Political science professor Kevin Mulcahy spent the past five months in Budapest, Hungary, after the Council for International Exchange of Scholars selected him as one of their Fulbright Distinguished Chairs. The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s international educational exchange program designed to promote mutual understanding between the United States and other countries.
Mulcahy has lectured in many different countries around the world and participated in international cultural exchanges in Italy, Australia, Denmark and Sweden.
The University awarded Mulcahy, who has taught at LSU for 23 years, its highest honor for professors, the Sheldon Beychok Distinguished Professorship.
What has being chosen to be a Fulbright Scholar meant to you?
“It’s been a dream of mine to be a Fulbright [Scholar] since I was a kid. Even then I knew something about it. I applied and I was told I made the preliminary round, and somehow I was chosen. It was the dream of a lifetime.”
What are some of the differences between teaching overseas and teaching in the United States?
“Americans are not very interested in the rest of the world. So if you know anything [about another culture], you’re a big hit [overseas]. I think it’s a weakness of the American educational system that there is not more of a focus on international and cultural education. One of the great things about studying abroad is you learn so much about yourself. People ask you questions you take for granted. I’m not an expatriate though. I don’t want to move to Europe.”
In your years at the University, what have you found most disappointing?
“My only disappointment was when I picked up the USA Today and read that LSU had dropped in the party school rankings. I was outraged.”
What do you enjoy most about being a professor?
“There are three things that are drilled into you as a professor: as a professor you’re a teacher, a researcher and a public servant. Teaching is the dessert I get to eat first. I serve on the Arts Council and take my civic responsibilities very seriously. I also co-edit the Journal of Arts Management, and I was a part of promoting cultural exchanges around the world. The Fulbright was the recognition of the service and the Beychok [Distinguished Professorship] was the recognition of the research. But it’s hard to say the kind of impact you have in the classroom.”
Mulcahy recently realized how much impact he had on at least one of his students. Robert Utick, one of his students from the early 80s, died of an illness recently. About seven months after his death, Mulcahy found out that Utick purchased a Live Oak Endowment in honor of Mulcahy. The plaque reads “In honor of Dr. Kevin V. Mulcahy, Professor of Political Science, Mentor, Scholar, Friend.” The oak stands in the Quad near Stubbs Hall where the Political Science Department is located.