interested in being an Aggarwal-Blackburn Visiting Scholar?

Our Center and the College of Education, Health, and Human Services welcomes visiting professors whose research interests match interests of our faculty, whose areas of expertise enrich our programs, from partner institutions of established exchanges, and from parts of the world where Kent State global network needs expanding.  Scholars stays are usually determined by their funding sources. The Center will assist you with American research standards, the library resources, social networks, and cultural interpretation to assist you in your research. To apply, please start the process by filling out the scholar survey with your name, a brief research summary, dates at Kent State, English CV, funding sponsorship, identification of a faculty member in the College with whom you would like to work, and English language proficiency. We will then reach out to the faculty to ensure they are willing to support your research. Once that step has been completed, we will then begin the process of your invitation. This process can take at least one month.

Fill out the scholar survey here

What do our Aggarwal-Blackburn Scholars experience while in Kent?

As part of the value added Visiting Scholar experience at our Center, we meet regularly with all of our visiting scholars to acquaint them with American customs and culture, to learn about the American higher education best practices, take occasional trips to the greater Cleveland community to places of interest, and to ask the Aggarwal-Blackburn Visiting Scholars to share their research with the Kent community. The schedule is revised each semester.  

Growing the Spark of Tolerance & Global Understanding . . . Two Decade of Hosting Visiting Scholars

The Center’s legacy is built on teacher exchanges –with Dr. Gerald H. Read’s exchanges between the Soviet Union and The People’s Republic of China and the USA.  In the spirit of elaborating ideals, deepening tolerance and sharpening our knowledge about an increasingly global village, the Center is proud of this Century’s decade of visitors.  Please check out the breadth of humanity who have come to Kent State and now are part of our global family.

There is a flickering spark in us all which, if struck at just the right age...can light the rest of our lives, elevating our ideals, deepening our tolerance, and sharpening our appetite for knowledge about the rest of the world. Educational and cultural exchanges...provide a perfect opportunity for this precious spark to grow, making us more sensitive and wiser international citizens through our careers.

Ronald Reagan, The White House, May 1982