Bus Tour of
Twin Cities Landmarks!
On
October 1, we
kicked off our activities this year
with a “Welcome to the Twin Cities” bus tour of significant cultural,
historical, and natural landmarks in St. Paul and Minneapolis. Together
with local
members, about 15 new and continuing international Fulbright visitors -
students, scholars, teachers, and professionals, began the tour on
Summit
Avenue in St. Paul.
The
historical theme for the tour was certainly the role of the Mississippi
River
in establishing St. Paul and Minneapolis as the milling capitals of the
world.
We began by viewing the mansions and churches on Summit Avenue, whose
majestic
character has not changed in one hundred years. Towards the end of our
tour we
viewed similar stately homes around Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis.
In
between we drove along the Mississippi and looked up at the University
of
Minnesota and the Weisman Art Museum (designed by Frank Ghery), from
river
level. We passed the new Guthrie Theater building and the new
Minneapolis
Public Library, with its beautiful snowflake and forest-etched windows.
Two
highlights included walking through the Walker Sculpture Garden and
taking time
out for desserts and conversation at Minnehaha Falls, the only
waterfall on the
Mississippi River.
The
trip was a great introduction to the Twin Cities landmarks and to each
other!
Gathered
at the Sculpture Garden!
Board Members
at
Minnehaha Falls--
L to R:
President Elizabeth
Moe, Stacy Beckwith, David Lesniaski, past President Denise Roy (with
plaque
for outstanding Association leadership!)
President’s Letter
Greetings,
The
Fulbright Association, Minnesota Chapter will be pursuing fun and
fellowship in 2006 starting with the Literary Event and Potluck Dinner
on January 21, 2006. Please join us!
Over the
next few months we need to identify several new board members for the
term beginning in August 2006. The Board
cares about creating and maintaining a community of Fulbrighters in
Minnesota. We are working to build a
thriving chapter that has a vital core of volunteer leaders. We want to create opportunities for returned
Fulbrighters to share experiences and perspectives.
We want to foster connections between Fulbrighters visiting
Minnesota and those who make their home in Minnesota.
Please contact me if you would like more information.
I would
like to extend my best wishes to the new Seven Rivers Region Chapter of
the Fulbright Association, a new chapter in western Wisconsin and
southeastern Minnesota.
Happy
New Year,
Elizabeth
Moe
Don Quixote
Panel & Lunch
On October 15, Fulbright visitors and local
members attended
a panel discussion on “Quixotic Offspring: The Legacy of Don Quixote,”
celebrating the 400th anniversary of the novel’s publication. Scholars Walter Mignolo (Duke), Mary Gossy
(Rutgers) and Frederick de Armas (Chicago) engaged in a heated debate
about the
role of literature in literal and figurative colonization, and on the
promise
of literature for resisting colonization.
The event was the culmination of Macalester College’s annual
International Roundtable. Afterward,
Fulbrighters
gathered for spirited discussion over a pizza and salad lunch on the
Macalester
campus.
Literary Event and Potluck Dinner on January 21, 2006!
The
Minnesota Fulbright Association, in association with New Rivers Press
at MSU Moorhead, will be hosting a
literary event and potluck meal on Saturday, January 21, 2006. This event will provide an excellent
opportunity for Minnesota Chapter members and Fulbright visitors to
enjoy unique entertainment as well as a good chance to get to know each
other better. There is no charge for this
event.
On
Saturday afternoon, from 3 to 5 pm, we have reserved space at the Open
Book,
1011 Washington Ave S. in
Downtown Minneapolis, for performances by author/performers Ed
Bok Lee
and Diane Jarvi.
ED BOK
LEE is the author of Real Karaoke People: Poems and Prose, an
award-winning collection published by New Rivers Press in Fall 2005. A
poet, fiction writer, playwright, and spoken word artist (former state
Grand Slam Poetry champion), he attended kindergarten in South Korea,
and grew up in North Dakota and Minnesota.
Lee has
studied at the Universities of California—Berkeley, Minnesota, Kazakh
State—Almaty, Indiana University, and holds an MFA in Creative Writing
from Brown University. His various writing awards include grants from
the National Endowment for the Arts, the Minnesota State Arts Board,
the Loft Literary Center, SASE, and the Jerome
Foundation.
Publications
of his work can be found in various journals, magazines and
anthologies, such as Take Ten II (Vintage Books), Arts
& Letters: Journal of Contemporary Culture, Crab Orchard
Review, Water~Stone Review, The Best Ten-Minute Plays 2004, The Asian
Pacific American Journal, Mizna, Ache, Spectator and Manoa, among
others.
Currently
based in Minneapolis and New York, Ed Lee regularly performs his spoken
word poetry and writes for theaters across the country. His web site is
www.edboklee.com
DIANE
JARVI is a Minnesota native whose grandparents all emigrated from
Finland. This led her to a serious exploration of Finnish music,
including studies at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. Jarvi plays the
5, 8, 10, 15 and 36- string
kantele (Finnish folk harp). Her recordings have led to radio play and
performances at festivals in the U.S. and in Finland, where she is
known in Finland as Minnesotan Satakieli--The Minnesota Nightingale.
