alumni newsletter,issue no: 34 autumn 2013

The IFAA Thanksgiving Dinner washosted this year by the NationalUniversity of Ireland, Galway. It was a wonderful evening ofthoughtful words, delightful conver-sation and good music – an Irishperformance of an American celeb-ration and an opportunity for allpresent to feel a little closer to theirmemories of that special day in theUnited States.

Visiting Fulbrighters and Fulbrightalumni had travelled from differentparts of the country to be in Galwayto celebrate this most American ofoccasions. On a pleasant Novemberevening, we gathered for drinks in theAula Maxima within the Quadranglebuilding.

The formalities of the eveningbegan with an address by PaulDonnelly, President of the IFAA,who welcomed everyone present, in

particular the four visitingFulbrighters, Amanda Bernhard andJohn Countryman – both spendingtheir Fulbright year in Galway – andShannon Chance and Marcia vanRiper, based in DIT and UCCrespectively. Paul also passed on thebest wishes of the Northern IrelandChapter of the British FulbrightScholars’ Association, Katie Keogh,of the US Embassy, and ColleenDube, Executive Director of theFulbright Commission. In recallinghis own experiences of Thanksgivingin the US, as both a national cele-bration and a moment of togethernesswith friends and family, he set themood for the evening. In closing, heshared with us the words of PresidentObama’s Thanksgiving PresidentialProclamation: “[Let us] give thanksfor all we have received in the pastyear, express appreciation to thosewhose lives enrich our own, andshare” the blessings bestowed on usby Fulbright with others.

The podium was then passed fromone President to another, James

Browne, President of NUIG. Hewelcomed in particular those from outof town and recalled that the previousspring – on the first day of spring, LáFhéile Bríde – NUIG had for the firsttime hosted Fulbright Scholars to anintroduction to Irish language and

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IRISH FULBRIGHT ALUMNI ASSOCIATION NUMBER 33 SPRING 2013

John O’Loughlin-Kennedy, Professor James Browne, President of NUI Galway,and Paul Donnelly, President of the IFAA

Jonathan Hohl Kennedy andFulbrighter Amanda Bernhard playing a selection of Irish dance tunes

Lillis Ó Laoire singing a song hecollected on Tory Island

NEWSLETTERTHANKSGIVING NIGHT IN GALWAY

By Felix Ó Murchadha, NUI Galway

culture as part of the “Inter-changes:Orientation Programme”. Invoking thespirit of Senator Fulbright’s vision, heurged those attending to give thanks inthe spirit of the “common bond ofknowledge, reason and compassion”that unites the Fulbright family.

In the spirit invoked by all threePresidents, and with an air ofexpectation, we then sat down to asumptuous dinner. Butternut squashsoup, turkey and ham, cranberrysauce and pecan pie made up thismeal of traditional Thanksgiving fare.The food was tastefully presented andvery pleasant to the palette. The roombuzzed with conversation, whether ofold friends catching up or of newacquaintances speaking of theirexperiences in the US and in Ireland.

For one Fulbrighter present, SéamusÓ Cinnéide, it was a nostalgic returnto Galway. As Séamus noted: “It isjust exactly fifty years since I regis-tered as a student in what was thenUCG in 1962: the registration tookplace in our venue, the Aula Maxima.Three years later in the same

Aula Maxima I was conferred withmy BA.”

As the last morsels of desert werebeing enjoyed, an impromptu seisiúntook hold and we were treated to the musical talents of some of the Fulbrighters present. AmandaBernhard and Jonathan Hohl beganthe proceedings with their delightfulrendition of traditional pieces on theviolin and uilleann pipes. They areboth MA students of Nua-Ghaeilge atNUIG and so it was appropriate thatthey were followed by one of theirteachers, Lillis Ó Laoire, whose seannós singing regaled the audience.

Finally, Jimmy O’Brien Moran playedout the evening with some wonderfultunes on the uilleann pipes.

As we slowly dispersed into thenight, looking across the Atlantic tothe next parish over in Boston orNew York, it was clear that this hadtruly been a night of thanksgiving andcelebration.

On behalf of the IFAA, we would like tothank our members Mary Cawley, Felix Ó Murchadha and Conchúr Ó Brádaighfor looking after all of the local organisingsuch that we could bring the event toGalway.

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Jimmy O’Brien Moran playing a selection of tunes on Jonathan’s ‘Kohler and Quinn’pipes

The Ireland United States AlumniAssociation (IUSA) hosted its secondannual conference on January 26th, 2013, with some 80 membersattending.

Officially opened by IUSAPresident and IFAA member PaulO’Connor, the conference proceededwith a panel discussion on the theme‘Celebrating Irish Leadership: WhereTo Now?’ Taking part in the panelwere: Niamh Gallagher, co-founderof Women for Election, an Irishtraining organisation committed tobalanced participation of women inpolitics; Connor Murphy, founder ofDatahug, an award-winning businessrelationship cloud company; andAdam Harris, founder of AspergersAdvocate.org.

Niamh focused on celebratingwomen as leaders, but noted thedeclining number of women in theOireachtas, which means that Irelandhas one of the lowest female partici-pation rates in Europe. Her talk wasgrounded in the results of relevantresearch, and she reflected on thefundamental difference women makenot only in politics, but also inbusiness and society. Niamh citedevidence demonstrating that organis-ations with female CEOs and insenior management positions wereless impacted by the global financialcrisis and ensuing recession thanthose dominated by males in similarpositions. Thus, she avered, had therebeen an equal or greater number ofwomen in the Oireachtas, it is entirely

possible that Ireland might not havesuffered as badly as it has.

