St. John's News

“Congratulations on being selected as a 2008-2009 Fulbright Grantee to Norway,” the email from Tove Lain Knudsen began. Johanna Roed’s proposal for study and research in Norway had now been approved by the J. William Fulbright Scholarship Board (FSB) and by the US-Norway Fulbright Foundation for Educational Exchange, the supervising agency that has final approval of Fulbright applicants and their proposals for study in Norway.

She had reached the final hurdle and soared over it!

Johanna, who entered the Bachelor of Arts/Master of Arts program in English on St. John’s University’s Staten Island campus, is now finishing her degree on the Queens campus. She plans to enroll in a two-year master’s program in Ibsen Studies at the University of Oslo, where she will research the plays of Henrik Ibsen and the political, cultural and linguistic movements that inform his work.  She will also explore Ibsen’s impact on the formation of Norwegian national identity and the way Ibsen’s work is taught in the United States. 

“The Student Fulbright is perhaps the most prestigious fellowship a U.S. student can receive,” Professor and Chair of the English Department Stephen Sicari, Ph.D., notes.  “We are not only extremely proud of Johanna but are glad to bask in her glow.  She is an extraordinarily gifted student who will represent St John’s to the larger world in a way we are thrilled to be watching.” 

In her Fulbright proposal, Johanna explained that she would need access to “pamphlets, letters, articles and re-writings of Ibsen’s work” that would only be available in the framework of an Ibsen Studies program. Additionally, she said, “to know why I must study in Norway, we need look no further than the words of Ibsen himself; at the end of his life, acknowledging the existing tension between Norwegian citizenship and his subscription to a larger European culture, he told a friend, ‘He who wishes to understand me, must know Norway.’”

When she returns from the two-year master’s program, Johanna hopes to “enroll in a doctoral program in Comparative Literature and, through my work, to loosen Ibsen from the very rigid framework in which he has been buried.”

St. John’s Law Student Lauren Fae Silver also learned that she has been granted a Fulbright award to study and do research at the University of Rome III where she will be sponsored by the distinguished comparative law professor Vincenzo Zeno-Zenovich during the 2008-09 academic year. She says that actually winning the Fulbright still hasn’t sunk in, but expects it will after she takes her final exams in the next few weeks.

Now in her third-year of St. John’s University School of Law student, Lauren is scheduled to graduate next month and take the New York Bar Exam in July. She follows a now-three-generation family tradition: both her uncle, James M. Catterson ‘85L, Associate Justice in the New York Appellate Division, and her late grandfather, former Suffolk County District Attorney James M. Catterson, Jr. '58L, are School of Law graduates.

In October, she will begin to explore the evolution of Italy’s cultural property laws and assess the global illicit trade in cultural property. On the advice of St. John’s School of Law Professor and Fulbright Scholar Janai Nelson, J.D., who recommended that as part of her proposal she include a project that could literally be put into the hands of those who follow in her footsteps, Lauren will produce a handbook “that will describe Italy’s current legal, policing, and theoretical viewpoints on cultural property.“

“I’m going to look at legal and non-legal strategies to see what’s working for Italy in recovering their art and artifacts and what isn’t,” she explains.

Both Johanna and Lauren were among seven St. John’s students who were nominated by the University in the 2007-2008 academic year. Both had previously studied in the countries to which they applied and were familiar with the native languages: Johanna spent two months last summer at an International Summer School in Oslo, where she studied Norwegian and took a Literary Survey course, and has been taking a course in the Norwegian at NYU; Lauren spent a semester studying abroad in Italy as an undergraduate at The George Washington University and, while she speaks Italian fairly fluently, is taking a refresher course in that language.

Both women have high praise for the St. John’s faculty members and administrators who provided significant guidance and assistance in the rigorous Fulbright application process. “I had four or five really helpful professors,” Lauren notes, specifically mentioning Professor Patricia Grande Montana, J.D., who mentored her through her law school experience and helped shape the methodology for her proposal. She’s also grateful for the “strong and pointed recommendation letters” written by Professor Montana and Luca Melchionna, Director of Transnational Programs at the School of Law, whom she describes as an “invaluable resource, personally and meticulously establishing contacts for me with the university in Rome, law enforcement and other critical organizations and individuals, including the Italian Ministry of Culture and the attorneys for the Getty case in Italy. His unflinching commitment to securing these proper affiliations was necessary for the idea to become ultimately a project that was attractive to the Fulbright Committee."

