Registration now open for 2019 Welcome Meeting in Darmstadt, October 11-13

The German Fulbright Alumni Association would like to officially invite you to our annual Welcome Meeting, this year being held in the “Wissenschaftssadt” Darmstadt, October 11-13! How fitting for Fulbrighters like ourselves to come together in a city known for the value it places in research.

(Register here: https://fulbright-alumni.de/events/welcome-meeting-2019/ )

The Welcome Meeting is one of the board’s favorite events, mostly because we get to center it around returning German grantees and current American grantees in Germany. Rumor has it that the Welcome Meeting is one of the best ways to see how you can continue to be a part of an active Fulbright family and stay connected! 😉

2019 will be an exciting year: We’ve opted to once again ask our alumni members from Ellery studio to organize an unConference! What’s more, our inspiringly active Interest Initiative Group, Diversity, has planned a bit of the weekend as well.

(Register here: https://fulbright-alumni.de/events/welcome-meeting-2019/)

General Schedule of Events:

– Friday night kicks off the weekend with a wine reception, where we can mingle and get to know one another.

– Saturday will be a day to be remembered with a great lineup.
A keynote speaker, the unconference and a session organized by our amazing Diversity “thematische Arbeitsgruppe” will be sure to give everyone lots to bond over and talk about at group lunch and dinner. If we’re not too tired, we’ll even see what Darmstadt’s nightlife has to offer!

– Sunday will round out the Welcome Meeting with brunch and sightseeing opportunities before we sadly have to say Auf Wiedersehen!

We are very much looking forward to welcoming you to Darmstadt and to have a peak into what the Germany Fulbright Alumni Association is all about. Unfortunately, space is limited, so please secure your registration ASAP!

Register here: https://fulbright-alumni.de/events/welcome-meeting-2019/

For any questions, please feel free to contact us here via facebook or email a specific board member for assistance. https://fulbright-alumni.de/board/

We look forward to hearing from you soon!
Your FAeV board

Register here: https://fulbright-alumni.de/events/welcome-meeting-2019/

Call for FRANKly 2019 Cover Photo

Searching for the next FRANKly COVER PHOTO

Do you want to see your work on the front page? We’re looking for a photo for the 2019 FRANKly that embodies the “Electric Engagement” theme. Whether snapping a new shot or rummaging through your old photo albums, use your artistic expression, creativity, and originality to encapsulate whatever electric engagement means to you!
Guidelines 📷
  • Photographs must be:
    • original work
    • high quality (high-resolution)
    • portrait format
  • Maximum of 3 photo submissions per person
Deadline: August 1
Send all submissions to:
editor.frankly@fulbright-alumni.de
with subject line: FRANKly Cover Page

Here is the 2018 FRANKly cover for design reference:

Save the Date: Welcome Meeting 2019

We are happy to announce the date for the 2019 Welcome Meeting.
From October 11th to October 13th, 2019 returnees, U.S.-grantees and “old hands” are gathering in the beautiful city of Darmstadt.

More information about the event will be available in all German Fulbright Facebook groups, on our website and via this newsletter.

Membership in the Fulbright Alumni e.V. is not necessary for participation.

Until then, we wish you a good time and hope to see you in Darmstadt!

Your Fulbright Alumni e.V.

PS: By show of hands, this is how much the participants liked last year’s Welcome Meeting:

Participants of 2018 Welcome Meeting

FRANKly 2019 Call for Articles

The FRANKly is the annual journal of the German Fulbright Alumni Association. In addition to reporting on the regional, national, and international activities of our association, the publication serves as a platform for current Fulbrighters and alumni to share their fascinating experiences, witty opinions, unique perspectives, and thoughtful insights.

A new year, a new FRANKly! The 2019 Call for Articles is here and we are thrilled to announce this year’s theme:

Electric Engagement

What electrifies YOU? What are you passionate about? What is the electricity in your life; in society; in culture? We want to hear about it!

