A Fulbright Conversation with CNN Anchor Aaron Brown on March 27

How accurately do the media represent the competing interests of American foreign policy? How fully do they convey the tensions of other nations and potential for conflict? How much do journalists shape as well as report world events? Come discuss such issues with Aaron Brown, CNN anchor on March 27 from 2-4 p.m.

Co-sponsored by the Minnesota Journalism Center of the University of Minnesota and held in the Cedar Exchange (500 Cedar Avenue; downtown Saint Paul), the next Fulbright Association Minnesota Chapter event featuring Brown will offer all who come an opportunity to talk with Brown following his keynote address.

Less than an hour after the first attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11, Brown, CNN’s lead anchor of the flagship evening newscast, began covering the event from a New York rooftop. His coverage of the Iraq war some months later found him responding almost around the clock to live, raw feeds from embedded reporters. The decisions he made on whose voice to broadcast, on how long to keep the focus on one or another incipient battle, and on how to frame the events for the public

shaped not only the views of American cable viewers but those around the world as well. Thus, the participation of our international Fulbright fellows in

Minnesota will be of particular interest.

Although the Fulbright / Journalism Center event will focus on recent foreign policy reporting, Brown’s 25 year career with ABC and CNN includes a wide variety of contributions: the British return of Hong Kong to China, the return of Mandala to freedom and the presidency of South Africa, the restoration of Aristide to Haiti, the death of Princess Diana, and much else.

“A Conversation with Aaron Brown: World Events and the Media” – Saturday, March 27 from 2-4 is free and open to the public at Cedar Exchange, 500 Cedar; Saint Paul. No reservations are required, but for further information contact Dr. Denise Roy, President of the Fulbright Association, Minnesota Chapter (droy@wmitchell.edu); 651-290-6385 or Dr. Eleanor Heginbotham, Past President (heginbotham@csp.edu); 651-225-0796

A Warm Winter Gathering

On the evening of Saturday, January 24, a group of congenial Fulbrighters gathered at Concordia University in St. Paul to share a potluck meal and view the classic American film “To Kill A Mockingbird.” The group included both local alumni and current grantees visiting Minnesota from such diverse places as Iceland, Uruguay and Palestinian Gaza. We began with informal conversation over a delicious and diverse meal, from hummus to spicy chicken on a bed of rice to warm banana bread. It was a family-friendly event, and a number of young children played together, supervised by a babysitter provided so parents could watch the film.

We owe special thanks to Minnesota alum Pete Parshall, who volunteered to share his affection for “To Kill A Mockingbird,” his expertise as a cinema scholar (see inset, pg 3) and his considerable skill as a discussion leader, as well as his projector and DVD of the film. His lively, enthusiastic style and provocative questions facilitated a discussion that was the highlight of the evening. Discussion ranged from questioning why white Americans are so comfortable with Mockingbird’s treatment of race discrimination to marveling at the device of using a child’s perspective to illuminate injustice to studying the film’s style and structure.

This simple event proved a successful recipe for a warm Fulbright-style interchange. Anna-Lind Petursdottir, from Iceland, summed it up this way, “The international potluck provided delicious food and opportunities to share a little piece of everybody's different culture. The discussion following the movie made me see it in a new light and added to my knowledge about the political aspect of it. The commenter was very knowledgeable about the film and facilitated the discussion skillfully.”

Those who attended were so enthusiastic that several suggested we schedule regular Fulbright film evenings. The Board will be talking about doing just that, along with making other plans for the coming year, at an April 17 meeting. If you have an interest in helping plan a film evening (even if only to suggest a film) or in attending a film evening, please contact Denise Roy at droy@wmitchell.edu or 651-290-6385.

About Pete Parshall

Pete taught film and literature at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana, for thirty-four years. In 1999-2000, he was awarded a Fulbright grant to teach American film at the Technological University in Dresden, Germany. He retired and moved with his wife back to Minneapolis in 2001, “tearing ourselves away with only the greatest difficulty from the rich cultural life of Terre Haute. We were drawn back by the romantic memories of our courtship years, the opportunity to buy new cars more frequently thanks to the salt damage, and the knowledge that at our age we would probably look better in muckluks in Minnesota than in pink shorts in Florida.” Pete continues to teach film courses in retirement for Elder Learning Institute and Compleat Scholar and will teach a course in American Film of the 60’s and 70’s (Bonnie & Clyde, The Graduate, etc.) for Compleat Scholar next fall.]

Macalester International Roundtable Event and Luncheon

On October 11, 2003, gold leaves waved in the rain outside the glass walls of Macalester Chapel, where a full house, including about 15 Fulbrighters, listened and responded to three world-renowned scholars wind up the three-day International Roundtable. “Complex Contradictions: African, American, and Middle Eastern Perspectives,” drew Columbia University’s Rashid Khalidi; UC at Irvine’s Ngugi wa Thiong’o; and U Texas’s Philip Chase Bobbitt to explore the nature of power, of democracy, of nationalism, of Eurocentrism, of Colonialism, and of the political history of the 20^th Century. The discussion was moderated by Macalester senior Sumeet Atul, along with Conference Director, Ahmed I. Samatar.

