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Four St. Olaf seniors, one recent graduate are named Fulbright Scholars for 2001-2002

kab
May 9, 2001

NORTHFIELD, Minn. ? Four St. Olaf College seniors and one recent graduate have been named Fulbright Scholars for the 2001-2002 academic year, and two others have been named Fulbright alternates.

In addition, one other St. Olaf student is a candidate for a yet-to-be-announced Fulbright Scholarship. Fulbright Scholarships cover transportation, tuition and fees and room and board, and provide a monthly stipend.

The St. Olaf seniors who have been named Fulbright Scholars are: Katherine Bollman of Pine Island, Minn. Bollman will intern at the Norwegian Theater (Det Norsk Teatret) in Oslo, Norway, studying Henrik Ibsen.

Catherine Brown of Danville, Va. Brown will serve as a teaching assistant in English at a German high school and will study the differences between music education in Germany and the United States.

Deborah Pagels of Kansas City, Mo. Pagels also will be a teaching assistant in Germany.

Sarah Rasmussen of Sisseton, S.D. Rasmussen will study theater arts in Norway, concentrating on race relations and cultural identities through the lens of theater.

The recent St. Olaf graduate who was named a Fulbright Scholar is Jeremy Swanson. He will study and practice journalism in Tanzania while focusing on how the Tanzanian media influences democracy in their country.

In addition, Jennifer Erickson of Brainerd, Minn., a political science major with a Nordic studies concentration, is an alternate for Fulbright study in Sweden. Avery Fischer of Wichita, Kansas, an English and Asian studies major, is an alternate for Fulbright study in Japan.

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Bollman will graduate from St. Olaf this spring with a communication-theater major, focusing on theater arts with a concentration in Nordic studies. At St. Olaf she was a stage manager in the theater department for three years and was involved in scenic design. During the fall of 1999 she took part in St. Olaf College?s international studies program at the University of East Anglia, England.

Brown will graduate with a double major in German and music. Three summers ago she worked as a voice teacher and counselor at French Woods Festival, a summer music camp in Hancock, NY. When she returned to St. Olaf she started a small voice studio which has grown to include five students.

While at St. Olaf Brown has traveled to Germany three times. As a freshman she studied in Germany during the January Interim and later returned on a family vacation. Last year she participated in a summer language course at the University of Tubingen on a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange. She views her Fulbright scholarship as a chance to practice what she?s studied at St. Olaf. "I?m looking forward to the opportunity to fine-tune my language skills and experience another culture more deeply than I?ve been able to do before."

Pagels will graduate with a double major in religion and German. At St. Olaf she is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the national scholastic honorary society; Theta Alpha Kappa, religion honor society; the St. Olaf track and field team; and the St. Olaf swim team, where her performances earned her All-American and Academic All-American honors. She also sang in the adult choir at Northfield?s United Church of Christ, and last year studied in Paderborn, Germany.

Rasmussen will graduate with a double major in theater and English. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa; sang with the St. Olaf Chapel Choir; and is a member of Theta Alpha Phi, theater honor society. She has been active in St. Olaf Theater productions, directing this year?s senior show, "How I Learned to Drive," and performing in "Sweeney Todd" and "Twelfth Night."

Rasmussen traveled twice with St. Olaf College international studies programs. She studied theater and arts in London and took part in the Global Semester as a junior.

Swanson graduated in May 2000 with an English major. He currently is a freelance writer and film critic in Minneapolis, Minn. At St. Olaf he was a student writer and editor for the St. Olaf Media Relations Office and was a member of the wrestling team. During his junior year Swanson lived in Dublin, Ireland, studying at Trinity College as part of the St. Olaf international studies program.

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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.

For the last several years St. Olaf has produced at least four Fulbright Scholars each year.

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 complement of approximately 300. It is one of Money Guide?s top 100 "elite values in college education today," and it leads the nation?s colleges in percentage of students who study abroad.

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