For his part, Connor Murphyprovided a more celebratory accountof Irish leadership. From hisexperience living and working inLondon, Boston, New York andWashington DC, he cited the respectand confidence that young Irishinnovators have gained around theworld, particularly in the mostprestigious technology hubs such asSilicon Valley. He noted that atbusiness meetings he is often askedquestions about Enterprise Irelandand how it operates, with repre-sentatives from similar agenciesparticularly curious about the ‘secret’to Irish success abroad. One ratherinteresting observation from Connor

IUSA SECOND ANNUAL CONFERENCE & CONGRESSBy Paul Donnelly


was the response he gets to askingnon-Irish people to guess thepopulation of Ireland: the answer isalways at least 20 million. He notedthat people base their estimate on thelevel of influence they perceive thecountry wields in world affairs andthey are quite surprised when theylearn the answer.

In addition to founding AspergersAdvocate.org and being a foundermember and chairperson of theGreystones branch of AmnestyInternational, Adam Harris is alsoactive in Greystones Tidy Towns andthe Vincent’s Charity Shop, hasworked as a volunteer with DelganyCommunity Council and DelganyHeritage, and is the recipient of theBray Lions Club ‘Young Ambassadorof the Year’ Award. Not bad for a 17year-old! Adam spoke passionatelyabout young people as leaders in theircommunities and cautioned againstlabelling young people as disengaged.As someone with Asperger’s, he alsoadvocated changing the emphasisfrom DISability to seeing people with special needs as havingdisABILITIES. Indeed, he observedthat stereotyping young people orthose with special needs is not only

unhelpful, but it serves to over-shadow their potential. And it is thatvery potential that he is seeking tounlock and celebrate.

The panel discussion was followedby a pre-lunch address by formerTaoiseach, former EU Ambassador to the US and Chairman of the IFSC, John Bruton. His addresscovered international factors that arelikely to impact on Ireland’s economicfuture, both directly and indirectly.Two notable issues he discussed were the ramifications of the UK withdrawing from the EuropeanUnion and, relatedly, the oppor-tunities that a formal EU-US freetrade agreement would bring. Heopined that such a free trade agree-ment would anchor the UK morefirmly in the EU. He noted that,already, investment on both sides ofthe Atlantic is supporting some 15million jobs, adding that the removalof trade barriers could add further tothat number. Geopolitically, heobserved that such an agreementwould prevent the US shifting all itseconomic energies towards thePacific Basin, where it is alreadynegotiating a comprehensive agree-ment.

On a lighter note, in recalling thathe went to the US in 1980 as part ofthe International Visitor LeadershipProgram, John shared an abidingmemory of his time there: warm rain!

The day’s activities concluded withthe IUSA Congress, where the Boardreported on progress made throughoutthe previous year in building theAssociation’s capacity and on plans forthe coming year. The Congressapproved the 2013 Business Plan, alongwith changes to the Board structureand new Board appointments.

IFAA BOARD The following are the currentBoard members:

President: Dr Paul Donnelly [email protected]

Vice-President: Dr Sarah [email protected]

Treasurer:Dr Anne [email protected]

Hon. Secretary:Prof. Darach [email protected]

Membership Secretary: Ms Sinéad [email protected]

Newsletter/Web Editor: Dr Jimmy O’Brien Moran [email protected]

Member: Ms Róisín Tiernan

Member:

Professor Eugene Coyle

Member:

Dr Peter Lonergan

(l to r) Keynote speaker John Bruton, with IUSA President and IFAA member Paul O’Connor

The European Network of AmericanAlumni Associations (ENAM) heldits second annual Congress andConference in London in earlyFebruary 2013. Some 30 alumniassociation leaders from across Europegathered in the boardroom of theEuropean Bank for Reconstructionand Development for a lively andconstructive congress. The conference,which was held in the House ofCommons and attended by over 100alumni, was hosted and chaired by theDeputy Speaker, Mr. Nigel Evans,MP, who also kindly provided a tour ofthe Houses of Parliament, includingthe Commons and Lords chambers.

In addressing the congress, ENAM

Secretary General, Massimo Cugusi,noted the positioning of ENAM as anumbrella organisation and reportedon the capacity building work of theBoard over the course of the previousyear. The congress presented theopportunity for the Board and dele-gates to discuss the ongoing develop-ment of the network and to share bestpractices in managing alumniassociations.

Members of the Board outlined anumber of initiatives in development,all aimed at strengthening the nascentpan-European network. One suchinitiative is ENAM’s Bright Ideas @Work, which is being led by ENAMBoard Secretary, Paul Donnelly. He

reported that, thanks to competitiveseed funding received from the USDepartment of State, the initiative issupporting alumni projects in eightcountries across Europe, includingIreland, aimed at facilitating talentedyoung graduates to achieve theirpotential as entrepreneurs.

The day-long conference covered anumber of themes: strengthening theEurope/US alliance; what is in thePresident’s in-tray; overcoming anti-American sentiment in Europe;strategies to promote entrepreneur-ism in Europe; and fighting youthunemployment in Europe. Eachtheme opened with a discussion of thetopic by a panel of experts, with lively

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STRENGTHENING THE PAN-EUROPEAN

EUROPEAN ALUMNI NETWORK & HARNESSING ALUMNI POWER

By Paul Donnelly

ENAM Congress (l to r) Paul Donnelly (ENAM Board Secretary and IFAA President), Massimo Cugusi (ENAM SecretaryGeneral), Gretchen Dobson (facilitator) and Faten Saleh (ENAM Director of Marketing and France Fulbright AlumniPresident)

debate ensuing upon opening thetheme to the floor. For example, IFAAPresident Paul Donnelly, who was apanellist for the theme dedicated tofighting youth unemployment inEurope, pushed the audience to thinkoutside the box by questioning suchthings as the norm of the 40-hourweek, working to consume, thepurpose of education, etc.

