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Sixth St. Olaf College graduate named Fulbright Scholar for 2001-2002

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July 10, 2001

NORTHFIELD, Minn. ? Another recent St. Olaf College graduate has been named a Fulbright Scholar for 2001-2002, bringing to six the number of St. Olaf graduates who have been awarded Fulbright Scholarships this year.

Avery Fischer, a recent St. Olaf graduate from Wichita, Kansas, will study for a year in Japan, learning short-form Japanese poetry by attending university classes and talking with Japanese poets. Fischer?s honor was announced recently by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

Five other St. Olaf graduates ? Katherine Bollman, Catherine Brown, Deborah Pagels and Sarah Rasmussen, all from the class of 2001, and 2000 graduate Jeremy Swanson ? were named Fulbright Scholars earlier this year.

In addition to this year?s six awardees, five other St. Olaf graduates are currently studying abroad as 2000 Fulbright Scholars.

Fischer graduated in May with departmental distinction, majoring in Asian studies (concentration on Japan) and English. She was a member of the St. Olaf Band for four years, serving as principal oboist her junior and senior years. She also co-edited the Cricket, a newsletter for the Asian Studies Department, and was on the planning committee for the Peace Prize Forum 2000. During her sophomore through senior years she served as a mentor for students at Northeast Middle School in Minneapolis.

Last January Fischer traveled to China and Japan as part of a St. Olaf international studies program. She also traveled to Ireland and Britain with the St. Olaf Band during the summer 2000.

The five earlier St. Olaf Fulbright recipients will use their scholarships to study abroad for a year on research projects of their choice.

Bollman, from Pine Island, Minn., will study this fall at the Norwegian Theater (Det Norsk Teatret) in Oslo, Norway, pursuing an independent project on Henrik Ibsen. Brown, from Danville, Va., will serve as a teaching assistant in English at a German high school and pursue her interest in the differences between music education in Germany and the United States. Pagels, from Kansas City, Mo., will serve as a teaching assistant in Germany. Rassmussen, from Sisseton, S.D., will study theater arts in Norway concentrating on race relations and cultural identity through the lens of theater. Swanson, from Minneapolis, Minn., will study and practice journalism in Tanzania while focusing on how the Tanzanian media influences democracy in their country.

The Fulbright Scholarships cover transportation, tuition and fees and room and board, and provide a monthly stipend.

The Fulbright Scholarship program, administered by Congress, is intended to foster mutual understanding among nations through educational and cultural exchanges. The program is funded by an annual Congressional appropriation and contributions from participating countries.

The program started shortly after World War II, when Arkansas Sen. J. William Fulbright proposed an annual scholarship to "provide the opportunity for future leaders to observe and better comprehend the institutions, cultures and societies of other countries and peoples." Congress approved the program, and President Harry S. Truman signed it into law in 1946. Since then more than 83,000 "Fulbrighters" have studied, taught or performed research in 140 countries.

The Fulbright application process is extremely rigorous, according to St. Olaf College English faculty member John Day, the college?s Fulbright program advisor. In addition to an application and a language skills evaluation, each candidate must write two essays and provide three letters of recommendation. Candidates first must pass an on-campus screening, then an evaluation by a national panel of experts, and finally a screening by the candidate?s host country.

St. Olaf College prepares students to become responsible citizens of the world, fostering development of mind, body and spirit. A four-year, coeducational liberal arts college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), St. Olaf has a student enrollment of 2,950 and a full-time faculty of approximately 256. It is one of Money Guide?s top 100 "elite values in college education today," and it leads the nation?s colleges in number of students who study abroad.

Contact Michael Cooper at 507-786-3315 or cooperm@stolaf.edu.