Syracuse Sun

Catherine Herrold, an associate professor at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, has been granted a Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad Fellowship. This fellowship will aid her research into citizen-led development projects in Serbia.

Herrold's study is part of a larger project titled “Civil Society Thrives in the Kafana: Locally Led Development and Grassroots Civic Engagement in Serbia.” It involves three months of fieldwork in 2025, aiming to understand how Serbian civil society actors implement and assess initiatives like sustainable agriculture, cultural festivals, and community programs outside traditional NGOs.

The project builds on previous collaborations with the University of Belgrade and Serbian civil society contacts. Herrold plans to produce academic materials and engage the public through various media. Shana Kushner Gadarian praised Herrold's work for its potential impact on understanding grassroots participation in dynamic societies.

The Fulbright-Hays Program funds overseas research focusing on non-Western languages and area studies. It is supported by U.S. Department of Education appropriations.

Herrold will continue her work in Serbia, following recognition from the U.S. State Department Fulbright Scholar program for her 2023 research. She also received awards from the University of Maryland Do Good Institute and ARNOVA for global philanthropy leadership.

Her prior work includes five years of research in Egypt and Palestine, culminating in her book “Delta Democracy: Pathways to Incremental Civic Revolution in Egypt and Beyond,” which won ARNOVA’s Virginia A. Hodgkinson Research Book Prize.

As a senior research associate for Middle Eastern Studies and other programs, Herrold focuses on global civil society, international development, democracy promotion, nonprofit management, and governance collaboration.