The conference closed withPrincipal Deputy Assistant Secretaryof the US State Department’s Bureauof Educational and Cultural Affairs,Adam Ereli, delivering a spirited callto action focused on the ‘power ofalumni’ to address 21st century chal-lenges and strengthen US-Europerelations. Ambassador Ereli noted theenormous and powerful differencethe exchange programmes sponsoredby the US Government make aroundthe world, and he urged alumni to useevery chance they get to tell Congressthat they are investing in the USthrough funding these exchanges.

Ambassador Ereli said that theState Department recently realised ithad an underutilised asset: over amillion alumni. He also observed thatalumni returned to their home

countries “totally jazzed” and keen togive back, yet the US forgot aboutthem once they had left. To addressthese shortcomings, the StateDepartment made a consciousdecision some five years ago to createthe Bureau of Educational andCultural Affairs and pro-activelyleverage its investment in exchangeprogrammes and alumni through, forexample, providing seed funding tobuild alumni associations, appointingalumni coordinators in US embassies,and developing the InternationalExchange Alumni website. He citedthe creation of ENAM as validatingthis approach and commended theincredible commitment of alumnileaders to their associations, notwith-standing their work and otherresponsibilities. Thus, part of hismessage was to convey thanks andcongratulations to national associ-ations and to ENAM for helping toexpand, grow and reinforce theimpact of people to people exchanges.

However, the challenge remains toscale associations up and keep themgoing and this, noted AmbassadorEreli, is best done through sustaining,solidifying and institutionalising

coordinated alumni action in anorganised way. He cautioned againstalumni associations resting on theirlaurels and advocated staying relevantthrough being diverse (i.e., lookinglike the societies we represent) andgrounded (i.e., responding to concernsthat matter in our own countries). Heencouraged alumni to leverage theirexchange experience to get involved inpolicy and to not be afraid to leveragetheir power to lobby.

While it seems strange to him that there are a number of differ-ent alumni associations in a singlecountry, when there is strength innumbers and the whole is oftengreater than the sum of the parts,Ambassador Ereli fell short ofpromoting the creation of singlecountry associations. Rather, heendorsed greater harmonisationthrough associations workingtogether for the greater good, be thatcoming together as a network withina single country or across borders toengage with relevant and visibleissues that people in our communitiescare about.

Noting that power is a popular wordin foreign affairs, Ambassador Ereli

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ENAM Conference attendees on the terrace of the Houses of Parliament


SPONSORS OF THE

IRISH FULBRIGHT

ALUMNI

ASSOCIATION

IFAA gratefully acknowledges thegenerous sponsorship/assistance of:

Athlone Institute ofTechnology

Dublin City University

Department of ForeignAffairs

Dublin Institute ofTechnology

Fulbright Commission

Galway-Mayo Institute ofTechnology

Institute of TechnologyTallaght

Limerick Institute ofTechnology

National University ofIreland, Galway

National University ofIreland, Maynooth

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland

Trinity College Dublin

University College Dublin

University of Limerick

US Embassy Dublin

closed his remarks proclaiming thepower of alumni: “You have power.Use it! You were selected becauseyou are people of energy, ideas andconsequence. You’ve been givencertain tools, certain ideas, certainnetworks, certain resources throughyour exchange programmes. Theissue now is to use that power forgood, for partnership, for improvingyour countries, for contributing toprosperity, stability and opportunity.That to me is your mission; it needs to

be your mission. I believe you areeminently capable of doing it and ofcarrying it out if you work togethereffectively. We are here to help. Wehave the Alumni Affairs Office. I willgo anywhere and do anything tosupport this because it is critical to ourforeign policy agenda and our agendaas a Transatlantic community, thevalues we share, what we believe in,where we want to take the world,together. So, please, help us out. Let’sdo it!”

ENAM Conference panelists (l to r) Paul Donnelly and Roger Cohen (New York Timescolumnist)

Ambassador Adam Ereli


IFAA PRESIDENT AWARDED PRESTIGIOUS

TAIWAN FELLOWSHIP

IFAA President Paul Donnelly is the recipient of a 2013 TaiwanFellowship, the most prestigious ofTaiwan’s eight fellowship and scholar-ship programmes, which is awardedfollowing a rigorous, formal peerassessment process. Altogether,there are 81 recipients of the 2013Fellowship, who hail from 35countries. Paul is the only recipientfrom Ireland this year; in fact, he isthe first Irish scholar to receive theFellowship.

Established by Taiwan’s Ministry ofForeign Affairs in 2010, the aim of theFellowship is to encourage experts andscholars worldwide with an interest in Taiwan, cross-Strait relations,mainland China, Asia-Pacific, andSinology to conduct advanced researchin Taiwan’s universities or researchinstitutes, while in the process pro-moting international partnership andmutual understanding.

Paul will spend a year in Taiwan(December 2013 to November 2014)researching the country’s path to ‘tigerhood’, which parallels his doctoralwork tracing Ireland’s path tooutward-looking economic /industrial

development. He will be hosted by theCollege of Management at NationalTaiwan University (the country’s top-ranked university and a Times HigherEducation Top 100 World University)and by the Institute of Sociology atAcademia Sinica (the country’s pre-eminent research institution).

