Norwich -- Chotsani Elaine Dean, instructor of art and ceramics at Three Rivers Community College, has been awarded a 2012-2013 Fulbright Scholarship.

Dean will be teaching and conducting research at Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, India, where she will work with artists and scholars to deepen her own scholarship in aesthetics and narrative. She has chosen Varanasi for its rich historical and cultural influences, and the interesting parallels between these influences and those of the African American quilt traditions that have been a major focus of her artwork to present, the college said in a press release.

The Fulbright Scholars Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and awards scholarships to deserving individuals through a competitive process each year. Dean is Three Rivers’ first Fulbright.