Boston University College of Communication professors Anne Donahue, Sam Kauffman and Janice Barrett will spend part of the 2003-2004 academic year traveling abroad to teach and research after the International Exchange of Scholars gave them each Fulbright Awards, BU officials announced last week.

Donahue will spend the year in China, Kauffman will travel to Uganda, Africa and Barrett’s trip will take her to Ireland. The professors are three of 800 the program sends to foreign 140 countries every year.

Donahue, a professor of journalism for television and radio, will work in either Beijing or Shanghai and conduct research centering on family life, China’s ‘one child policy’ and the influence of culture and government in China’s high birth rate, she said. Donahue said she will also investigate what compels Chinese citizens to abandon female babies.

Donahue said she is excited for the opportunity.

‘I hope that I can encourage other Chinese students to come to the [United States] and to enhance my knowledge base [and] to be a better teacher,’ she said.

Kauffman, a professor in the department of film and television, will teach at Macerere University in Kampala, Uganda, he said. At Macerere, Kauffman will help institute the University’s first film and radio department, he said.

For the research aspect of Kauffman’s stay in Uganda, he said he hopes to create a documentary film on a topic that is important to the students he will be teaching.

‘I’m not sure exactly about the topic,’ Kauffman said. ‘I’ll get to know my students and help them help me find the first story, and then when I leave, they will be able to tell the next one and the next one.’

Kauffman said he hopes his experience in Africa will enhance his teaching skills and give him a new perspective by working in Uganda’s developing economy.

‘It is going to make me a better teacher in the sense that I think I will have the ability to work with less,’ Kauffman said. ‘It will give me a new perspective of what I teach in a First World economy since I will be going to a developing economy. I will be able to see the differences.’

Barrett, a professor in the area of conflict resolution and journalism, will spend ten months in Dublin conducting research and teaching a course on conflict resolution and the media at Dublin City University, she said. She will also work with the school’s faculty to institute a new mass communication program, she said.

Barrett said she will also be researching how journalists cover conflicts in other countries, specifically how print and broadcast journalists have worked to cover the conflict in Northern Ireland.

‘I hope to interview print and broadcast journalists about how they have covered the troubles in Northern Ireland and the peace process for the last five years,’ Barrett said.

Barrett said she will investigate how public officials and public policy makers think they are performing and what messages they are trying to disseminate to the public. She will also look at how journalists are framing those messages and will research the content of both broadcast and print news coverage from the past few years.

‘I hope to bring back a deeper understanding of some of these issues that we are dealing with in the world today in terms of the role of the media,’ she said, ‘and to help students gain a better understanding so that my year of research will bring a greater depth and greater understanding to the students in my courses.’

Upon returning to the United States, Barrett hopes to publish the results of her research and share it with colleagues who are also working in her field.

College of Communication dean Brent Baker said students will ultimately benefit from the three professors’ research.

‘These are all three outstanding faculty members who are going beyond the normal teaching duties and are trying to extend themselves in other cultures overseas,’ Baker said. ‘The recipients of this will be the students and their classes.’