For Paul, this “is a really excitingopportunity on a number of levels.Academically, it affords me the oppor-tunity to immerse myself in an area ofresearch that is of interest to bothTaiwan and Ireland, namely pathwaysto economic/industrial development.From the perspective of teaching, itwill allow not only for the transfer ofresearch to teaching, but also of theexperience of Taiwan’s society andculture. It will also allow me to learnMandarin through immersion, whichwill be of immense benefit bothpersonally and institutionally. All inall, the Taiwan Fellowship presents thepotential, in a small, but tangible way,to increase mutual understandingbetween the peoples of Taiwan andIreland, and all to mutual benefit”.

Taiwan’s Ambassador to Ireland,Dr. Harry Tseng, remarked: “The

Taiwan Fellowship is one of thescholarships our government offers toencourage foreign scholars andexperts to come to our country formore advanced study and research. Itis also the most prestigious one. It ismy hope that, as the first Irish scholarto receive this Fellowship, Paul’ssuccessful experience in Taiwan willserve as both a reference point andencouragement for Irish scholars tosimilarly apply for the Fellowship”.Dr. Tseng went on to observe: “Whilestudying and living in Taiwan, Paulwill be an Irish ambassador, intro-ducing Ireland to our people. I hopehe will act as a bridge for promotingbetter understanding between ourtwo peoples, and contribute toenhancing our bilateral relationship”.

Dates for Your Diary:

We have a number of dates to note in your diary. Our

Membership Secretary, SinéadMurnane, will provide further

information as the date of eachevent approaches.

May 17, 2013Annual General Meeting:Renehan Hall, National

University of Ireland,Maynooth

June, 2013

Regional ComhluadarLimerick

July 12, 2013

Eighteenth Annual IFAAScholars’ Dinner: Dublin Castle

October, 2013

Welcome! Event

November, 2013 Thanksgiving Dinner

Taiwan’s Ambassador to Ireland, Dr. Harry Tseng, with Paul Donnelly


To commemorate and honour the 204th birthday ofAbraham Lincoln, the Office of Public Affairs at the USEmbassy sent out invitations for a private screening of therecently released Spielberg film ‘Lincoln’, starring DanielDay Lewis and Sally Field. The screening was held at theLight House Cinema in Market Square, Smithfield, Dublin.

When the invited guests were assembled, Susan Cleary,the Embassy’s Public Affairs Officer, delivered a shortspeech about the occasion and unveiled a birthday cakein the shape of President Lincoln’s iconic stovepipe hat.The cake was a chocolate biscuit mix and was one of themost delicious I have tasted – and I’ve tasted a few!

The film was a stunning achievement, not least becauseof Daniel Day Lewis’ reinvention of Lincoln. While he was

far more handsome than Lincoln, Lewis created a credible,compassionate, loving, amusing, serious character, andmanaged to make himself appear all of Lincoln’s height of6’ 4” with a most amazing walk and posture. DirectorStephen Spielberg tells the story that, having refused therole two or three times, Lewis, on accepting, remained incharacter throughout the filming process, with everyoneon set addressing him as ‘Mr. President’.

It is certainly a film for the big screen. The story isintense and the dialogue suitably complex for such asubject. I will definitely try to see it again, but watching itin the Light House Cinema on the occasion of AbrahamLincoln’s 204th birthday will remain a wonderful andmemorable experience.

HAPPY (204TH) BIRTHDAY, MR. PRESIDENTBy James O’Brien Moran

Thought building on thought, con-versation leading to conversation, an idea emerges, hence an eventhappens.

Back in February, members of boththe IFAA and IUSA visited theGraphic Studio Dublin (GSD) for anintroductory talk by Dr. AngelaGriffith (TCD), GSD Chair, followedby a tour of the Studio, incorporatingdemonstrations by Studio membersand the viewing of collections ofprints made by both members andvisiting artists.

And so, with a kick–off time of5.30pm for the wine and cheesewelcome, there was an air of antici-pation. Denise Ferran had comedown from Belfast by train, SéamusÓ Cinnéide and his daughter arrived,followed by Sarah Ingle and herdaughter Bláithín. Sinéad Murnaneand another 20 guests soon arrived tojoin us on a damp, chilly night.Graham Wilkinson, of Behaviour andAttitudes Market Research and aGSD Board member, commented onthe neat and tidy appearance of theStudio – and, yes, there was an

atmosphere all day of ‘people comingto dinner’.

Dr. Griffith opened the eveningwith an illustrated talk allocating theStudio to its position in the history ofprint studios and printmaking,worldwide. One of the first etchingsmade as an entity in itself, rather thanas a copy of a painting, is the hauntingimage of a tall ship, tied up in the stillwaters of the River Liffey, at Sir JohnRogerson’s Quay. Did its maker,William Booth Pearsall, in 1880, haveaccess to paper made by Arches inFrance to print this on? Or did he useHannemulle, made in Germany?Perhaps the lines of this tall ship readmost clearly on Italian Fabriano?Most likely, he may not have hadsuch choice in paper.

