GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT
Fulbright Scholar Award – Bulgaria (Spring 2024)
Teaching • Directing • Cultural Exchange • Community Arts
In Spring 2024, I was honored to serve as a Fulbright Scholar in Sofia, Bulgaria, where I taught, directed, and collaborated with artists and scholars at New Bulgarian University (NBU). My Fulbright work centered on using theatre as a tool for civic engagement, intercultural understanding, and social change.
During my residency, I taught two courses:
a theatre education and civic engagement course for senior‑level performance students, and
an acting/scene study course open to graduate and undergraduate performers.
Both culminated in public performances and community dialogues attended by faculty, students, Fulbright scholars, and members of the Bulgarian arts community.
A major component of my Fulbright project was a collaboration with the MIR Centers, where NBU students and I led weekend theatre workshops for Roma youth. Together, we devised an original performance presented at the NBU Theatre—an extraordinary opportunity for young people to work alongside university students, build artistic skills, and envision new futures.
In my acting course, I introduced Bulgarian students to U.S. culture by bringing elements of my Veterans 10-Minute Play Festival to Sofia. Students explored American veteran-centered plays, culminating in a public performance and talkback featuring the playwrights—one of whom traveled to Bulgaria to join us.
Beyond teaching and directing, I also:
Presented at NBU’s International Shakespeare Conference,
Shared my Fulbright experiences at international and campus events,
Began writing about my time in Bulgaria, and
Built a network of global collaborators, including scholars working in social work, folklore, and performance.
My Fulbright experience has already shaped future projects. In spring 2026, I am taking Salem State University theatre students to Bulgaria to collaborate twith NBU students.
My five months in Sofia were transformative—artistically, culturally, and personally. I return with new partnerships, new creative ideas, and a renewed commitment to fostering mutual understanding through the arts. See below for a presentation I did at the culmination of the experience.
Slide from a presentation shows the name Julie Kiernan, her titles as Associate Professor of Theatre at Salem State University and Fulbright Scholar at New Bulgarian University, with a photo of her on the right. The event is a Fulbright Scholar Wrap-up Seminar in Bulgaria on June 7, 2024.
Slide titled "Overview of 3 Projects" with three listed projects: 1. MIR NBU Collaboration, 2. Veterans' Play Fest, 3. Tracing Shakespeare.
Group of students and teachers posing for a photo inside a classroom or community space, with some chairs and decorations visible. The right side contains Bulgarian text and logos of New Bulgarian University, Fulbright Bulgaria, and Hesed.
Collage showing three people standing outside on a paved walkway with trees and a building in the background on the left, and a large group of people on stage in a theater on the right, with text indicating dates and events for a meeting and presentation.
Slide with text 'Tell Your Story' in English and Bulgarian.
Slide with text in English and Bulgarian about Professor Julie Kiernan's event with theatre students and MIR Center students in Sofia, Bulgaria, 2024.
A large group of diverse children and adults posing together in a room with yellow walls and windows, some smiling, making gestures, and showing thumbs up.
Slide showing information about mentor groups, with 13 groups involving 13 NBU students and 20 MIR students, written in both English and Macedonian.
Photographs of groups of people, including children and adults, smiling indoors with bookshelves and framed photos in the background.
Slide with title 'Theatre Games' and Bulgarian translation 'Театрални игри' on a dark blue background.
Children and adults in a classroom interacting, some standing in line or talking, with colorful educational toys and artwork on the walls.
Text on a dark blue background listing types of fairy tale groups in English, Bulgarian, and with the number of groups: "Fairy Tale Groups, 6 Groups, Приказни групи."
Group of people dancing and holding hands in a classroom during a performance with children watching in the foreground.
Sign announcing New Bulgarian University Performance Day with text in English and Bulgarian.
A group of diverse young people standing on steps outside a modern building with glass windows and a tree overhead.
Group of children and adults on a stage, smiling for a photo, in a theater or auditorium setting.
An informational poster with text in Bulgarian and English, featuring a title "Telling your story" and logos of Hesed, Fulbright Bulgaria, and New Bulgarian University.
Group of seven young people sitting and lying on theater seats and stage, posing for a photo in an auditorium with empty seats. Red and white event information overlay on the right side of the image.
Collage of three overlapping scripts and schedules for a theatrical production, listing rehearsal times, cast, and crew details.
Collage of four photos of a theatrical rehearsal. The top left shows four people on stage with scripts, practicing a scene. The top right depicts a group outside a theater or café, waiting or socializing. The bottom left has five people seated in an auditorium or theater waiting area. The bottom right captures two women smiling on stage, dressed in casual clothes, post-rehearsal.