In addition, she says she much appreciates the early suggestions of Professors Elyse Pepper, J.D. and Margaret Turano, J.D., LL.M.

Assistant Professor of English Amy King, Ph.D., was a major source of encouragement for Johanna. “She read drafts of my proposal and provided a recommendation, as did Assistant Professor Harry Denny, Ph.D., (who directs the Staten Island Writing Center). I also utilized the Writing Center's e-tutoring program, which allows students to work with writing consultants on the Staten Island campus via e-mail or live chat.”

Towards the end of the process, Institute for Writing Studies Director Derek Owens, D.A., offered his encouragement and then suggested Johanna contact Associate Professor Jennifer Travis, Ph.D., who, he said, was “fairly experienced with grant proposals.” Contacted by email, Dr. Travis offered to review Johanna’s draft. “Her comments really helped me to make the proposal clearer and more focused,” Johanna says. “Seven or so drafts later, I had a proposal--all in the space of about four days!”

Each of the two Fulbright winners particularly praised Associate Professor Konrad Tuchscherer, Ph.D., Assistant Provost for External Scholarships & Fellowships and Director of the Graduate Admissions Assistance Program (GAAP). “I learned about Fulbrights from a friend,” Johanna confides. “I looked on St. John’s website and found Dr. Tuchscherer. Then I was on my way!”

Dr. Tuchscherer, who himself has been the recipient of two Fulbright grants as well as a prestigious Marshall Scholarship that enabled him to earn a Ph.D. at the University of London, says that the successes of the two women in the highly competitive Fulbright competition are result of two institutional realities. 

“First,” he points out, “our academic standards at St. John’s University are higher than at any time in our history.  Our students are better writers and more inquisitive thinkers than ever before. Secondly, our students are increasingly cosmopolitan in their outlook, stretching themselves to think globally, and with greater access to study abroad than any earlier generation of students.  This second point, regarding study abroad, makes an enormous difference in fielding strong Fulbright candidates as ‘Fulbrighters’ are expected to be prepared to ‘hit the ground running’ with their research abroad, speaking foreign languages and serving as ambassadors for the US internationally.”

As chief academic officer at St. John’s, Provost Julia Upton, RSM, Ph.D., is justifiably proud of the two Fulbright scholars: “I celebrate their hard work and success, and hope that many others will be courageous and industrious enough to apply in the future.”

About the Fulbright Program
The Fulbright Program for U.S. Students awards more than 1,400 grants for study overseas. Grants are generally available in more than 155 countries and in all fields of study, Tuchscherer reports.

 “It’s the largest U.S. international exchange program offering opportunities for students, scholars, and professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and teaching in elementary and secondary schools worldwide,” he explains. “U.S. Fulbright Student alumni populate an entire range of professions and include heads of state, cabinet ministers, ambassadors, members of Congress, judges, heads of corporations, university presidents, journalist, artists, professors, and teachers.”

The GAAP Director says that students interested in applying for a Fulbright grant for study and research abroad should stop by the Office, located in the basement of St. John Hall, across from the Theology Department, or contact them at (718) 990-6165 or gaap@stjohns.edu. The Office works with undergraduate and graduate students from all colleges, schools, and disciplines at St. John’s to enhance their academic profiles, to advise and assist them with their applications for graduate and professional programs, to provide resources for them in areas such as standardized tests (GRE, LSAT, and MCAT), writing essays and personal statements, and the financial aid process. 

The campus deadline for the 2009-2010 Student Fulbright Competition is October 3, 2008.  Applications will be available on May 1.

Other Scholarship and Research Opportunities for Students
GAAP also assists undergraduate and graduate students with applications for other competitive scholarships and fellowships, such as Marshall, Rhodes, and Gates scholarships.

The Office is also concerned with the promotion of undergraduate research, a necessary requirement for many students pursuing graduate and professional school.  GAAP sponsors an intensive summer research program which supports full-time student research and faculty mentoring and includes a $2800 research stipend.  This important program provides high achieving students with the tools and experience they will need to succeed in graduate school.

View additional information about applying for a Fulbright Scholarship.