Prof heads to Armenia as a Fulbright scholar
By Nancy Mace The Record Herald
The Waynesboro Record Herald
Monday, May 16, 2005
Fulbright Scholar Dr. Alfred G. Mueller II will travel with his wife Lusine
and daughter Helena to Armenia to teach this fall.
MONT ALTO – A Penn State Mont Alto professor is hoping to open doors
for himself and the people of Armenia when he travels to the country
this summer as a Fulbright scholar.
“This is a win-win situation,” said Dr. Alfred G. Mueller II, one of
800 American faculty members and professionals working abroad next
year under the program, established in 1946 in legislation introduced
by the late Sen. J. William Fulbright. The purpose of the program
is to build mutual understanding between the people of the United
States and other countries.
“They want scholars whose reputation is broader than their home
institution,” according to Mueller, 34, who published a book on
the Ukraine. Mueller wrote “In the Name of God,” after a number of
trips to the country between 1994 and 1998.
An associate professor of communications arts and sciences at
Mont Alto, Mueller was honored as “scholar of the year” at PSMA’s
commencement Saturday for his research, which has international
importance and status.
In Armenia, Mueller will teach courses (in English) on public speaking
and media and society at Yerevan State Linguistics University after
V. Brusov. Mueller, who is fluent in Russian and speaks some Armenian,
expects to have about 15 students in a class.
“On the one hand, I can do more activities with them, but at the same
time with the language and cultural barriers, I will have to cover
some basic things I don’t need to explain to American scholars.”
When it comes to the Internet, Mueller said his students at Mont Alto,
“know more than I do.”
In Yerevan, however, residents have limited access to the Internet,
he added.
“They have to pay by the hour, and very few have computers in their
homes. They go to computer labs throughout the city.”
Staying with family
Mueller’s teaching experience this fall also is an opportunity for his
wife, Lusine, to return to her homeland. The couple have a 6-year-old
daughter, Helena, who will attend school in Yerevan.
They will live with Lusine’s family.
The professor will be provided a stipend, and the program pays for
living and traveling expenses for the family, he added.
Mueller will attend an orientation in July in Washington, D.C., at
the U.S. State Department, which sponsors the program along with
the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Mueller was one of thousands of applicants who applied for a position
last year.
Recipients are selected on the basis of academic or professional
achievement and because they have demonstrated extraordinary leadership
potential in their fields.
In addition to submitting a resume and three letters of recommendation
(two from Mont Alto and one from another university), Mueller also
forwarded a list of courses he would be teaching there.
“I had to prepare a statement of how I saw myself fitting in to
the program.”
Mueller met with Gayane Gasparyan, vice rector of the Yerevan
University, in Armenia last summer.
“She will be my director. She was happy to hear what I would offer
to the university and wrote a letter on my behalf to the scholarship
committee,” added Mueller, who received official notification of the
award in April.
Goals of service
Mueller also hopes to spend time researching the large stone crosses –
khatchkars – that dot the landscape of Armenia.
“It’s like walking through a cemetery. It’s a very stylized art
form. It literally looks like needlework on the rock,” he noted.
Mueller plans to travel the country photographing the khatchkars and
“talking to people.”
Mueller has been fascinated with khatchkars since his first trip to
Armenia in 1997.
“They’re used for a lot of different things. It’s considered an art
form, but it’s more a symbol of identity.”
With the understanding he gains from the Fulbright experience, Mueller
would like to develop courses at Mont Alto that focus on intercultural
communication and the Armenian genocide.
Between 1915 and 1923, 1.5 million Armenians were killed in Ottoman,
Turkey, according to Mueller.
“It was the first genocide of the 20th century. The Ottoman empire
was falling apart and they started eliminating the Armenians, their
historic and ethnic antagonists. Hitler picked up the same methods
for exterminating the Jews 20 years later.”
Last summer, at the invitation of Karekin II, Catholicos and Supreme
Patriarch of all Armenia, Mueller photographed all the khatchkars in
his museum at the Holy See in Echmiadzin.
“I plan to publish two books from my research. One will be a photo
collection of the khatchkars and the second, a scholarly work examining
them as a symbol of Armenian identity.”
Spending time with Lusine’s family also is a top priority for Mueller.
“The Armenian lifestyle is much more laid back and relaxed than
anything America has to offer. You can walk everywhere. The weather
is very hospitable. There’s so much to see and do – the environment
and natural beauty.”
As part of the award, Mueller will prepare a report when he returns,
highlighting his work and how it impacted the community.
“They expect something to come out of the exchange, that what I
learned over there can be incorporated into the courses I teach here.”
Mueller also thanked officials at Mont Alto for their support.
“Everyone has been very positive and helpful.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress