Congratulations to Ryan Durkopp, who was awarded an Institute of International Education (IIE) Fulbright for the 2010-11 academic year. As part of his Fulbright, Durkopp will travel to Kankan, Guinea and conduct dissertation research. He will live and work with griot musicians for 10 months and study how their words and music shape public opinion concerning the current political situation On June 27, Guinea will hold free elections for the first time since 1958, so Durkopp's Fulbright allows him to study that nation's cultural discourse at an extraordinarliy important time.

Durkopp is a doctoral candidate in ethnomusicology whose dissertation is titled Griot Musicians as Social and Political Actors in Post-Conte Guinea.