Dr. Monique Earl-Lewis Reflects on Fulbright Journey to Expand Global Partnerships in Africana Studies

Dr. Monique Earl-Lewis, Associate Professor of Africana Studies at Morehouse College, has long been a catalyst for innovation, collaboration, and transformation within and beyond the classroom. As the Founding Director of the Faculty Development Teaching and Advising Center and the Executive Director of the Morehouse HBCU Code and Create initiative—a strategic partnership with Apple—Dr. Earl-Lewis continuously leads with purpose and passion. Now, Dr. Earl-Lewis adds another significant milestone to her career: she is a 2024-2025 Fulbright recipient.

Her leadership is also reflected in her commitment to equity in education. Through collaboration with MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching), she advocates for open-access and affordable learning solutions that benefit both faculty and students. She also recently served as co-director of the Morehouse Mellon Movement, Memory, and Justice grant—an initiative that explores the role of memory and social justice in the liberal arts.

 Her journey toward this opportunity began with an invitation to attend the Fulbright reception at the UNCF UNITE Conference in Atlanta. Inspired by the global possibilities and encouraged by her professional mission to internationalize Morehouse’s curriculum, she applied and was selected as part of a domestic cohort focused on expanding global academic partnerships.

“I view this Fulbright honor as an opportunity to ask essential questions,” Dr. Earl-Lewis shares. “How can we increase partnerships through existing systems and structures? How can we create more student-to-student collaboration across disciplines and borders?”

In collaboration with the West African Research Center and institutions in France, Dr. Earl-Lewis seeks to deepen Morehouse's global footprint. Her goal is to increase international opportunities for students in Africana Studies, History, and Public History—particularly in the face of national policy shifts that threaten to erase crucial parts of Black history and culture.

A scholar and practitioner of organizational psychology, Dr. Earl-Lewis is intentional about aligning individuals, teams, and institutions with their highest potential. Whether through faculty development, strategic advising, or cross-cultural scholarship, her work is rooted in creating sustainable, system-level change.

“My students must understand that their identity—as young African American men at Morehouse—is their greatest asset,” she says. “Our history does not begin or end with enslavement. It stretches across the global African diaspora. I want them to see themselves as part of that vast and powerful legacy.”

For Dr. Earl-Lewis, this Fulbright award is not simply a personal achievement. It is a means of institutionalizing access, opportunity, and representation for faculty and students alike. “I don’t think we get to decide our legacy,” she reflects. “But we can be intentional about what we hope to contribute.”