The handing on of expertise, thegarnering of skills, the gleaning ofknowledge through acute obser-vation, is an integral part of theexperience of a printmaker. So it wasthat, in 1960, Liam Miller, ElizabethRivers, Anne Yeats, Patrick Hickeyand Leslie McWeeney made theStudio happen from nothing but a

collective need and a burning passion.Skills have been honed and inform-ation gathered over the years. Hickeyspent two years in Urbino, Italy, andbrought home a cargo of knowledge;his visual appraisal proved to be thekernel. Other members travelled tospecialised print studios in Edinburgh,London, Milan, and the United States(three current members have been tothe University of New Mexico’sTamarind Institute), France and Italy,and, with the cumulative knowledgeand the sharing of technicalinformation and ideas, the Studio hasevolved into what it is now.

After the talk, guests were invitedto meander through the Studio, towitness paper receiving ink from lithostone, copper plate, and wood block.Altogether, eleven artists were onhand to explain techniques and talkabout their work.

Mick Timmins (who has been tothe Tamarind) demonstrated theprinting of a lithograph, showing thedrawing on the lithographic stone, aflat, finely grained stone from theSohlehofen quarry in Bavaria, the

GRAPHIC STUDIO DUBLIN: BRINGING PRINTMAKING TO LIFE

By Gráinne Cuffe

source of all litho stones. Ruth O’Donnell showed copperetching plates on which she had sketched in sessions oflife-drawing using the sugar-lift technique, catching amoment of folded arms, a turned face of the model, all ina flowing line. Aisling Dolan showed her photo-etchings– atmospheric images – of misty woods, pine trees withbark you could slip your fingers under. Gráinne Cuffeshowed her large, loosely botanical images, andaccompanying drawings.

On the top floor of the building, Jean Bardon applied goldleaf to her etchings, adding another layer of richness to herintensely drawn images. Pamela Leonard drew on a smokedcopper plate, the carbonisation of a flaming taper havingdarkened the plate, thereby making the drawn line easier to

see. Jenny Lane and Ger Cox were both making woodcuts,in the Japanese tradition, and printing. Nicola Morrin andDermot Ryan printed copperplate etchings using theetching presses. And Stephen Lawlor, whilst demonstratingthe printing and subsequent layering of colours in a multi-plate etching, commented that not an awful lot has changed,technically, since Rembrandt’s day of making etchingsduring the 17th century.

The talk and the wonderment flowed. Downstairs in thePrint Room, Catherine O’Riordan, the Gallery Manager,and Robert Russell, the Studio Director, spoke about thework of both Studio members and visiting artists ondisplay in Solander boxes, and about the recently re-introduced annual Sponsors’ Portfolio.

All in all, two groups of people met, listened,talked, shared thoughts, viewed a myriad ofimages, and techniques, and all enjoyed amemorable event. Indeed, the Studio wishes tothank all our guests for coming out on a chillyFebruary night.

Graphic Studio Dublin (www.graphicstudiodublin.com) is a not-for-profit artists/printmakers’ studio, and is supported by the ArtsCouncil. Its purpose is to provide training in thetechnique of Fine Art Print, to promote themedium, and to provide innovative, creative,and affordable art for the public. If you wouldlike to be added to the guest list for the GraphicStudio Gallery, please contact CatherineO’Riordan, at gallery@graphicstudio dublin.com.

To read more about the Studio’s history and theorigins of fine art printmaking in Ireland, BrianLalor’s handsome book entitled Ink Stained Hands,published by Lilliput Press in 2011, is availableat the Gallery, and in bookshops nationwide.

PAGE 9


March 25th last saw the IFAA makeits annual visit to the National ConcertHall. The concert programme this yearwas singularly appropriate for aFulbright group; the orchestra fromBrown University in Providence,Rhode Island, ranks among the mosthighly-rated US campus orchestras.Paul Phillips, its musical director,informed a surprised audience thatonly 5 of the 100 or so orchestramembers are music majors, theremainder all hail from a broad arrayof other undergraduate and graduate

programmes. The NCH appearancewas the first of three performances onthe orchestra’s Irish tour and wasfollowed by concerts in theUniversity of Limerick Concert Halland the Wexford Opera House. Themusical programme for the eveningalso had a distinctly American flavourand featured well-known works fromthe US twentieth century orchestralrepertoire. Highlights were apulsating rendition of LeonardBernstein’s Symphonic Dances from‘West Side Story’, George Gershwin’s

evocative orchestral tone poem,An American in Paris, and SamuelBarber’s pensive and poignant Adagiofor Strings. We were delighted that anumber of current US Fulbrightersand their friends were able to jointheir Irish Fulbright alumnicolleagues for the evening. Over post-concert refreshments in the JohnField Room, the consensus was that this had been a memorablemusical experience, given by aremarkable and talented group ofyoung students.

AN AMERICAN CELEBRATION OF MUSIC AT THE NCHBy Darach Turley

Ger Cox explains woodcuts to Sarah (IFAA Vice-President) and Blaithin Ingle

My research interests lie in PartialDifferential Equations (PDE), an areaof mathematics that is intimatelyconnected with applications. Morerecently, I have become interested innonlocal models that have beensuccessfully used in fracture dynamics,image processing, and biology.Despite their large applicability, thereare nontrivial difficulties in thetheoretical foundation that need to beresolved. With Paschalis Karageorgisand John Stalker from the School ofMathematics at Trinity College (myhost institution), we started workingon a couple of theorems that seem tohold for these models.

Being at TCD this semester meansthat I was also able to attend the PDEseminar here and be exposed to newareas of research. Thus, FilippoGazzola’s talk introduced me tomodels for suspension bridges thatpresent some unsolved mathematicalchallenges. The Tacoma NarrowsBridge collapse in the 1940s* illus-trated some unusual features of thesemodels for which no perfect modelhas been found. There are many openproblems in the field that I found to be quite addictive, as they kept meawake many night hours thissemester.