After provocative questions, including a number from our own group, and civil but decidedly different answers on the part of the speakers, Fulbrighters met for lunch in an upper room, where, the rain pouring down outside, creating a kind of cocoon for thought, we continued the discussion and ultimately applied some of the talk to plans for new get-togethers for and with visiting Fulbrighters.

Fulbright Perspectives: Creating a Research Music Library in Greece

By David Lesniaski

My Fulbright in Athens during the spring of 1995 was a bit unusual. I was to serve as a consultant to help create a university-level research music library, the first such in Greece.

I applied the prior spring at the urging of friends and colleagues. As a composer as well as librarian, I had some experience competing for commissions, but never before had considered a Fulbright. Since I had a rather broad background in librarianship and was in a “synthesizing” stage of my career, I thought this would be a mutually beneficial project, even though I knew little of Greece and even less Greek. I dutifully sent in my application, received a polite acknowledgement from someone in Washington a few months later, and heard nothing else .. until I received a call at 6:00AM, at home, in October 1994 from the secretary of the library’s governing board, asking me when I would begin the project, and inquiring if I could come for a week in October to help create plans.

I did, and returned in February to begin the project in earnest. The library then consisted of three rooms in a beautiful new concert hall in downtown Athens, a donated collection of a few thousand items (including costumes of Maria Callas), two computers, one internet connection, and the director and secretary. I participated in hiring additional library staff, student interns from the library school, and a technologist. It was clear that the project of creating the library would continue long after I was gone. However, we made great progress: we began building a solid collection of books, scores, and recordings, and had visits from other musicians interested in possibilities of uniting music and technology over the web. We got the catalog up and running, and I trained the staff in configuring the catalog

and in cataloging music (and in just about every other piece of software we acquired). When I left in July, there still was much to do, but eventually the library did open, and has had a website for several years.

Not all the sailing was smooth. Though the board wanted an American-style library, they didn’t quite understand what that implied, and it was a struggle to convince them that this was a unified concept, not one they could pick and choose from. So there were issues of access, hierarchy, and, ultimately gender. Yet, in the end, the library was on its way, the students completed their library education, and one library staff member received a Fulbright to come to the US to study music librarianship.

I had a wonderful time both personally and professionally. The half-year I spent in Athens was a good time for me to think globally about what makes a library useful, about the different cultural settings of libraries, and the library as an organic whole, not merely a collection of goods and services. I hope I am fortunate enough to have another Fulbright adventure.

David Lesniaski is an assistant professor of interdisciplinary studies and a librarian at St. Olaf College. He is also the music director at St. James Episcopal Church, Minneapolis

President’s Letter

Greetings Fulbrighters,

As the new President of this chapter, I look forward to joining with all of you to promote the Fulbright spirit here in Minnesota. I’d like to first introduce myself briefly, then talk about local Fulbright activities for the coming year and finally express appreciation for the work of our outgoing President, Eleanor Heginbotham.

For my Fulbright experience, I spent six months in Indonesia teaching courses on Gender & Law and Tax Policy, as well as conducting research about the Indonesian legal profession. My daughter Leona, now 8, traveled with me and enjoyed McDonald’s there just as much as she does here! Back at home, I am a tax law professor at William Mitchell College of Law, where I also teach a course exploring the role of lawyers in democratization around the world that was inspired by my Fulbright experience.

I’m excited about the year’s Fulbright activities, already off to a great start with the Mockingbird event covered elsewhere in this newsletter. Next up is wonderful opportunity to explore the role of the media in shaping world affairs, “A Conversation with Aaron Brown: World Events and the Media,” on March 27. I hope to meet many of you at that event.

Our next board meeting will take place on April 17 at noon at William Mitchell College of Law, where we will plan for the next academic year. In addition to our traditional plans of welcoming visiting Fulbright scholars and organizing events at which we can bring our Fulbright perspectives to public discussions, we have ideas for new activities as well. They include holding regular film gatherings, creating more opportunities for informal meetings, and helping our legislators better appreciate the Fulbright promise. We would appreciate getting your input about priorities and any other ideas you would care to share. If you have any suggestions for the board, please get them to me before the April 17 meeting.

We owe deep appreciation for recent successes and current energy to outgoing President Eleanor Heginbotham. Ellie, thank you very much for your generous service to the Minnesota Chapter. Ellie’s term ended as of January, but she continues to serve on the board until June, when she will retire from Concordia University in St. Paul and move back to Washington, D.C. We will miss her dynamic, creative spirit and her incredible organizational skills.

Happy Spring everyone!

Denise Roy