Alma prof gets Fullbright award

An Alma College professor is expanding not only her own education but also that of her students, with the help of a recent Fulbright grant award.

The Fulbright grant program is one of the most highly sought after awards in academic fields, for its prestige and opportunities. Alma's Holly Liu, an association professor of German studies and language, received a Fulbright grant to attend an academic seminar in Germany over the most recent summer.

Liu says her experience at the Baden-Wurttemberg Seminar for American Faculty in German and German Studies at the Univeristy of Tubingen in Germany was "mind-opening."

She attended the seminar with American colleagues from other universities and colleges, and the attendees visited German and Swiss universities, listened to presentations, participated in discussions, and studied modern European educational processes, including textbook evaluation, language proficiency and grading.

Other benefits were less defined, says Liu.

"As we teach, we read and write about the German language and culture, but to experience it and hear directly from our German colleagues was really helpful," she says. "We not only got to see how they teach German to their students, but we also got feedback from the students."

Amid the German and Swiss educational experiences, Liu says she also learned from her American colleagues.

"It was mind-opening to see what other colleges are doing," she says. "We discussed in detail how to teach German film and culture to our students and how we can challenge them to think critically. It’s important to me that Alma students are successful."

Liu also researched German study abroad programs that may be open to Alma students during her seminar, focusing on cost and quality of program.

Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: Holly Liu, Alma College