My Fulbright experience has beena fulfilling one on the teaching side,also, especially seeing my students

develop an interest in differentialequations (one of the courses that Iam teaching). Also, my AdvancedCalculus class is doing extremely welland it already has me thinking aboutdifferent ways to improve the rate ofsuccess for our freshman students atthe University of Nebraska-Lincoln(my home institution).

Our family is currently makingplans for our final weeks in Dublin.We have been awed by the beauty ofmany sites (e.g., the Howth cliff walkand the views at the James JoyceTower are some of my favorites) and

we are looking forward to seeingmore! The TradFest and St. Patrick’sDay Festival will also be cherishedmemories, as we got to experience thepassion of Irish music and dancing. Ithas been very heartwarming, too, thatwe have met some wonderful Irishfamilies here and our kids have madefriends with their children; we hopethat some day we will maybe see themin the US!

*There is a fascinating film clip onyoutube which captures the collapse of the bridge.

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HILARY TERM AT TRINITYBy Petronela Radu

Petronela Radu with her husband and family

WELCOME! EVENT 2012By Sinéad Murnane

On October 19th last, we weredelighted to host newly arrived USFulbrighters and recently returnedIrish Fulbrighters at the secondannual Welcome! Event at Wynn’sHotel in Dublin. Like most of the bestparties, there was plenty of chat in thekitchen (i.e. the bar!) before everyone

settled into the Abbey Room for somefinger food and to share stories oftheir Fulbright experiences.

Nell Regan, who spent herFulbright year at the InternationalWriting Programme in Iowa, and atUC Berkeley, started us off byreading two of the poems she had

written about her time in the US,followed by Madeleine NíGallachobhair who told us all abouther time as a Foreign LanguageTeaching Assistant (FLTA) inLehman College, NY. Oisín Ó Doinn,another FLTA, had spent his time atthe University of St. Thomas, MN,


trying to confirm the good Irishstereotypes and dispelling thenegative ones.

John Countryman, GA, isspending his Fulbright year at NUIGalway’s Theatre Department andhad plans to see over 60 productionsthis year. Shannon Chance wasstaying connected to her students inVirginia via her blog while research-ing at DIT. She was still trying tofigure out Dublin bikes – and streets!– and had reappropriated an old Irishsaying: “May the road twist to meetyou!” Bob Trumble, from Richmond,VA, was getting used to living withouta car for the first time since he was 16years old! He and his wife hadtravelled around Ireland and been tomore theatre productions than theywould normally see in a year at home.This is Bob’s second Fulbright, hisfirst having been in India.

Eugene Coyle had recently comeback to DIT from Purdue University,IN, where he didn’t have a day thathe didn’t enjoy while researchingbiofuels and climate change. Eugenejoined the Board of the IFAA on hisreturn to Ireland. Ronan Dohertyhad spent his year as an FLTA at theUniversity of Notre Dame, IN, wherehe was struck by the sheer enthusi-asm for Irish culture. While visiting

San Francisco, fellow IrishFulbrighter, Daniel Regan, showedhim around.

Matthew Baker was conductingresearch at the National Library ofIreland and the UCD Library whilstwriting a novel. Nancy Stenson hadlived in Minnesota for 30 years,though she was not a native. She isbased in UCD for two years, first ona Fulbright and then on a MarieCurie Fellowship, while working onthe psycho-linguistic aspects of

teaching Irish reading. She washappy to be living close to herdaughter while adjusting to retire-ment and widowhood.

To round the evening off, Jimmy O’Brien Moran entertainedus all with some sean-nós singing andthe chat continued to flow. A few ofthe hardier (younger!?) crewadjourned to the Grand Central barand later the Workman’s Club tocontinue on with the reminiscing. A welcome indeed!

Oisín Ó Duinn regales the company with some of his Fulbright experiences

Welcome! Event guests enjoyed an evening filled with story-telling, poetry, and song


IFAA members joined their colleaguesfrom the British Fulbright Scholars’Association (BFSA) Northern IrelandChapter as guests for the Chapter’sfirst ever Thanksgiving gathering,hosted by Janet Armstrong in Bangor.Billed as a Fulbright family event, withall the trimmings of turkey and home-made cranberry jelly, a great evening’scraic ensued, with a large ‘family’ ofalumni from all corners of Irelandaround the table.

The lively conversation coveredstories of Fulbright experiences inMassachusetts, Virginia, Michigan,Minnesota, Oregon and California.With all the talk, it was after midnightbefore everyone departed for home,well satisfied following a thoroughlyenjoyable evening. I believe the eventwas so successful that next year wewill be extending an invitation tovisiting American Fulbrighters.

Proceeds from the dinner wenttowards another northern event inmid-January, when the chapteralumni invited IFAA members to awelcome reception for incomingFulbrighters to Ireland, which washeld in the Grade A listed CrumlinRoad Gaol (www.crumlinroadgaol.com). Located over a 10-acre site

on the North Belfast peace line, pastinmates of The Crum (as it is knownlocally) have included Éamon deValera and Ian Paisley. Housing bothconvicted and political detainees overthe years, the gaol closed in 1996.

