Fulbright Alumni Association
Living the Fulbright Spirit
The motto of this year’s upcoming Welcome Meeting in Frankfurt am Main (November 6-8, 2009) will be “Living the Fulbright Spirit”. The German Fulbright Alumni Association invites the newly arrived American Fulbright scholars to this warm-up event for their year in Germany, as well as those German students who have recently returned. The meeting serves as a unique opportunity to meet fellow Fulbrighters, share your experiences, make new friends and meet the old ones. We explicitly welcome Alumni of all ages, whether they just returned two years ago – or twenty. We know from experience that this mix of age groups and both nationalities serves as the perfect background for a rewarding and fun meeting. The format of the Welcome Meeting is highly interactive, with several workshops focusing on issues such as “How to survive Germany”, “Reverse Culture Shock” and “German-American-Relations” in general. The full agenda and information is available on our website www.fulbright-alumni.de, where you can also register online. We look forward to your attendance and a great weekend with all of you.
Fulbright Alumni Pow Wow in Munich
The German Fulbright Alumni Pow Wow 2009 was held under the motto “change@crisis”. During this conference, we intended to analyze the changes necessary after the recent global financial crisis and to provide Fulbrighters with a forum to exchange knowledge and ideas. This year’s Pow Wow took place in Munich from September 11 to 13. For the first time, international Fulbrighters were invited to join the Pow Wow, and we were happy to welcome participants from the U.S., from Hungary, Moldavia, Sweden and France - alongside many of our German members.The weekend started with an informal get-together Friday night in the Augustinerkeller, an old beer cellar vault, where the participants got to taste one of Munich’s finest beers and experienced typical grumpy Bavarian waiters. Saturday morning the group gathered in the Amerika Haus for the symposium. After opening remarks and greetings by officials, the keynote speech was given by Dr. Jackson Janes, the Executive Director of the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at the John Hopkins University in Washington D.C. He provided a broad overview of the German-American and European-American relationship from the 19th century until today and the implications from the current economic crisis on them. In the subsequent discussion, he answered various questions from an active and vivid audience.
- Panelists at the 2009 Pow Wow analyzed the implications of the recent global financial crisis
- Fulbrighters from many nations convened in Munich for the 2009 Pow Wow
The subsequent lunch break was used for continuing the discussion and socializing. In the afternoon, the group split up into five breakout sessions in which specific issues related to the crisis were analyzed in more detail. Those ranged from entrepreneurial insights offered by Dr. Markus Hess, director of „Think Beyond“ and founder of „Schoggimail“, to a comparison of F. D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal”, with Barack Obama’s stimulus programs, as introduced by Prof. Warren Hofstra, historian from Shenandoah University in Virginia. Another workshop was held by Dr. Markus Hünemörder, a lecturer in American Studies at Ludwigs-Maximilians-University Munich, on the impact of the financial crisis and its implications for the U.S. domestic policy level. And the round was completed by New York Times journalist Nicholas Kulish, who opened his talk with remarks on the differences in perception of the crisis, using the examples of Germany, the U.S. and Hungary. In order to bring the different perspectives together, all the speakers finally convened in a panel discussion, where again a lot of Fulbrighters contributed their questions, ideas and opinions.
The event was rounded off with a dinner at the impressive Munich office of our sponsor Boston Consulting Group, followed by chatting, networking, relaxing and dancing into the wee hours of the morning. Those who were still energetic enough ventured out into the social and cultural program on Sunday after a hearty brunch. This successful symposium left many participants with a positive feeling about the implications of the current crisis, serving as another example how the German Fulbright Alumni Association strives to offer relevant information and insights to its members.
Save The Date: Winterball in Bad Godesberg, January 15-17, 2010
Next year’s Winterball will take place in picturesque Bad Godesberg, near Bonn at the banks of the river Rhine. Along with the entertainment and the chance to celebrate with fellow Fulbrighters, we will also hold the annual members’ assembly of the German Fulbright Alumni Association on this weekend.
Information on the Winterball, other upcoming events and activities in your area is available on our website www.fulbright-alumni.de. Visit us online to find out more about the Fulbright Alumni e.V. and how to become a member.
Stephan Meyer-Brehm
Vice President for Communications
Fulbright Alumni e.V.