Date: 11/01/2004

Faculty Kudos: Michael Gorman

On his first trip to Tunisia, assistant professor of social work, Michael Gorman stepped out the front door of his French style art-deco hotel and heard a familiar sound. "I heard my name called and I couldn't believe it," Gorman recalls. "A young man and his girlfriend approached me. It turned out to be Zied Mhirsi, the medical student I was to work with at the AIDS organization, ATLS. Although we had never met, Zied took a chance and called out my name." The couple promptly put Gorman in their car and gave him a tour of the city. He hopes this example of the friendly nature of Tunisia's citizens will contribute to his work.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Gorman will spend spring semester in Tunisia. In what he calls his "cultural ambassador" role, he will be training a new generation of Tunisian professionals and policy makers in public health clinics and teaching a course in American Social Policy at El Manar University.

Why Tunisia?
Tunisia is a country of 10 million people located between Libya and Algeria in northern Africa. Why choose such a small, seemingly insignificant country? "Tunisia bears a resemblance to the state of HIV in America in the 80s." says Gorman. "It will be interesting to work in a place where the prevalence (of HIV) is low. The country is small and compact. There is much that can be done."

"This award will provide Dr. Gorman with a valuable opportunity to expand his research in HIV/AIDS and to enhance his teaching in an international context," said Joe Merighi, a fellow social work assistant professor, in a recent Spartan Daily story. "This is in keeping with the university's focus on global studies and issues that involve global studies."

A young Ph.D in the early 80s, Gorman found himself at the foreground of the AIDS epidemic and the beginning of a lifelong career in HIV/AIDS research. Building on his social and medical anthropological background, Gorman focused on social behavioral research. Specifically, he looks at the interface of substance abuse and AIDS with community-based prevention.

Challenge = Opportunity
A modern Muslim country, Tunisia has a young and cosmopolitan population (50% of the population is under 30). Many of the country's young men go north to Europe for work, leaving behind wives and girlfriends. Such a young and transient population brings with it many challenges. Gorman relates a specific experience, "There was a campaign targeting young people at a jazz festival. Thousands of young people. And yet the challenge was how to educate a population that has one foot in the Western/European world and one in the traditional."

For Gorman, prevention of a sexually-transmitted disease requires the use of explicit language. He asks, "How do we make it more common (to use explicit language)? There are many stigmas to address. People with AIDS are often hidden or don't know they are infected. We want to use grassroots programs to find the hidden victims."

Cultural Ambassador in the Classroom
Gorman hopes to bring back to his classroom an emphasis on trans-cultural practice. "There is no greater laboratory for getting experience and understanding of other cultures than by being there. I have traveled extensively and this rich experience translates to specific examples in the classroom." he says.

"There is a great need now to demystify the Arab culture," he continues. "In our post-9/11 world, it is very important for Americans to know the challenges the Arab/Muslim world faces."

Gorman is the first full-time, tenure-track or tenured SJSU social work faculty member to have received a Fulbright of this type.

"A number of our faculty have had Fulbrights as graduate students or have been part of the senior scholar program," Jan English-Lueck, campus Fulbright Scholar liaison, told the Spartan Daily, adding that she had received a Fulbright herself.

"This is a wonderful opportunity to bring international experience back to San Jos?? State," English-Lueck says.

~ Beth Lemke '91

See http://www.sjsu.edu/news/news_detail.jsp?id=870.

See Spartan Daily article.