Harrisburg accounting faculty member reflects on Fulbright experience

MIDDLETOWN, Pa. - Renee Flasher, associate professor of accounting at Penn State Harrisburg, spent the summer in Portugal researching global data privacy regulations as a Fulbright Scholar, an experience she said had a lasting effect on her both professionally and personally.

Flasher was one of 12 Penn State faculty members to receive a Fulbright Scholar Award for 2024-25, which allowed her to travel to ISCTE - University Institute of Lisbon, Business Research Unit, in Lisbon, Portugal, from May through August.

"My Fulbright research experience was transformational through the growth resulting from focusing on one subject area, learning about a new culture intimately, and adjusting to life in a different country," Flasher said. "The privilege of being an ambassador for the country and University abroad was an honor. I look forward to living up to the higher ideals behind the Fulbright as I continue my professional journey."

Flasher's research focused on General Data Protection Regulation enforcement.

The European regulations were one of the first comprehensive, multi-country regulations issued around data privacy that are applicable to any company doing business in the European Union or storing data concerning any European person. The regulations address an individual's right to see, change or request their information be deleted. They also require companies to explain why and how they will use any of the data they collect from each individual.

"The time over there was great for gathering the data, for understanding really what I was gathering and the limits to what I could infer and say about the data," she said. Since she returned, she's been delving deeper into the data and enforcement patterns. The initial results from the work were accepted for presentation at the American Accounting Association's 2026 Forensic Accounting Section Research Conference, which will take place in March in Montclair, New Jersey.

The time in Portugal helped Flasher gain more understanding of why and how the data privacy laws are developed, she said.

"In this case, it was understanding the principles around which they're doing that and to understand how much they believe that data privacy is a human value, and that you really should have the ability to minimize the amount of data out there," Flasher said. "You should have the right to be able to delete yourself … and people should be held accountable for holding your data and using it in only ways that you have explicitly consented."

Flasher was able to take advantage of unique professional opportunities while in the country, including attending the Europe as a Global Actor conference and Breathing with Oceans conference. She explained that such opportunities helped grow her understanding of human rights in the European context.

"My understanding of the social and societal rationale for the design of the enforcement mechanisms increased along objective and emotional dimensions," she said.

She made presentations about her project at ISCTE and the Luso-American Foundation for Development as part of Fulbright Portugal @65 Talks, a series of lectures marking 65 years of Fulbright Portugal.

The Fulbright experience has also sparked Flasher's interest in further exploring international education opportunities in the field of accounting. She attended the Pennsylvania Council for International Education Conference held in State College in the fall and plans to incorporate international aspects of business into the classroom in the future.

Flasher said she appreciated the ability to bring her family for the experience. Her husband and three children joined her in Portugal, and she said they grew closer as they navigated a new country together. Only some Fulbright experiences include dependents as part of the opportunity, which Flasher called "a key determinant" for her, as she would not have considered it if she had to be separated from her children all summer. Instead, the family had opportunities to discover Lisbon and the surrounding areas each weekend.

They explored the musical, literary and natural history of Portugal through experiences such as hearing a fado performance - a genre of music thought to originate in Lisbon - at the museum of fado singer Amalia Rodrigues; traveling to the 17th-century Fort of São João Baptista das Berlengas; and visiting historical places like Pena Palace and the former home of the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa. They enjoyed beach days, participated in their neighborhood's O Dia da Crianca - Children's Day - celebration, and learned to explore via trams, ferries, buses, cable cars and metro.

"The neighborhood restaurants, shopping at Continente and Pingo Doce, and apartment living contrasted with our typical American suburban car-centric lifestyle, where everything is on 24-7 demand. In contrast, restaurants and shops often close between 3 and 7 p.m.," Flasher said. "This cultural difference and the requirement to navigate daily life in a different country resulted in a shift in my perspective and viewpoint to internalize other ways of living."

After a fall sabbatical that followed her Fulbright experience, Flasher is enjoying integrating back into the campus community with a desire to continue the growth that the Fulbright sparked.

Flasher said she loved the experience and would encourage others - students or faculty - to step out of their comfort zone to try for a Fulbright.