Funnel 40/2, Inhalt - Fulbright-Kommission

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TITLE TOPIC
Where Continents Meet
On the fiftieth anniversary of the Berlin Seminar,
Fulbrighters and guests explore Berlin’s expanding
role as a city where people and cultures meet
by Fulbright Young Journalists Claire Adamsick, Charles Hawley, Otto
Pohl, Tania Ralli, and Chadwin Thomas contributed to this article.
Keynote Speaker Klaus Riesenhuber: The Fulbright Program
“is not only a chance for friendship, but an extremely powerful network.”
THE FUNNEL • VOLUME 40 • NUMBER 2 • SUMMER 2004
To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of
the Fulbright Berlin Seminar over 450
Fulbright grantees and alumni gathered
at the end of March for six days of panel
discussions, lectures, and cultural events.
The program, jointly organized by the
German-American Fulbright Commission
and the Fulbright Alumni e.V.,
brought together scholars from 16 countries
throughout Europe.
This year’s seminar attracted the second
largest group since its inception, just
behind the year the Berlin Wall fell. Dr.
Rolf Hoffmann, the new Executive Director
of the German-American Fulbright
Commission, welcomed participants during
the opening ceremony held at the
Berliner Ensemble on Monday, March
22nd. Delivering his remarks in German
and English, Dr. Hoffmann said the German-American
Fulbright Commission has
supported more than 42,000 scholars in
the past 50 years.
In praise of the Berlin Seminar, he said
that year after year, it “turned out to be one
of the most important things people
remembered when they looked back at
their Fulbright year in Germany.”
The keynote speaker for the event, Prof.
Dr. Heinz Riesenhuber, praised the mission
of the Fulbright Program. “As a member
of German Parliament I am fully aware
of what Fulbright means for us,” he said.
“It is not only a chance for friendship, but
an extremely powerful network.” Riesenhuber
emphasized the need to learn from
different cultures and the crucial developments
and improvements such exchange
enables.