News Release
April 2000
Moravian
College announced that graduating senior Daniel Bryne has been selected
to receive a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship. After graduation, he
will serve as a "paedagogischer Assistent" for a year, teaching
English and American History at a German high school in the state of
Schleswig Holstein. Concurrently, he will continue the research that
he began this year in the Moravian College Honors Program on German
Nobel Prize-winning author, Heinrich Böll.
Byrne’s Fulbright Scholarship is the forth such
award given to a Moravian student in recent history. Byrne is the second
German major at Moravian in two years to receive the prestigious Fulbright.
Marianne Zwicker, who graduated last year, is studying presently in
Berlin. She is continuing her research on the victimization of the Sinti
and Roma Gypsies before, during, and since the Holocaust. Patricia McAndrew,
class of ’68, an honors history student received a Fulbright to
work with a well-known Danish ballet master. Helen Bachonin, class of
’65, received a Fulbright for study at the University of Madrid.
Byrne will graduate from Moravian in May with majors in
History and German. He graduated from Bangor Area High School in 1996,
where he took three years of German language courses. He came to Moravian
College in the fall of 1996, majoring in History. But after taking two
German courses at Moravian, he decided to become a double major.
During the Spring Term of last year (1999), Byrne traveled
to Germany where he studied German language and literature at the University
of Tübingen. "The six months I spent in Germany participating
in the Antioch College Study Abroad Program was the most important experience
of my life," said Bryne. "I studied not only the German language,
German literature, history, and contemporary society; But I also learned
more about myself and how to relate to and deal with the culture of
the United States," he said.
Byrne has just completed and defended an ambitious Honors
thesis this spring entitled, "The Eye of Humanity": The War
and Post-War Novels of Heinrich Böll.
Byrne received strong support for his application from
Dr. Hans Wuerth, professor of German at Moravian. "Daniel is a
very fine, responsible, and industrious young man and I was pleased
when he agreed to spend a semester abroad in Tübingen," said
Wuerth. "I was also delighted to work with him on his Honors project
that took much preparation and work. Of course, I am very happy that
he received this outstanding recognition, a Fulbright. I am sure that
he will represent our institution well and honorably while teaching
and learning at his assigned German school," he added.
"I applied for the Fulbright scholarship with the
knowledge that another year abroad in Germany would further improve
my language skills and also expose me to a positive environment in which
I could teach a foreign language (English) to my future students in
Germany," he said. Byrne graciously acknowledges those at Moravian
College who helped him earn the Fulbright. "I am deeply grateful
for having received this prestigious award. If not for Dr. Hans Wuerth
and his committed dedication, support and advice, I could not have received
this fellowship. I also would like to thank Dr. Dennis Glew and Dr.
Therese Decker for their support and commitment," Byrne said.
The U.S. Congress created the Fulbright Program in 1946,
immediately after World War II, to foster mutual understanding among
nations through educational and cultural exchanges. Today the Fulbright
Program is the U.S. Government's premier scholarship program. It enables
U.S. students, artists and other professionals to benefit from unique
resources all over the world.
Each year the Fulbright Program allows Americans to study
or conduct research in over 100 nations. The Institute of International
Education (IIE) coordinates the activities relevant to the U.S. graduate
student program and conducts an annual competition for the scholarships,
most of which are for one academic year of study or research.
The Fulbright Full Grant provides round-trip transportation;
language or orientation courses, where appropriate; tuition, in some
cases; book and research allowances; and maintenance for the academic
year.
The U.S. Student Program is designed to give recent B.S./B.A.
graduates, masters and doctoral candidates, and young professionals
and artists opportunities for personal development and international
experience. Most grantees plan their own programs. Projects may include
university coursework, independent library or field research, classes
in a music conservatory or art school, special projects in the social
or life sciences, or a combination.
Moravian College is a private, coeducational, selective
liberal arts college located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Tracing its
founding to 1742, it is recognized as America's sixth-oldest college.
Visit the Web site at www.moravian.edu.