She was
named the Finlandia Foundation Performer of the Year for 2000 and was
awarded a McKnight MacPhail performing fellowship for 1999-2000.
An
award-winning poet under the name Diane Jarvenpa, her book of poetry, Divining
The Landscape, was published by New Rivers Press. She has been the
recipient of grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board, including a
Fellowship grant to work on a second book of poetry.
Diane
Jarvi's recordings are heard throughout Europe, Australia and the U.S.
On Diane Jarvi's newest recording, Paper Heart, you'll find
love letters from France, the poetry of Finland, songs of love, both
lost and found, hearts broken and healed. Her web site is www.dianejarvi.com
To
complete the day, we will be having a pot luck open house at
the home of Leon and Nancy Erstad. They
live at 4700 Dupont Ave. S. in Minneapolis. For those needing
directions, take 35W to the 46th Street South exit in Minneapolis. Go west on 46th Street to Dupont Ave. Then go south one block to the corner of 47th
and Dupont.
Bring a
dish and beverages to share. International
dishes are always welcome. All Chapter
members and Fulbright visitors, are invited, even if it is not possible
to attend the afternoon performance at the Open Book.
Come at any time after 5:30.
This
should be a great opportunity to enjoy an exciting performance and then
spend the evening having a good time! Mark your calendars now, and plan
on attending.
Upcoming
Events
|
Saturday, January 21, 2006
3:00-5:00 PM: Literary Event at Open Book, 1011 Washington Ave S.
in Downtown Minneapolis
5:30
PM: Potluck at Leon and Nancy Erstad’s,
4700
Dupont Ave. S. Minneapolis
|
Saturday, April 22, 2006
11:00
AM-2:00 PM: Brunch for local members at
home of Denise Roy
Saturday, May 20, 2006
All
day: Excursion to Mankato area
|
Minnesota
Chapter Board Members:
Stacy
N. Beckwith, Newsletter Editor (Israel)
Northfield
sbeckwit@carleton.edu
Robert
H. Craig (Norway)
Duluth
rcraig@css.edu
Alan Davis (Slovenia)
Moorhead
davisa@mnstate.edu
Leon
Erstad (Moldova)
Twin
Cities
lerstad@erstad.com
David
Lesniaski, Webmaster (Greece)
Twin
Cities
dalesniaski@stkate.edu
Lucia
McLaren (Finland)
Twin
Cities
lmclaren@wmitchell.edu
Elizabeth
Moe, President (Norway)
Twin
Cities
Ejwmoe@alum.wellesley.edu
Denise
Roy, Treasurer
(Indonesia)
Twin
Cities
droy@wmitchell.edu
Chapter
Web site:
www.Fulbright.org
(follow Chapter links)
Graduate
Students, Consider Co-op Housing! Current
Fulbrighter to
Fulbrighter Insights:
By Lucia Zacchi (Argentina)
Graduate student in Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology at the University of Minnesota
How can
you make your Fulbright experience a little bit more intense and
interesting? When you were preparing to come to Minnesota, and when you
arrived, you may not have asked yourself such a question since you were
concerned with all the new challenges that you would face if you were
coming to the University of Minnesota.
However,
there are many opportunities here to make friends, enrich your
international experience, and broaden your horizons in ways you may not
have imagined!
Around
both campuses of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, there are
several Co-ops full of students. One such Co-op, called the Minnesota
Graduate Club, is just one block from the St. Paul campus. This Co-op
has existed for over 50 years, and many students
from all over the world have lived in it, under the same roof. Co-op
residents today continue to share living space, food, and both home
country and U of Minnesota graduate life experiences.
After
living in a Co-op for a couple of months you realize that the place has
slowly become yours. It is your home now and the people you live with,
so different from you, have become your brothers. It is precisely in
such a situation that tolerance, cross-cultural understanding, and
patience become profoundly valuable. You become acquainted with other
cultures and other perspectives on life expressed in different
religions, languages, clothing, and customs.
With
time, you will develop a sense of camaraderie and you will be able to
understand the meaning and importance of teamwork. Suddenly then, if
you take a step aside and you look at this house you will comprehend
the beauty of what you have helped to maintain: a
place built with a pure spirit of cooperation and solidarity between
people from all over the world. You can smile now and rest, because you
have realized that international understanding is still possible to
achieve.
For more information on Co-op Housing at any time during the year, please contact:
Minnesota Graduate Club
2089 Carter Avenue
Saint Paul. 55108
651-493-7821
mngraduateclub@gmail.com
Ready to Eat
at the
Minnesota Graduate Club!
How you
can participate in MN Fulbright:
·
Attend the
January 21, 2006, Literary Event and Potluck.
Come enjoy a fascinating afternoon and delicious evening with
fellow Fulbrighters;
bring an international dish to share.
·
Write an essay
for the newsletter about your Fulbright
experience or about its impact on your
work and life. Send to sbeckwit@carleton.edu.
·
Serve as a
member of the board of directors.
·
Help with
advocacy efforts
on behalf of the Fulbright Association with national
legislators.
·
Tell us how the
Fulbright Association Minnesota Chapter can better serve you.