Electricity is the presence and flow of electric charge. Using electricity we can transfer energy in ways that allow us to perform common, everyday tasks. Similarly, Fulbright is all about working together to accomplish positive change and to make our goals become reality. At Fulbright events where current grantees, alumni, and friends are all eager to network, share their ideas, and to learn from one another, the electricity in the room is palpable.

The FRANKly 2019 welcomes contributions that focus on the electrifying factors in your life – how you are fueled by positive energy or how you combat negative charges that cross your path – as well as those that focus on active engagement in research or projects in the tech-industry for which electricity literally plays an integral role. Articles that exhibit a connection with the Fulbright Program, the German Fulbright Alumni Association (F.A.e.V.), or the network of Fulbright Alumni Associations across the globe are always encouraged.

When submitting your article, please provide 2-3 sentences about yourself and a headshot. Authors are encouraged to submit images (3-6 images total) that support their article. Every photograph must include the photographer’s name and a caption. Articles may range in length from 3,000-12,000 characters (including spaces) and should be written in American English.

The deadline for submissions is June 2, 2019. Please send all questions, ideas, and contributions to Anna Irvine (Editor, F.A.e.V. FRANKly) via email at editor.frankly@fulbright-alumni.de. I look forward to your articles!

Heidrun Bien wins Mulert Award 2019 with the “LGBTQ* Hockey Club” from London

So gay! Who has not heard homophobic remarks used as an insult in sports? Even today, even in Western Europe, many lesbian, gay, bi and trans people have negative experiences in sport—from bullying in school, to coming across anti-LGBTQ* language down the pub, on social media, on or off the pitch. They can feel that they are not welcome and that sport is not a safe place for them to be.

In 2005, my now wife Karen Ruddock together with a friend, Stephen Park, started the London Royals Hockey Club. They wanted to create a community and inclusive space where people from different backgrounds could come together and find friends, fun and support. A club open to ALL, not just the LGBTQ* community, to all abilities and regardless of background.

The London Royals Hockey Club today is a community of over 350 players who are active on a monthly basis plus many more who have since moved away from London and all over the world and still feel part of the family and join occasionally for tours or events. Some even started their own inclusive clubs.

We particularly welcome complete beginners and we have a hardship fund in place so that anyone who wants to play can play. We provide a supportive environment, to inspire confidence and where everyone feels welcome. Mixed games and socials are at the very core of the club. Inclusivity has also made us exceptionally diverse in age (currently from 20 to 65) and ethnicity, and our members come from all over the world. This club is a family for many, for those that are rejected, for those that feel like they don’t fit, for those who just want to play sports and make friends.

Bridget Kinneary wins Mulert Award 2018 with “Mit Mach Musik” from Berlin

The German Fulbright Alumni Association is proud to announce that this year’s Jürgen Mulert Award on Mutual Understanding is bestowed to the project “Mit Mach Musik”. Bridget Kinneary, Fulbright alumni from the United States now based in Berlin and music director of the project is presented with the Mulert Award for her courage and vision of supporting refugee children in Berlin and developing intercultural understanding.

Pedro Marcial Cerrato wins Mulert Award 2017 for “CEMPRENDE” in Honduras

Taking Global Exposure to Local Endeavors –
“CEMPRENDE” Receives Mulert Award on Mutual Understanding

Frankfurt am Main, Germany, March 2017 – The German Fulbright Alumni Association is proud to announce that this year’s Jürgen Mulert Award on Mutual Understanding is bestowed to the project CEMPRENDE in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Pedro Marcial Cerrato, cofounder and chief activist of CEMPRENDE will be presented with the Mulert Award for his courage and vision of supporting local entrepreneurs in a challenging environment.

