LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ -- Dr. Pearlie Peters of Lawrenceville, associate professor of English at Rider University, has received a Fulbright Scholar Award to participate this summer in a Fulbright-Hays Seminar Abroad program called "West Meets East in Malaysia and Singapore." She is the 13th Rider faculty member to receive a prestigious Fulbright award.

The Malaysian-American Commission on Educational Exchange (MACEE) will conduct the six-week seminar in Malaysia and Singapore.

Dr. Peters' specific research will focus on the literature and culture of some of the diverse ethnic groups of Malaysia and Singapore. She credits her participation in the 1996 Asian Studies Institute at the East/West Center in Hawaii as contributing to her Fulbright Award selection.

During the five-week study tour of Malaysia, the program will involve academic seminars about the country's geography and history, political structure, cultural plurality, religions, economy, educational system, aspirations and goals, and contemporary issues. The week of seminars in Singapore will include similar topics.

"I am extremely pleased because a Fulbright award is one of the highest, most prestigious awards an educator can receive," Dr. Peters said. "It is an honor to have the United States government select you to be a representative abroad. With this award, I feel a bit of professionalism, a bit of scholarship, and a bit of patriotism."

Other Rider faculty who are Fulbright awardees follow: Bosah Ebo, communication, to Germany (1997); Walter Eliason, education/retired, to Tunisia (1963), Costa Rica (1987), and Peru (1985); James Goldsworthy, piano, to Austria (1987); Jean Gray, finance/retired, to Australia (1952); Cengiz Haksever, management sciences, to Turkey (1993); Belmont Haydel, business policy/retired, to Uruguay (1989) and Jordan (1992); Sigfredo Hernandez, marketing, to Panama (1992); Lynn Livingston, library, to Germany (1955); Alan McLeod, English, to India (1983); Jonathan Mendilow, political science, to Yale University from Hebrew University (1980); Margaret Schleissner, German, to Germany (1988 and 1996); Marilyn Quinn, library, to Germany.

In addition, Frank Rusciano, professor of political science, has been awarded equally noteworthy Alexander von Humboldt Fellowships to Germany in 1985, 1987, and 1995.

A member of Rider's faculty since 1990, Dr. Peters' scholarly research has centered on African-American literature, 19th-century American literature, and multi-ethnic American literature. Last year, she had a book published on Zora Neale Hurston, folklorist and novelist, that was titled The Assertive Woman in Zora Neale Hurston's Fiction, Folklore, and Drama.

She will also be on paid research leave for the 1999-2000 academic year to study Dorothy West, a prolific short story writer. No one has ever collected or analyzed West's short stories. Dr. Peters hopes to prepare an anthology or a critical study of these short stories.

She is a member of Rider's Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) Community Advisory Board and received an Award of Student Appreciation from Rider's Student Support Services program in early May.

Dr. Peters earned a Ph.D. at the University of Buffalo and is the recipient of two postdoctoral fellowships -- one from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the other from the Ford Foundation. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in English from Grambling State University.