Florin Nechita

Home University: Transilvania University of Brasov, Faculty of Sociology and Communication
Host University: The Pennsylvania State University, Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology and Education
Field: Rural Sociology

From Transylvania to Pennsylvania:
Community Engagement, Rural Sociology, and Beyond at Penn State University

My Fulbright Scholar experience at Penn State University combined academic engagement, field research, community interaction, and cultural exploration, offering multiple perspectives on American society and higher education.

Field research and community engagement offered valuable insights into rural life in Central Pennsylvania. I attended meetings of the Keystone Community Partnership in Philipsburg, a youth research initiative in which local high school students collaborate with teachers, Penn State students, and community stakeholders to support local revitalization efforts. The ideas and experiences gathered there inspired the development of a similar initiative involving high school students in the town of Târgu Lăpuș, Romania. I also gained firsthand insights into American agriculture through visits to the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg, animal auctions, and an agricultural convention in Hershey.

A significant part of my time was dedicated to academic collaboration and teaching activities. I attended postgraduate Leadership and Research Methods courses taught by Professor Mark Brennan, UNESCO Chair on Global Citizenship Education for Sustainable Peace through Youth and Community Engagement within Penn State Global. These courses offered valuable insights into community engagement, youth leadership, and participatory research methods. I also participated in many weekly research presentations at the Millennium Café on different topics and joined the Penn State Social Science Research Institute, a network through which my colleagues from the Faculty of Sociology and Communication and I hope to develop long-term collaborations.

During my stay, I connected with colleagues from several Penn State units, including the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, Penn State Altoona, the College of Education, the Marketing Department, and the Tourism Department. I also engaged directly with students as a guest speaker, presenting on the Romanian anti-communist Revolution of 1989 for students from the College of Communications and discussing the branding of a STEM education student association with students from the College of Education. I also joined doctoral classes taught by Professor Matt McAllister at the Bellisario College of Communications.

The rich resources of the Pattee and Paterno Libraries at Penn State were used to complete my contribution to a collaborative article on technologies in museums and to prepare a presentation for an online conference on Gothic Literature and Film Studies that I co-organized; a hybrid version was also organized at my host university. The conference included a virtual tour of the historic Rowland Theatre in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, which was enthusiastically received by participants.

Personal connections also played an important role in understanding local communities. Thanks to Kai Schafft, a rural sociologist at Penn State and a Fulbright scholar at Transilvania University of Brașov, I met several residents of Happy Valley and Penn Valley, including Bob Vernon, a former blacksmith and organic farm inspector. Through these encounters, I gained a deeper understanding of rural life in Central Pennsylvania and had the opportunity to interact with members of Amish communities. Participation in community events such as Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the Dutch Fall Festival in Aaronsburg, and almost weekly gatherings at churches, temples, and a synagogue further enriched this perspective.

Travel across the United States complemented my academic activities and broadened my understanding of regional cultures and institutions. I visited several universities, including Yale University, Harvard Kennedy School, Colorado State University, Cornell University, and San Diego State University. I also attended the Colorado Fulbright Scholar Enrichment Seminar focused on “America250: Tradition, Technology, and Innovation in the Mountain West,” which included time in Rocky Mountain National Park.

I traveled for my research to different cities and small towns in Pennsylvania, such as Pittsburgh, Lancaster, Philadelphia, Bellefonte, Millheim, Lewisburg, and Philipsburg. Additional visits during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays to other states and cities, including New Haven, Boston, New York, San Diego, Hollywood, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Paso Robles, Ithaca, and Buffalo, offered insights into American cultural landscapes and new perspectives on American heritage, cultural industries, and wine tourism.

Just two days before concluding my five-month stay, I delivered a final presentation about my Fulbright experience at Penn State University, followed by a brief speech at the Quaker Church on my last Sunday in State College. At both events, I expressed my heartfelt gratitude for the extraordinary time I spent in the United States, for the many warm and generous people I met along the way, and for the lasting connections that grew from these encounters. I also shared my intention to write a book reflecting on this journey and the remarkable experiences that shaped it.