CEMPRENDE is a collaboration and networking community where entrepreneurs find guidance, peer-to-peer support and be encouraged to innovate. Mr. Cerrato and his fellow activists have organized an NGO to offer (pre)incubation and acceleration programs for social and technological ventures. “Our initiative is a paradigm shifter because it offers a collaborative approach that millennials can relate with”, Mr. Cerrato explains. He was a Fulbright scholar at the University of South Carolina between 1995 and 1997.

CEMPRENDE aims to open dialogue with key ecosystem players, like municipal authorities, to improve the regulatory environment faced by new and established micro, small and medium sized enterprises. “A place where entrepreneurs meet policy makers, mentors and trainers who walk their talk and help others prosper”, affirms Mr. Cerrato. Future plans for CEMPRENDE include a fabrication laboratory (fablab) where youngsters and adults can learn how to use technology to create and to invent while having fun.

In 2015, after more than 20 years living abroad, Mr. Cerrato returned to his home country to use his international experience to foster innovative social and impact entrepreneurship. Vanessa Wergin, president of the German Fulbright Alumni Association, affirms that “CEMPRENDE takes Senator Fulbright’s idea of waging global peace through mutual understanding to a local level and thus stands out as an example for many Fulbrighters around the planet.”

The Jürgen Mulert Memorial Award on Mutual Understanding was established in 2010 in memory of Dr. Jürgen Mulert, scholar, poet, inventor and Deputy Executive Director of the German-American Fulbright Program. The Mulert Award is given annually to volunteers, artists, professionals and researchers across disciplines, whose work reflects and advances discourse on peace through mutual understanding. Former Mulert Award recipients include Sherief El-Helaifi, Oksana Buzhdygan, and Jörg Wolf. The Award will be presented on March 18, 2017, at the German Fulbright Alumni Association’s annual Winter Ball in Mainz, where Mr. Cerrato will be a guest of honor.

For more information on CEMPRENDE, Community of Entrepreneurs, please visit https://www.facebook.com/cemprendehn/

To nominate projects for the Mulert Award see
https://www.fulbright-alumni.de/what-we-do/mulertaward.html

CONTACT:
Steffen Schmuck-Soldan
Coordinator Mulert Award
mulert.award@fulbright-alumni.de

Robert Lepenies wins Mulert Award 2016 with “Global Colleagues”

Global Colleagues attempts to match multidisciplinary poverty scholars in one-to-one partnerships and encourages participants to collaborate, to share reading recommendations and research insights, information on conferences, workshops as well as to offer introductions to research networks where appropriate. Partnerships are established for the duration of one year, renewable for further one-year periods by mutual consent.

In 2015, Global Colleagues brought together 68 participating scholars from 31 countries, also thanks to the help of many volunteers. In 2016, Mr. Lepenies, a post-doctoral fellow at Free University/WZB Berlin who spent a Fulbright year at Yale University, plans to attract funding as well as gain institutional partners and thereby expand and professionalize the program for its participants. His hope is that through this program, poverty research can become inclusive and global and that in turn, policy designed to eliminate poverty is influenced by a diversity of voices.

For more information on Global Colleagues visit
gc.academicsstand.org

The participants and their geographical distribution
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zxavS2Anlgm8.kNv4t9t9VDLM

Jörg Wolf wins Mulert Award 2015 with “Atlantic Review”

News Platform “Atlantic Review” Receives Mulert Award on Mutual Understanding

FRANKFURT AM MAIN, GERMANY, February, 2015 – T

Mr. Wolf, a political scientist and former Fulbright Scholar at Johns Hopkins University, explains his volunteer engagement with the necessity of critical, and balanced perspectives on international relations. Since its launch in 2003 the Atlantic Review has published more than 1.000 articles on topics like Iraq, the war on terrorism, NATO, but also economics and pop cultural issues related to transatlantic relations. Current issues such as human rights, freedom of speech, and privacy, have been debated by hundreds of readers and commentators, providing a basis for understanding differences and commonalities alike.

Please follow the link to Atlantic Review.

