WINNERS OF INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARSHIPS

The University of Minnesota Graduate School is pleased to announce that the following

students have received Fulbright Scholarships for 2004-05:

Catherine (Catie) Almirall, an undergraduate student majoring in Spanish and Economics , is one of nine students nationally to receive a Fulbright Scholarship to Peru.  

Ted K. Brekken, a Ph.D. student in Electrical Engineering , is the 2004-05 winner of the University of Minnesota Graduate School’s Fulbright Scholarship Exchange Program with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, Norway.   His research focuses on developing a method of controlling wind generators.   He will gain practical knowledge of wind implementation by studying Norway’s wind farms.   Mr. Brekken also received a B.S. and a M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Minnesota.  

Laura J. Hammond, an undergraduate student in German and Political Science, has received a Fulbright teaching assistantship to Germany for the 2004-05 academic year.   She will teach English and American studies and literature in a German high school.  

Kristen M. Jones, a Ph.D. student in Germanic Studies , is one of eight students nationally to receive a Fulbright Scholarship to Denmark.   She will spend the 2004-05 academic year at the Universitet Aarhus analyzing how the notion of Danishness evolved through literature in the nineteenth century.   Ms. Jones received a B.A. in German and Linguistics from the University of Massachusetts in 1999 and a M.A. in German from the University of Minnesota in 2002.  

Fawna J. Korhonen, a Ph.D. student in Geology , is one of seven students nationally to receive a Fulbright Scholarship to Finland.   During the next academic year, she will conduct research in the Varpaisjärvi region in central Finland, focusing on magnetic minerals and their origins.   In addition, she will collaborate with geologists at the Geological Survey of Finland.   Ms. Korhonen received a B.A. in Geology from Carleton College in 1997.   

Elizabeth (Libby) M. Lunstrum, a Ph.D. student in Geography, has received a Fulbright Scholarship to Mozambique.   She will spend twelve months examining Southern Africa’s Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park (GLTP) and Conservation Area (CA).   She will investigate the claim that the GLTP and CA are fostering inter-state cooperation and promoting regional peace and that they are empowering local communities by bringing decentralized, community-based rural development.   The results of her research will play a significant role in the Ministry of Tourism.  

Ms. Lunstrum received a B.A. in Philosophy and Women’s Studies from the University of Washington in 1997 and a M.A. in Philosophy from Michigan State University in 1999.

Kristin L. Mercer, a Ph.D. student in Applied Plant Sciences, has received a Fulbright Scholarship to Mexico.   She will spend 2004-05 at El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (Ecosu), a publicly funded research and education institution with over 100 active researchers at five campuses in the southern states of Mexico.   She will collaborate with Hugo Perales Rivera, an authority on landraces of maize.   Ms. Mercer received a B.A. in Biology from Wesleyan University in 1996 and a M.S. in Agronomy from the University of Minnesota in 2000.   

Lisa A. Peschel, a Ph.D. student in Theater Arts , is one of seven students nationally to receive a Fulbright Scholarship to the Czech Republic.   She will research the role of theatrical performance in the World War II ghetto at Terezin and the ways in which two groups – the Nazi commanders and the Czech Jews – attempted to use performance to stabilize aspects of their own and the other group’s identity as well as the identity of the camp itself.   She will draw upon Czech-language secondary sources and the expertise of theater scholars there as well as several sets of primary documents housed mainly in the Jewish Museum in Prague and in the archives at Terezin.   Ms. Peschel received a B.S. in English Literature from the University of Wisconsin in 1989 and an M.F.A. in Playwriting from the University of Texas at Austin in 2001.  

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA GRADUATE STUDENT WINS DAAD SCHOLARSHIP

Brechtje Beuker, a Ph.D. student in German, has received a DAAD Graduate Scholarship for 2004-05.   She will conduct research on the relationship between violence and art, focusing on German and Austrian dramatists of the postwar period.   A lengthy stay in Berlin will enable her to establish a network in the city’s theater world, where she will analyze a substantial number of theater productions.   Ms. Beuker received a Teacher’s License and a M.A. in German Language and Literature from Rijksuniversiteit Groningen in 1999.