Passing the Baton at Fulbright Austria

Fulbright Austria is pleased to announce the appointment of its new executive director, Dr. Hermann Agis, who will assume his position on August 1. Current executive director Dr. Lonnie R. Johnson will retire on September 30, after over 20...

New diversity initiative in the Fulbright community: Fulbright Salam

The Fulbright community at large has been placing increasingly more attention on the diversity of the Fulbright Program's grantees and alumni. Two Fulbright...

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2018: A Year in Review

2018: A Year in Review

2018 has been a busy and exciting year for Fulbright Austria! Take a look at our timeline for some highlights from this year.

An Interview: Helmut Sohmen on his Fulbright Experience: Be Prepared!

An Interview: Helmut Sohmen on his Fulbright Experience: Be Prepared!

Helmut Sohmen remains grateful to the Fulbright idea and has pledged a generous contribution to Fulbright Austria at a time when government budget restrictions everywhere are creating funding shortages. In typical Sohmen fashion, he wants to provide help when it is needed to give other youngsters chances in life similar to those he was privileged to enjoy. “After all, actions speak louder than words,” he says, “and I hope my fellow Fulbright scholars and the politicians are listening.”

Thank Fulbright – Thanksgiving hits the news!

Our annual Thank Fulbright - Thanksgiving event on “Giving Tuesday” at the Glacis Beisl was a great success with more than 100 alumni, friends and associates of the Fulbright Program in attendance. Together we have so far raised more than €20,000, which will be doubled by incentive funding provided by the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research. Thank you for your generous contributions!

Reading by Fulbright Alumna Lilly Maier: Arthur und Lilly, November 28, 2018

Reading by Fulbright Alumna Lilly Maier: Arthur und Lilly, November 28, 2018

In Arthur und Lilly, Fulbright alumna Lilly Maier tells the poignant story of an Austrian Holocaust survivor and her friendship with him. "I had a wonderful life," Arthur Kern muses, meaning his childhood in Vienna – up to that fateful moment in 1939, when at the age of just ten he is suddenly separated from his family. Hoping to save him from the Holocaust, his Jewish parents send him away to an unfamiliar world with a Kindertransport, or children's transport – a traumatic experience for the ten-year-old. He manages to escape to America via France, but he never sees his family again.

Thank Fulbright - Thanksgiving - November 27, 2018

Thank Fulbright - Thanksgiving - November 27, 2018

Last year, we started a new tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving with the Fulbright family. Together we gave thanks and counted our blessings because as alumni of the Fulbright Program, we know how fortunate we are to have had such life-changing opportunities. We hope you will join us this year for our Thanksgiving celebration and rekindle your Fulbright experience.

YOUR INVITATION TO THANK FULBRIGHT – THANKSGIVING, November 27, 2018

YOUR INVITATION TO THANK FULBRIGHT – THANKSGIVING, November 27, 2018

Do you want to celebrate Thanksgiving on “Giving Tuesday” with the Fulbright family? Fulbright Austria is inviting all alumni, friends, and associates of the program who respond to our second annual call for support this fall to a Thanksgiving dinner on November 27, 2018. This is a great time of the year to express our gratitude and to count our blessings, because as alumni of the Fulbright Program, we know how fortunate we are to have had such life-changing opportunities. We hope you will join us this year to rekindle your Fulbright experience.

New Fulbright Austria Staff Member: Karin Schachner, MA

New Fulbright Austria Staff Member: Karin Schachner, MA

Fulbright Austria greets its newest team member Karin Schachner

New Fulbright Austria Staff Member: Darrah Lustig, MAIS

New Fulbright Austria Staff Member: Darrah Lustig, MAIS

Darrah Lustig joins the Fulbright Austria team!

Theodora Ivanova Nestorova Modern Austrian Vocal Pedagogy in a Global Context

Theodora Ivanova Nestorova Modern Austrian Vocal Pedagogy in a Global Context

For a young soprano, freshly graduated from Oberlin Conservatory, the opportunity to do a Fulbright Study/Research grant in Vienna, the capital of classical music, is a life-changing experience.

Waiting a Lifetime to Give Back: Alumni Respond to Our Call for Support

News Alumni Editorial

Waiting a Lifetime to Give Back: Alumni Respond to Our Call for Support

The beginning of a new program year is also a time to take stock, and I want to take this opportunity to look back and to look ahead with you.

A Tour of the Bundesländer: USTA Welcome Events, October 2018

Over the last few weeks, this year’s US teaching assistants have been adjusting to their lives in Austria, and Program Officer Dune Johnson spent that time traveling to the various provinces to meet the 2018-19 cohort. For some, this month has marked their first intrepid steps into Austria’s vibrant culture, while others have returned for a second year to delve further into everything this beautiful Alpine country has to offer. During the tour of the Bundesländer, Dune asked the USTAs to share their first impressions of Austria or, if they had returned for a second year, what they had missed while they were away for the summer. Below is a selection of their responses.