Among 80 or so guests who mingledfor drinks, canapés and music wereartists, Irish language enthusiasts, past,present and prospective Fulbrighters,and academics from across Ireland.The Irish and British FulbrightCommissions, as well as the IFAA,were represented. Speakers includedGreg Burton, the US Consul Generalin Belfast, Penny Egan, Director of theUS/UK Fulbright Commission, SatyaRoberts of the British Council, IFAAPresident Paul Donnelly, and GaryFair, Bangor-based Chair of theBFSA. Information was given on avariety of Fulbright opportunities,including the new Northern IrelandAssembly award, and there was muchsharing of experiences and planningfor new projects.

The evening concluded with anatmospheric guided tour of therestored prison ‘circle’ and A wing.Highlights were a sighting of theresident Crum ghost (or was it just acold wind that passed?) and the sobering

NEWS FROM THE NORTH – FROM

THANKSGIVING CELEBRATIONS IN BANGOR

TO WELCOMES AT ‘THE CRUM’By Eileen Sung, Convenor, Northern Ireland Chapter, British Fulbright Scholars’ Association

Thanksgiving in Bangor, with (l to r) Gary Fair (BFSA Chair), Eileen Sung(NI Chapter Convenor), Anne-MarieWoods, Denise and Brian Ferran, DeirdreO’Connor, Pauline McMahon, DavidLennox, Paul Donnelly, Denis McMahonand Claire Fair

Thanksgiving host, Janet Armstrong

Greg Burton, US Consul General inBelfast, addressing guests at CrumlinRoad Gaol


visit to the cell where the 17 men whowere hanged over the life of TheCrum as a working prison spent theirlast few hours. Other than this, themood was convivial, with traditionaland modern music on the Governor’scorridor provided by Katherine Sungon violin and Jessica Fair on piano.

Following the appointment of theOperator last year, The Crum is nowa popular tourist, conference andconcert venue, and we heard from thekey sponsor of the reception, theOffice of the First Minister anddeputy First Minister, about theextensive renovation programme. TheCrum’s modern facilities, friendly staff,and welcoming atmosphere illustratethe positive transformation of Belfastover recent years.

All in all, we look forward tocontinuing to build connectionsbetween our associations, all for thebenefit of our members and our widercommunities.

Paul Donnelly and Damian Gallagher (University of Ulster) at Crumlin Road Gaol

Hi everyone,

Greetings from the Scripps Research Institute in sunny San Diego. Hardto believe I’ve nearly finished my six month stay here; it has been anincredible experience. I’ve had the opportunity to work with some fantasticpeople and make some great friends in the process. The amount of new andexciting chemistry I’ve been exposed to is phenomenal!! Also, Scripps islocated adjacent to the world famous Torrey Pines Golf Club, so I had theopportunity to see Tiger Woods winning the Farmers Insurance Open herein January. What an experience!

Outside of the lab, California is everything you would expect...’totallyawesome’. The opportunity for activitites outdoors is endless. We’ve hadsome fantastic trips, including going camping in the desert, hiking, goingsurfing, and visiting a small brewery up in the mountains.

It really has been a life changing experience and I cannot thank Fulbrightenough.

Best wishes,Julian Shaw.

Sinéad

Irish Fulbright Alumni

Association

Dublin


One of the pleasantly surprisingthings about involvement with PhDstudents is the way they can pop upagain in unsuspecting ways afterthey’ve graduated. One of ourdoctoral students at DCU BusinessSchool, Thadeus Mkamwa, contactedme last year and inquired if I wouldconsider teaching for a semester at auniversity where he now works inTanzania. I agreed, straightaway.Thadeus is a priest and is the DeputyVice Chancellor of Saint AugustineUniversity of Tanazania (SAUT), aninstitution with a current studentenrollment of 8,500 students, which isunder the trusteeship of the CatholicChurch. The main campus where Iwas based is in Mwanza, Tanzania’ssecond largest city, although there isan expanding network of satellitecampuses across the country. TheMwanza campus, located on a 570acre woodland site, is in the north-west of the country, on the shores ofLake Victoria, and borders theSerengeti National Park. I was therefrom October to December 2012. Alllecturing is through the medium ofEnglish. Temperatures remainedaround 24-28 degrees for most of mysojourn there, which coincided withthe ‘small rainy season’ – whichtranslates into a merciless daily

downpour that mercifully only lastsfor an hour or two. The campusconsists mainly of what we wouldconsider very large lecture halls;undergraduate class sizes can numberup to 700 students. Most studentsstay in pretty basic rented accommo-dation, in bungalows built by entre-preneurial locals in the surroundingwoodland, and travel to class in dalladallas, private Toyota mini buses thatform the backbone of public trans-port. Because the university receivesno state funding, it is obliged tocharge what by Irish standards are rather modest fees. For manyTanzanian students, however, theyare far from modest; most of themrely on state loans to fund theirstudies.

Faculty and students face a numberof formidable challenges. At thebeginning of my stay, the daily powercuts, sometimes for up to 14 hours,were a quirky and quaint inconven-ience. This did not last too long.Tanzanians talk about power cuts the way we discuss the weather.Pedagogically, this intermittent supplypresented many problems. Planningone’s lecture preparation, even long-term, was fraught with pitfalls – nolight at night to read class materials,correct projects, or e-mail students.

