08_UAFS_SPSU10:G&W
4/9/10
5:26 PM
Page 8
Grand+Waldron
Visiting Scholars Bring New Perspectives DURING THE 2009-2010 SCHOOL year, three visiting foreign scholars, including the university’s first Fulbright Scholar, taught at UA Fort Smith as part of various international outreach projects. Yoko Kowata of Tokyo is here for two years, teaching Japanese language and culture. She has a bachelor’s degree from Rikkyo University in Tokyo and a master’s degree in environment, science, and society from Essex University in England. Laura Dirks taught courses on the German language, both at the university and in the community, through the end of the Spring 2010 semester. She has bachelor’s degrees in English and educational psychology. Fulbright Scholar Dr. V.L.V. Kameswari participated in UA Fort Smith activities
LAURA DIRKS has studied in England, France, Taiwan, and beautiful Kerrville, Texas, where she spent her senior year of high school. During her two semesters teaching at UA Fort Smith as a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant, she made the most of her free time, traveling to Atlanta, San Francisco, New Orleans, and Washington, D.C. We asked her about American elbow room, the German language, Schadenfreude (a wonderfully expressive word for which there’s no English counterpart), and her plans for the future.
on a daily basis for years, so you learn a lot more than just asking for the train station or being able to order a drink. The rest of the world all learns how to speak English. It’s the disadvantage of being the country with the world language.
Why learn German? Germany is the fifth largest trading partner of the U.S. and the fourth largest economy in the world. A lot of very important chemical and technology companies are German, so it would expand your professional opportunities. And of course a lot of very famous artists and musicians come from Germany. One of the most important languages in opera is German.
A matter of scale: When I went to Atlanta, I got in the car and I drove for 12 hours. And I realized that was the longest
Different sounds: Most Germans struggle with the ‘th’ in English because that’s a sound we don’t have—not at all. That’s why a lot of Germans talk witt siss shtuong ahccent. The ‘th’ is something we don’t like at all.
KAT WILSON ’96
during the Fall 2009 semester. She is an associate professor at G.B. Pant University in India and holds a bachelor’s degree in analytical chemistry and master’s and doctoral degrees in communications. During the Fall 2009 semester, all three scholars participated in the “Our World at a Glance” series, giving free talks on the geography, government, and society of their respective countries. —Jessica Martin
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BELL TOWER spring/summer 2010
car trip I ever took in my life. In Europe, driving for 12 hours you would drive through at least three different countries, and you would hear three different languages, and people would look a lot different from where you got in the car.
The world language: In Germany most students start learning English in fifth grade. You are really exposed to it
Schadenfreude: Schaden means “damage” and Freude means “excitement.” So the word actually tells you what it means—being excited about someone else’s misfortune. We have a saying, Schadenfreude ist die schönste Freude, which means “Schadenfreude is the biggest of all joys.” I hope that doesn’t say anything about the German mentality.
The plan so far: Becoming a teacher in Germany takes many, many years, and teachers are state employees, so once you’re in the system, you’re in the system. It’s a very secure job, and they pay good money. I don’t know what’s going to happen in my future, but so far the plan looks like me becoming an English and psychology teacher in Germany.