Adapting to a New Country: USTA & FLTA Orientations

Moving to a new place always involves certain challenges, and while some feel at home right away, others must first surmount their initial apprehensions before they feel comfortable in a new setting. We asked two teaching assistants to share their orientation experiences with us: USTA Leah Bruce, who is residing in Steyr, Upper Austria, and FLTA Vanessa Erat, who is currently living in Norman, Oklahoma. Though their paths meandered along different routes, both have happily settled into their new adventure. Here are their stories.

2018-19 orientation brings US and UK teaching assistants together for a week of work and fun

Of the 153 US teaching assistants who will be teaching in schools in communities large and small all across Austria, 105 are first-year USTAs who attended the annual weeklong orientation seminar organized by the Austrian Ministry of Education, Science, and Research. USTAs assigned to schools in Vienna, Lower Austria, Styria, and Burgenland attended orientation in St. Pölten, while those working in schools in Carinthia, Salzburg, Tirol, Vorarlberg, and Upper Austria learned about the program in Saalbach-Hinterglemm. Participants at both orientations had a chance to learn about the Austrian school system, to put together lesson plans, to visit local classrooms, and to mingle with their fellow teaching assistants from the US and the UK. Congratulations to all first-year USTAs for successfully completing orientation; we look forward to an exciting school year!

European Fulbright Diversity Initiative, September 22-23, 2018

The German-American Fulbright Commission was instrumental in the conception of the European Fulbright Diversity Initiative and hosted a conference in Berlin on September 22-23 with the generous support of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) at the US Department of State. ECA as well as Fulbright commissions worldwide strive to ensure that the Fulbright Program reflects the diversity of US society and societies abroad, and they are committed to providing exchange opportunities for all segments of society under the auspices of the Fulbright Program. This event created a unique multinational forum for the various constituencies involved in European Fulbright programs to address a wide range of issues related to the promotion of diversity, equity, and inclusion in Fulbright programming.

Fulbright Orientation in Vienna, September 18-21, 2018

Twenty-one new US Fulbright student grantees and two scholars participate in the Fall 2018 US Fulbright orientation.

US Fulbright Orientation, September 18-21, 2018

Twenty-one new US Fulbright Students and two US Scholars joined us for the fall 2018 US Fulbright orientation in Vienna. The fall 2018 US Fulbright orientation featured thought-provoking lectures and discussions in Fulbright Austria's Q21 offices with guests from the US Embassy Vienna, the Austrian Academy of Sciences, and the Haus der Geschichte Österreich.

Alumni Profile - Bruce Pauley: Historian and Major Donor

When he was a PhD candidate 55 years ago, Fulbright alumnus and historian Bruce Pauley received a grant to do research in Austria. It changed his life forever and provided him with the foundation for a distinguished career as a scholar and teacher. He visited Vienna in June to give a public talk about his life and career and to publicly announce his second major gift to Fulbright Austria.

The Fulbright Experience: Continuing Collaboration and Alumni Impact

Every year, the Fulbright US Scholar Program provides up to 25 academics with the opportunity to spend a semester at one of Fulbright Austria’s partner institutions, where they conduct research, teach, and advise students. Very often, their Fulbright experience extends far beyond the four months spent in Austria. As an international educational and cultural exchange program, the Fulbright US Scholar Program was designed to initiate contact between US academics and faculty and students at their host institutions and lay the ground for long-term collaborations. At the same time, the program wants to provide grantees with opportunities to build their academic careers and focus on their scholarship.

Pre-Departure Orientation and Going Away Heuriger, June 22, 2018

On June 22, it was time to say goodbye not only to the US Fulbright Students and Scholars who studied and taught in Austria during the past academic year but also to the Austrian Fulbright Students, Scholars, and FLTAs who will be going to the US this fall.

Alumni installation: “Kreuz und Quer”: Arnold Schoenberg’s Reimagining of Melody and Harmony, June 11, 2018

In this exhibit, US Fulbright alumni Franziska Brunner and Ross Lipton crossed boundaries of research and academic presentation to transfer their intellectual work into artistic practices, including visual art, installation, and sound design. They explored Arnold Schoenberg’s varied and far-reaching ideas of melody and harmony, which span from his early years in Vienna and Berlin to his later years in California. With approaches coming from the distantly related disciplines of historical musicology and comparative literature, Schoenberg the composer, artist, theorist, and pedagogue offered fruitful common ground for their creative and intellectual explorations. This experience was designed to provoke a dialogue about the relevance and value of new music and art in a world in which stark oppositions have become the norm.

Editorial: #FullofChange

October 29, 2019

Every Fulbright year is a year of transition and a year full of change. Our new cohorts have successfully started their program year in the US and Austria. You, our alumni and friends, make these experiences possible.