Jade Thomas was a Belgian 2023-2024 Fulbright Visiting Student Researcher in Literature at Boston University. She is a PhD candidate at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO). In 2020, she obtained an MA in English and German Literature from VUB (summa cum laude) with an award-winning thesis on Sam Shepard’s metatheater. Combining her interests in American drama and diasporic writing, Jade’s current doctoral project explores how formal experiment comments on socio-political issues in 21 st -century African American drama.
Q: “Can you briefly describe your grant project?”
I conducted doctoral research in the framework of my project called “Representing Blackness: Metatheater and Genre Remediation in 21st-Century African American Plays”. My project studies the ways in which contemporary play texts by African American playwrights use self-reflexive devices to represent Blackness. In addition to a purely textual analysis of play texts, my project contextualizes these recent texts within current socio-historical debates about race in the U.S. I was supervised by Prof. Dr. Harvey Young (Boston University), who has written extensively on African American performance.
Q: “What have you accomplished during your time in the USA? What can you tell us about the initial outcomes of your program?”
I was able to share, and receive feedback on, my research with and by numerous American-based performance scholars through, e.g., the TAPS/Mahindra seminars at Harvard University, the annual conference of American Society for Theatre Research in Providence, and multiple conversations with BU-based professors. I was also able to watch both live and recorded performances of plays that are part of my PhD corpus.
Q: “Has the United States been what you expected? In what ways has life in the USA surprised you, either for its similarities to or differences from your own culture?”
In general, my experience was as I had expected. The main, big surprise was that even in a big city like Boston the car seems to be the most preferred mode of transportation than public transport. The American train/bus network is therefore less elaborate than in Europe. This was not necessarily a major problem for me, as I lived in a big city, but I can imagine that if you attend a college in a smaller, or rural community, knowing how to drive or owning a car is a necessity. While I lived in Boston, an East-coast city I had the feeling that most people were European-minded. The architecture, for example, reminded me of London in some places. I also felt that, in general, the community was accepting of people with different identities, nationalities, etc.
Q: “What will you do after your Fulbright grant? In what ways has your experience in the USA this year impacted your plans for the future?”
I will finish my PhD research. Afterwards, I’d like to pursue a career either in academia, journalism, education, or in the cultural field. Either way, I plan to integrate my experience of and interest in American culture in every career choice I’ll make. As an academic or teacher, I’d like to continue studying, or teaching topics in American theater or fiction. As a journalist, I believe that my experience in the U.S. would help to cover topics in foreign affairs. Or, I can see myself using my knowledge of American theater to invite relevant artists to Belgium.
Q: “What advice would you give to someone who is considering applying to the Fulbright Program?”
Ask yourself what you, and your project, can gain from an extended period in the U.S. Do not only think of purely academic objectives. If you are well prepared, you’ll have a better chance of receiving the grant. Carefully read the requirements of, and advice given by the Fulbright Program on how to write a good application. Take every opportunity to speak with past grantees and learn from their application trajectory.
Articles are written by Fulbright grantees and do not reflect the opinions of the Fulbright Commission, the grantees’ host institutions, or the U.S. Department of State.