I was interested in how the rest of the world confronted the issues of immigration and political participation, based on the work I have been doing in Los Angeles with my colleague, Mark Drayse, a geographer.

What did you expect from your travels?
I expected to work with a new network of scholars and students, and also to experience French life firsthand, not as a tourist but as a resident with my family.

What did you actually experience?
All of the above, and more. We have been welcomed by the university, the Fulbright staff and fellow Fulbrights, and are real French residents and Parisians. It is a wonderful city in which to live.

How have you been changed by your experience?
Seeing the U.S.A. through French eyes is certainly an experience, and it has made me think about how a superpower seems from the outside.