Oksana Buzhdyga wins Mulert Award 2014 with “Ecological Education in the Ukraine”

The Mulert Award on Mutual Understanding 2014 is bestowed to Oksana Buzhdygan and her project “Environmental Education and Outreach for School-Age Students”. Ms. Buzhdygan receives the award for her enrichment seminars with school teachers in rural areas of her home country, the Ukraine. Ms. Buzhdygan, an eco scientist and assistant professor at Chernivtsi National University, started her project in direct response to massive ecological changes and the lack of educational measures to raise public consciousness for environmental quality.

Together with faculty members Ms. Buzhdygan organizes practical training courses for school teachers, focusing on areas of the Ukraine where resources for education are scarce and where the impact of deforestation to the inhabitants is immediate. The purpose of the long-term project is to connect professional ecologists with the community in order to heighten awareness of the science of ecology and local environmental issues. Seminar participants share their experience with colleagues in their schools as well as from adjacent villages and use their experience in class in order to provide knowledge beyond the conventional curricula.

While her undertaking is a major challenge in the Ukraine, Ms. Buzhdygan also provides opportunities for teachers and students to access expanded sources of information and exchange through the project’s website. It is her hope that the ecological education she provides will act as a catalyst to create a new and much needed discourse on the environment.

Ecological Education in the Ukraine – Project Images

Short Biography of Oksana Buzhdygan

Image of Oksana Buzhdygan
2004 –
2005
Master (Ecology and environmental management), Dept. of the General & Experimental Ecology, Chernivtsi National University, Ukraine
2005 –
2008
Ph.D. (Ecology), Dept. Ecology & Biomonitoring, Chernivtsi National University, Ukraine
2010 –
2011
Fulbright Grantee (Fulbright Faculty Development Program), Odum School of Ecology & Faculty of Engineering, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
2011 –
2012
Post-Doc. Odum School of Ecology & Faculty of Engineering, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
2007 –
Present
Present Assistant-Professor. Dept. Ecology & Biomonitoring, Chernivtsi National University, Ukraine
2013 –
Present
Post-Doc. (Erasmus-Mundus Grantee), Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany.

Sherief El-Helaifi wins Mulert Award 2013 with “Schuelerpaten Berlin”

The German Fulbright Alumni Association is pleased to announce that this year’s Juergen Mulert Memorial Award on Mutual Understanding is bestowed to Sherief El-Helaifi and the project “Schuelerpaten Berlin”. The Mulert Award is given annually to volunteers, artists, professionals, or researchers across disciplines whose work reflects and advances Senator Fulbright’s idea of “waging peace through mutual understanding”. The award will be presented on February 2, 2013, at the German Fulbright Alumni Association’s annual Winter Ball in Hannover, where Sherief El-Helaifi will be a guest of honor and present the “Schuelerpaten” project.

El-Helaifi, currently a B.A. student at the Berlin Institute of Technology, spent a Fulbright exchange year at the University of California at Berkeley in 2011/12, where he focused on Industrial Engineering and Operations Research. “Schuelerpaten Berlin”, which El-Helaifi supported as co-founder, board member and head of public relations, is a unique project which focuses on the process of cultural exchange and awareness. Geared specifically to young people of Arabic descent, “Schuelerpaten Berlin” organizes tutorings between mentors and mentees. Mentors, usually university and doctorate students, are matched with young people from Arab families. Tutoring takes place in the privacy of the mentee’s home, opening up a whole new world to the mentor and facilitating intercultural education of both mentor and mentee.

Since its start in 2009, “Schuelerpaten” has created more than 220 tutoring partnerships and has thus been instrumental in broadening the public discourse surrounding issues of integration in Germany. In 2013, El-Helaifi plans to expand “Schuelerpaten Berlin” to the Ruhr region, and later to other regions, as well. El-Helaifi, who himself has both German and Arab roots, explains the need for such a program: “As the child of a Muslim Egyptian father and a Christian German mother, I grew up learning to appreciate and embrace two religions and two very different cultures. Sometimes I felt that I was pressured to decide whether I am Egyptian or German, although I just felt as both. But I realized how hard it is to integrate if nobody takes you by the hand and explains cultural differences.”