On occasions I had to lecture off thecuff for an hour and a half out of atwo-hour postgraduate seminar – achallenging reversion to the ‘talk andchalk’ mode of my early dayslecturing. My laptop containing myPowerpoint slides is there in front ofme, the battery dead as a dodo, thelight fading, students unable to takenotes and the mosquitoes nibblingaway at yours truly. Like drivers lowon petrol, lecturers need to beconstantly aware of how much batterylife is left on their laptops – just incase! Somewhere between 15 and 20per cent of undergrads own a laptop/computer, so circulating notes,documentation, and e-mails can berather bumpy. At a university level,this patchy power supply seriouslydelimits the calibre of computingfacilities they can provide. Despitethese constraints on digital access, theproliferation of texting throughout thecountry is phenomenal. Everybodyhas a mobile phone; they may not bethe smart variety, but they can text.Using the number of rings to aperson’s mobile phone before hangingup is regularly used as a coded andcost-free mode of communication.

Despite these logistical issues, mytime in Mwanza was truly remark-able. Students showed unerringcourtesy and appreciation. With a twoper cent participation rate in uni-versity education in Tanzania, theyare acutely aware of the privilegedopportunity they enjoy. Attendance –and attention – at lectures exceededanything I have experienced in Irelandfor decades. There seems to be quitea conservative dress code in operationon the campus; men are expected towear shirt and trousers, women wearneither slacks nor jeans. A specialhighlight of my semester was a visit tothe Serengeti National Park nearbywith two Tanzanian faculty colleagues.For someone reared on a steady diet ofDavid Attenborough wildlife docu-mentaries, seeing these ‘biggies’ in the

MY VISIT TO TANZANIABy Darach Turley

Mwanza campus of Saint Augustine University of Tanazania


A chara,

Tá mé ag baint neart suilt as an bhliain seo ag Ollscoil Náisiúnta nahÉireann, i nGaillimh. Tá mé féin agus m’fhear céile ag freastal archúrsa MA sa Nua-Ghaeilge, agus is í seo an tslí is fearr lenár gcuidscileanna teanga a fhorbairt, le bheith ag bualadh le daoine iontacha, lebheith ag foghlaim faoi Éirinn agus faoi scéal casta na teanga, agus,chomh maith leis sin, le sult mór a bhaint as an saol. Bhí an t-ádh orainn abheith ag taisteal thar lear fosta, agus tá muid i ndiaidh dul go hAlbain,go dtí an Ghearmáin, go Páras sa Fhrainc, go Lucsamburg, agus go dtí anBhruiséil sa Bheilg go dtí seo! Tá súil agam go mbeidh mé ábalta an méid ad’fhoghlaim mé ón chúrsa seo a úsáid ar ais i Massachusetts leis an teangaa theagasc do Mheiriceánaigh eile agus í a fhairsingiú mar theangadomhanda!

Le dea-ghuí,

Amanda Bernhard

Sinéad


Association

Dublin

Dear friend,

I’m having a wonderful year at the National University of Ireland, inGalway. My husband and I are both in the MA in Modern Irish program,and we couldn’t have asked for a better way to improve our Irishlanguage skills, meet fantastic people, learn about Ireland and itslanguage intricacies, and have some wonderful experiences. We’ve had thegood fortune to have some international travels, as well, and have been toScotland, Germany, Paris, Luxembourg, and Brussels so far! I hope totake what I’ve learned from this program to teach Americans about Irishand expand it as a global language!

All the best,

Amanda Bernhard

flesh, this was all my Christmasescome at once. All the major wildlifespecies obliged in spades and sportedthemselves generously in front of ourjeep. Speaking of Christmas, anunanticipated bonus of my stay inTanzania was the almost total absenceof Christmas-related commercial

razzmatazz. The first Christmas carolI heard, and the first dreaded drape oftinsel I saw, was on exiting customs inTerminal 2 at Dublin Airport.Thankfully, this was three days beforeChristmas and bearable – just about.Looking back now on my sojourn inSub-Saharan Africa, my feeling is

one of having been simultaneouslyinvigorated, challenged, and charmed,and the change in academic landscapehas certainly served to jolt me out ofany academic comfort zone I mayhave lapsed into over the years back home. I’d like to go back sometime.

Sinéad


Association

Dublin


‘Snow was general all over Ireland’,at least in Sandycove, where softwhite flakes drifted down as we stoodon the roof of the Joyce Tower on23rd February last.

This outing started out as a modestidea, but ended up an unforgettablecultural experience thanks toFulbrighter Fran O’Rourke. Fran,from the School of Philosophy inUCD, organised a recital by JohnFeeley and sang Joyce related songsaccompanied by John on guitar. Andnot just any old guitar! This was theinstrument, dating from 1830, ownedand played by James Joyce andrestored in recent years thanks toFran’s initiative. A large gathering ofFulbrighters, family, and friendslistened to this musical treat in theevocative atmosphere of the tower.

Before the recital, we were guidedaround the tower by RobertNicholson, its curator, who told usabout Joyce’s short, but eventful staythere and his abrupt departure for themore familiar streets of Dublin. Moreinterestingly, he set the interlude inthe context of Joyce’s life and

intellectual development. In this way,we learned about the intellectualjourney of this giant of 20th centuryliterature, but also experiencedJoyce’s everyday life in a unique waythrough his love of music and song.

Thereafter, we made our way to

Dalkey where, over fish pie andlemon cake, we talked and met newfriends. As the party disbanded, threehardy individuals made their waydown to the sea to photograph snowfalling over Dublin Bay. A trulyenjoyable, and memorable, day.

TAKING CULTURE AND EATING CAKE: VISITING THE JOYCE TOWER

By Anne Cleary

Hardy adventurers outside the Joyce Martello Tower in Sandycove, setting for theopening scene in Ulysses

IFAA Board member Anne Cleary whoorganised the event

John Feeley performs on James Joyce's guitar

alumni newsletter,issue no: 34 autumn 2013

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