A collage of three scenes from a theatrical performance with actors on stage in different settings. The top left scene shows two actors sitting on chairs, one covering their face. The top right scene features two actors seated in conversation, and the bottom scene displays four actors, two standing and two seated, involved in a scene with a bench and a box.
Group of people sitting on a stage during a conversation with playwrights and audience, with a screen showing a virtual speaker in the background.
Poster for NBU International Festival, featuring a stylized face of a woman created with black dots and lines, with event details in Bulgarian and English, including dates 26-29.05.2024, and logos of New Bulgarian University.
Slide titled 'Overview' showing a presentation outline with sections on introduction, examples of organizations engaging students in Shakespeare education in MA, USA, and a conclusion.
A woman in casual clothes giving a presentation on curriculum decisions in the USA, standing next to a large screen with a slide titled "How is curriculum decided in the USA?" which contains bullet points about national, state, and district levels.
Map and data infographic comparing education statistics, including school districts, number of schools, student enrollment, and course participation, highlighted on a map of Massachusetts.
Slide titled '3 Examples in Organizations in Massachusetts Engaging Students in Shakespeare Education' showing logos and information for Actors' Shakespeare Project, Shakespeare & Company, and Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, with details about location, season, productions, and theatre spaces.
A presentation and group photo at an indoor event with a stage, projector screens, and people posing for a photo.
A presentation slide with the title 'Professor Julie Kiernan, Fulbright Scholar Presentation - Wrap-up Seminar, Fulbright Bulgaria, June 7, 2024' in the top left corner. The slide has a diagonal design with the phrase 'Q&A' in large, stylized letters, with the letters tinted in shades of blue and silver, positioned midway across the dark and light backgrounds.
TEDx Talk
In September 2018, I delivered my TEDx talk, “Setting the Stage for Human Connection,” a reflection on how the core disciplines of theatre offer a blueprint for building empathy and hospitality in an increasingly complex and interconnected world. Drawing on my work as a theatre artist and educator, the talk explores how skills such as listening, presence, collaboration, and imaginative openness can help us meet global cultural challenges with curiosity rather than fear.
For me, this talk was more than a performance—it was an opportunity to articulate a worldview shaped by years of international exchanges and theatre projects. Across borders and languages, I have seen again and again that the practice of theatre creates a common ground where people can encounter one another with dignity. This perspective has guided the international and cultural collaborations I have led since 2016, all of which put these ideas into practice by bringing diverse communities together through storytelling and shared creative work.
Writing and delivering this TEDx talk was an exhilarating experience, one that allowed me to merge my background in speechwriting with my commitment to theatre as a tool for global connection and social change. I am grateful for the chance to share these ideas with a broader audience, and I invite you to watch the talk as an entryway into the larger body of international, intercultural work that continues to grow from it.
Faculty Fellow for Global Engagement
I have served as Faculty Fellow for Global Engagement at Salem State University for a total of six years (2018–2022 and 2024–2026), helping to shape the university’s vision for global learning, intercultural collaboration, and internationally engaged teaching.
In this role, I have worked to create a more connected, culturally responsive campus by leading initiatives that expand global opportunities for students and faculty. My work includes conceiving and guiding the university-wide Global Engagement Academic Seal, a new credential recognizing students who actively build global competency during their time at SSU.
Another major part of my fellowship has been building and sustaining SSU’s Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) program. I co‑facilitated multi-year faculty learning communities, trained more than twenty faculty members across seventeen departments, and helped launch over thirty COIL courses that connected SSU classrooms with international partners. This work earned Salem State two national honors: the 2021 AASCU Excellence and Innovation Award for International Education and a 2021 U.S. State Department IDEAS Grant. It also attracted new donor support to expand global virtual exchange.
Beyond program creation, I have served as Chair of the Global Engagement Advisory Committee, revitalizing the group’s mission, coordinating international scholar initiatives, and developing a centralized SharePoint hub to make global resources more accessible to faculty, students, and the broader community. My work also includes partnerships with the Center for International Education, support for International Education Week, and improvements to how global courses and activities are tracked, promoted, and recognized.
Across all of these efforts, my goal has remained the same: to help cultivate a university culture where global awareness, intercultural understanding, and meaningful international collaboration are part of everyday academic life. My commitment to global engagement is rooted in a belief that connection across cultures is essential to building a more peaceful and creative world—and that higher education plays a critical role in making that possible.