They called him tío.

WSU rural sociologist and Fulbright Scholar Emmett Fiske had arrived in Chile in early January 1999 to teach an introductory course in environmental conflict resolution at several universities and to adapt the classroom course to distance delivery. He also was organizing a workshop on the subject for the end of the year. He expected to collaborate with Chilean colleagues. What he didn’t anticipate was being adopted by them.

"Most of the people I worked with were younger and had children. All of a sudden, I’m an uncle," Fiske said. "By interacting little by little, we began to trust each other. Colleagues became friends, and friends became family. To me, there’s nothing more precious than that."

His extended family includes Dolly Riveros. Married at 18 and widowed two months later when her husband perished in a house fire, she opened her Temuco home to Fiske and other foreign guests of the Universidad de la Frontera, one of three host institutions for Fiske during his stay in Chile.

It also includes longtime colleague and Chilean sociologist Claudia Sepúlveda, who helped Fiske design and prepare appropriate materials for the Spanish-delivered course. Such a class had never before been offered at either UFRO or the Universidad Austral de Chile in Valdivia, the second host to Fiske. Sepúlveda stressed the importance of structuring assignments so they could be completed by groups instead of individuals, an important cultural distinction.

Fiske’s students made up a huge proportion of new family members. They patiently tolerated his heavily accented Spanish instruction and, more importantly, threw themselves wholeheartedly into the subject matter. They applied what they learned to two actual cases involving proposed pulp mill construction near Valdivia and tree harvesting on land near Temuco whose ownership was bitterly contested by the Mapuche. One student, Arturo Vallejos, an older, sociology/anthropology undergraduate with experience on environmental conflict resolution issues through his work within a government agency, helped Fiske with the Dec. 1-3, 1999, workshop. Given at UACH, it drew roughly 75 individuals from Chile and the United States, including the U.S. ambassador to Chile on the program and a representative from the Mapuche indigenous community, embroiled in an environment conflict with private industry and the Chilean government.

And, by virtue of being part of the Fulbright program, Fiske gained a new home in Chile, no matter his departure. He relates what Jorge Jiménez, former executive director of the Binational Educational Commission in Chile, told Fiske after his six-month grant had ended. Fiske asked about stopping by Jiménez’ office during his second semester at the Universidad de Chile in Santiago, to which Jiménez replied, "Once you are a Fulbrighter, you will always be a Fulbrighter. Please stay in touch with us."

Professionally, Fiske’s interaction with the Chilean university colleagues resulted in a memorandum of agreement between UACH and WSU for future collaboration on environmentally related research, teaching and outreach issues. Fiske added that he believes his presence strengthened links and improved relationships between WSU and the Chilean universities, nongovernmental organizations and locally based U.S. government representatives.

Personally, Fiske relived his first experience of learning about another culture—as a Peace Corps volunteer in 1969 in North Central Peru. Fiske, fresh out of college, went to Peru when the leftist military coming into power was concerned with land redistribution into agricultural cooperatives. Raised in Mariposa County of north central California by a father who instilled in him the value of public service and a Spanish teacher mother, Fiske thought he knew Spanish until he heard the Peruvians talking like machine guns and didn’t understand a thing. He was exhausted by day’s end as much by the language as by the work.

But Fiske knew he wanted to work with people from another culture again. When he came back to the states, he went to University of California at Davis to earn a master’s degree in community education and a doctorate in social and economic development. His experience in Peru eventually led him to take a post with WSU Puyallup Research and Extension Center in 1979.

"I consciously chose to go into extension, where the knowledge of the university and the knowledge of the community come together," he said. "Being in that other culture directly relates to what I’m doing now."

Fiske also summed up his feelings in his Fulbright report: "How I wish that all citizens of the United States were able to have a cross-cultural experience that stimulated subsequent odysseys towards becoming citizens of the world. Were that the case, our country would not be moving towards an ‘isolationism’ that I fear is currently gaining in momentum.

"The Fulbright program is a national treasure that offers us a unique way to keep in personal touch with the people of the world, spark cross-cultural creativity and help forge a more decent tomorrow. May the Fulbright program continue to prosper in the years ahead!"

In recognition of International Education Week at WSU, faculty interested in the Faculty Fulbright Scholars Program are welcome to attend a brown-bag lunch at noon Monday (Nov. 13) in CUB 110-111. Lance LeLoup, Political Science, will share his experience as a Fulbright Scholar at the Budapest University of Economic Sciences in Hungary. Sean Lyons, Office of Grant and Research Development, will explain the procedures for completing a Faculty Fulbright application. To register for the lunch, contact OGRD, 335-9661, slyons@wsu.edu .

Faculty and graduate students also are invited to a Fulbright Scholars Reception from 3-5 p.m. Monday in Lewis Alumni Centre’s Great Hall. Provost Ron Hopkins will host the reception in recognition of all those at WSU who have been associated with the Fulbright Program as Faculty Fulbright Scholars, graduate students, members of the Fulbright Screening Committee or Visiting Fulbright Scholars from other countries. Faculty and graduate students interested in becoming a Fulbright Scholar also are welcome to attend.

At noon Wednesday (Nov. 15), Fulbright graduate opportunities will be presented by Andrew Appleton, Political Science and member of the Fulbright Screening Committee, and Colleen Marchwick, International Programs/Fulbright Graduate Program coordinator. The presentation is set for CUB 110-111.