![\"cristina](\"http:\/\/now.etown.edu\/files\/2015\/04\/13561418865_bb44cbae55_z.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nWhile she had studied China and teaches about business in the country, its customs\u2014such as this example of hospitality\u2014really \u201csunk in\u201d when she experienced the culture first-hand. It\u2019s stories like these, Ciocirlan says, that she likes to share with her students\u2014and the way to find these stories is go in search of them. That\u2019s one reason she applied to the Fulbright US Scholars Program. But she almost didn’t.<\/p>\n
Winning a prestigious Fulbright award was a surprise for Ciocrilan, who says that in past she “never dared apply.” But that sentiment changed last year; She was inspired by Elizabethtown Professor of Social Work Peggy McFarland, who spent the 2014 academic year\u00a0 in Vietnam–the two had collaborated on an interdisciplinary Think Tank project (see photo above). Still, when she received notification of her award… “I was shocked.”<\/p>\n
As a Fulbright scholar to Durham University Business School in Durham, England, Ciocirlan will again immerse herself in another culture. Although the differences between the United States and the United Kingdom aren\u2019t as pronounced as those between the U.S. and China, she says the subtle differences are important.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe UK is similar to the U.S. with its history, its language and its values, but there are nuances,\u201d she said. \u201cLiving there for four months, I will learn more about customs, traditions and idioms.\u201d<\/p>\n
While at Durham, Ciocirlan will collaborate with Durham\u2019s Dr. Victoria Wells on research related to discretionary environmental behaviors (DEB) in the workplace, a relatively new area of research. In her Fulbright proposal, she explains her project as \u201cthe intersection of the broader field of environmental psychology and organizational behavior.\u201d Examples of DEB include employees who voluntarily recycle or reduce energy, even if the practices are not official company policy, or those who lobby for a greener work environment. Her research\u2014both qualitative and quantitative\u2014will, among many other aspects, help define what it means to be a \u201cgreen employee\u201d, explore what impacts DEBs have on their workplace, and hone in on the negative effects of an environmentally altruistic person working in a job that is not environmentally friendly. She and Wells will partner with Global Action Plan, an NGO which will provide data.<\/p>\n
\nThis research will yield lessons for integrating environmental considerations into operational practices, and thus \u2018greening\u2019 an organization\u2019s culture…”<\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n
According to her proposal, \u201cThis research will yield lessons for integrating environmental considerations into operational practices, and thus \u2018greening\u2019 an organization\u2019s culture,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
This is not Ciocirlan\u2019s first time in the UK; she studied there for a term during graduate school, but the Fulbright fellowship will be a completely different experience, she said. While the Fulbright program has many benefits for the scholar\u2019s home institution, including enriching teaching and research, part of this experience is also what Ciocirlan will bring to the host institution: a \u201ctwo-country, cross-cultural perspective to Durham University.\u201d (Ciocirlan is a native Romanian and naturalized U.S. citizen.)<\/p>\n
Ciocirlan\u2019s children will accompany her to England, and will enroll in school there. She\u2019s already helping them to prepare by way of unofficial homework: \u201cI asked them to watch the BBC\u2014at least one news segment a day.”<\/p>\n
She plans to learn plenty herself. For example, working alongside colleagues at a different institution might expose her to new research methods and innerworkings of another academic department.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to get as much information as I can; I\u2019ll be a sponge [while I am there].\u201d<\/p>\n
She also plans to explore the UK, including venturing to Scotland to see Adam Smith\u2019s Panmure House<\/a> and, since it\u2019s not too far by ferry, visiting Amsterdam.<\/p>\n