According to Benjamin Becker, president of the German Fulbright Alumni Association, “the idea of ‘Schuelerpaten’ is both simple and revolutionary, and promotes the growth of volunteerism in Germany”. The statistics are testimony to the success of “Schuelerpaten Berlin”: In a survey conducted in 2011, over 68% of mentees said that their grades had improved dramatically through the “Schuelerpaten” program. 79% had a better understanding of school tasks, 79% had learned and incorporated crucial organizational skills, and 74%, felt more self-confident. Overall, 90% of the mentees surveyed were more than satisfied with their mentors.

Janosch Delcker wins Mulert Award 2012 with “Urban Observations”

Winner of the 2012 “Juergen Mulert Memorial Award on Mutual Understanding” is Mr. Janosch Delcker and his project “Urban Observations”.

Mr. Delcker realized a series of short videos in which he portrays artists in New York City and Berlin, respectively. The German Fulbright Alumni Association chose “Urban Observations” for its ability to esthetically foster William Fulbright’s idea of “waging peace through mutual understanding”.

The award ceremony will be held in Schwerin during the Association’s Winter Ball.

Urban Obserations
Mulert Award Winning Art Project

The Protagonists

The featured artists were supposed to represent a cross section of artists working in the respective city. Urban Observations, therefore, included various genders, ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientations, and ages. The youngest one is in his late 20s, the oldest one in her early 60s. Some of them are very established, some of them up-and-coming. Some of them are natives to their cities, some of them from other parts of the country; some of them are foreigners living in the city.

Featured Artists

1. Drag Queens: Linda Simpson (New York), Gina Tonic (Berlin)
2. Cartoonists: Isaac Littlejohn Eddie (New York), Ulli Lust (Berlin)
3. Curator: Andrianna Campbell (New York), Nico Anklam (Berlin)
4. Filmmaker: Joshua Sanchez (New York), Stephanie von Beauvais (Berlin)
5. Author: Wickham Boyle (New York), Anton Waldt (Berlin)
6. Painter: Benjamin Weber (New York), Chris Winter (Berlin)

Janosch Delcker on Urban Oberservations

Christoph Janosch Delcker, M.A.

born October 22, 1985, is a video journalist based in Berlin and Brooklyn, New York. Heʼs produced and published videos for i.a. Spiegel Online, The New York Times, ZDF Online, and dpa (Deutsche Presse Agentur). Furthermore, he has published print articles in i.a. European Voice (The Economist), Die Tageszeitung (taz) and Idealist Magazine.

He holds a Bachelorʼs degree in Literature, Music and Media from Humboldt-University, Berlin, and Universidad de Salamanca, Spain. In 2009/10, he spent one year on a Fulbright scholarship at the Department of German at New York University, where he finished his Masterʼs degree in German Literature and Media in May 2011.

Since then, heʼs been working as a freelance video journalist in Berlin, Germany.

Daniel Köhler wins Mulert Award 2011 with a “Paper on poverty reduction in the middle east”

Abstract of the Mulert Award paper 2010/2011

In a time of global economic downturn and political crisis in the Middle East the very ideas of development aid and poverty reduction have been seriously challenged. The classical arguments for poverty reduction (to fight violence and terrorism, democracy promotion, moral obligation etc) seem not to be adequate any more to prevent an identity crisis within the endeavour of global development policy. The question is: Why do we and should we engage in development aid and poverty reduction? Regrettably the answer is not as clear as it used to be. This essay tries to engage the devils advocate and to find appropriate responses to the onsets brought against poverty reduction and to make way for a new “Why” of development policy.