German major awarded Austrian assistantship administered by Fulbright Commission

RELEASED: July 12, 2007

DANVILLE, KY—Stephen Ludlum '07, a German major from Columbus, Ohio, will spend next year in Klagenfurt, Austria, with the English Language Teaching Assistantship Program.

Ludlum goes through orientation in September and will begin work October 1. During his time in Klagenfurt, he will be working in two secondary schools. Last summer Ludlum studied abroad in Munich, Germany.

Dr. Ian Wilson, assistant professor of German and humanities and chair of the German Studies Program at Centre, was instrumental in preparing Ludlum for this opportunity and helping him apply.

"Stephen is a wonderful choice for this award," Wilson said. "He's been interested in secondary education for a long time, and he found interesting dialects of German more and more intriguing after the summer he spent in Munich as part of his German major."

Ludlum will be an excellent role model for the Austrian students and a great ambassador for Centre and the United States, Wilson said. "I encouraged him to indicate a preference for an area other than Vienna on his application so he could get a real taste for such dialects in the atmosphere of a smaller city. The beautiful southern Austrian city of Klagenfurt will suit his interests quite well. Klagenfurt is very close to Slovenia, and the German of the area shows a marked influence of this Slavic language. Like all Austrian cities, it's also rich in the arts, and I hope that Stephen will find opportunities to keep up his wonderful singing, too."

Wilson studied in Vienna on a Fulbright Scholarship, and will be leading a trip to Vienna, Berlin and Prague during CentreTerm 2008. During CentreTerm, the College's unique three-week January term, all students take one course designed to provide an intense, small-group learning situation, and can include internships and study abroad opportunities.

The English Language Teaching Assistantship Program is administered by the Fulbright Commission in cooperation with the Austrian Ministry of Education, the Arts and Culture. The application process involves submitting an application in German, a résumé and a biographical essay that must include reasons for wanting to teach in Austria. These items are submitted in addition to transcripts, recommendations and an official statement of German language proficiency.

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