You reached this page through the archive. Click here to return to the archive.

Note: This article is over a year old and information contained in it may no longer be accurate. Please use the contact information in the lower-left corner to verify any information in this article.

One more name added to Fulbright list

By Kristina Boyer '05
August 28, 2005

Fulbright4large
This year's St. Olaf Fulbright recipients include (clockwise from top right) Knut Christianson, Kathy Pospichal, Kristin White and Rebecca Lofft.
Justin Johnson '05, who will study in China, is the most recent addition to the list of St. Olaf students -- including his classmates Knut Christianson, Rebecca Lofft, Kathy Pospichal and Kristin White -- who have each been selected to receive a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship for the 2005-06 academic year. The five students continue a strong tradition at the college, where 19 students have received Fulbrights in the past three years.

"I'm delighted that these five students have received the award," says Professor of Norwegian Solveig Zempel, who served as the primary advisor on the St. Olaf Fulbright Advisory Board. "It's a grueling process, and every student did a splendid job." After graduating from St. Olaf this spring, the five students will travel to three different continents to conduct their research.

Christianson, a physics, mathematics, and Norwegian major from Stratford, Wis., will spend next year on the Norwegian island of Svalbard, participating in a project called EnviTools that uses ground-penetrating radar and satellite remote sensing to study glaciers. Christianson will apply the experience toward his own project, "Norwegian Polar Research: A Multifaceted Approach to the Cryosphere."

Lofft, a Norwegian and English major from San Diego, Calif., also will travel to Norway, where she will pursue a master's degree at the Norwegian Hardanger Fiddle Academy of Telemark University. She will study the history and traditions of folk music, with a focus on the role of women in Norway's folk music and culture.

Chile is the destination for Kathy Pospichal, a Spanish and education major with a concentration in linguistics from Renton, Wash. Pospichal will spend the academic year teaching English as a Foreign Language in a Chilean university English department, and also will enroll in courses in linguistics or Chilean literature. Her plans also include volunteering for a local community organization or primary school.

White, an Asian studies and political science major from Rapid City, S.D., will travel to Japan to study grassroots Japanese organizations that promote political change by using municipal governments to further the rights of various groups. She will attend university classes, research historical documents and non-governmental organizations, and interview local groups and politicians.

The Fulbright Program was conceived by Senator J. William Fulbright to serve as a much-needed vehicle for promoting "mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries of the world." Since its creation in 1945, it has become the U.S. Government's flagship program in international education exchange.

Fulbrights are granted to U.S. citizens and to nationals of other countries for a variety of educational activities. Since the program's inception, more than 250,000 participants have had the opportunity to lecture or conduct research in a wide variety of academic and professional fields ranging from journalism and urban planning to music, philosophy, business administration and zoology.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.