CENTER FOR AUSTRIAN STUDIES AUSTRIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER Vol. 18, No. 1 Spring 2006 Reflections on William Fulbright’s legacy by Lonnie Johnson In April 2005, Fulbright commissions all over the world commemorated the centennial anniversary of the birth of J. William Fulbright (1905-1995), the founder of the US government’s flag- ship international educa- tional exchange program. As a junior senator from Arkan- sas, Fulbright endorsed a pro- active internationalist agenda during and after World War II and made a name for him- self not only as an advocate of the United Nations and educational exchange pro- grams, but also as one of the most courageous opponents of Joseph McCarthy. In August 1946, Fulbright was responsible for tagging an amendment on to the Sur- plus Property Act of 1944, which stipulated that for- U.S. Fulbright grantees visiting the Melk Monastery during their orientation program in September 2005. eign income earned overseas by the sale of US wartime property could be used to finance educational Salzburg, Klagenfurt, Linz, Graz, and Vienna, as well as collaborative exchange with other countries. This amendment laid the foundations for awards for students and scholars at the Diplomatic Academy, Internation- the educational exchange program that came to bear his name. The pro- ales Forschungszentrum Kulturwissenschaften (an international research gram is currently based on the Fulbright-Hayes Act of 1961, which pro- center for cultural studies), the Sigmund Freud Museum, and the Muse- vided US funding for the program as an annual line item in the federal umsQuartier in Vienna. The Fulbright Commission also cosponsors an budget and included provisions facilitating contributions to the program continued on page 25 by foreign governments and other entities. Since 1946, approximately 275,000 “Fulbrighters”—100,000 students, In This Issue teachers, scholars, scientists, and professionals from the United States and Letter from the Director 2 175,000 from countries all over the world—have participated in the pro- Minnesota Calendar 3 gram, whose objective is to promote mutual understanding between the ASN Interview: Peter Gerlich 3 people of the United States and other nations. Today some 6,000 Fulbright Letter from Diane Walters 7 grants are awarded annually for research and study in over 150 countries. ASN Interview: Mitchell Ash 8 It is managed by binational commissions in 50 countries and by the public CAS Student Group News 10 affairs sections of US embassies elsewhere. Program: Religion and Authority in East Central Europe, part 2 11 The Fulbright Program with Austria was among the “first generation” of ASN Interview: Jean-Paul Himka 12 programs established shortly after the Fulbright legislation was enacted. A Publications: News and Reviews 14 bilateral agreement between the U.S. and Austrian governments in 1950 Hot off the Presses 16 provided for the establishment of a binational Fulbright commission in News from the Field: Robert Zischg 18 Vienna, and the first Austrian and American students and scholars par- SAHH News 18 ticipated in the exchange during the 1951-52 academic year. Over 5,000 Salzburg Festival: 22 Mozart Operas and More 19 Austrian and U.S. students and scholars have participated in the program HABSBURG Happenings 20 since its inception. News from the North 21 In recent years, the development of the Fulbright program in Austria has A Look at Vienna’s MuseumsQuartier 22 been characterized by the establishment of jointly sponsored awards: eight Dispatch from CenterAustria 24 Fulbright Distinguished Chairs at Austrian universities in Innsbruck, Announcements 26 v College of Liberal Arts AUSTRIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER Letter from the Director History and the other humanities disciplines in the United States have scholars in Austrian and Habsburg studies today to open whole new areas their own versions of the New Year’s honors list as several of the national of inquiry as well as find new dimensions of understanding for the great associations announce their annual prizewinners at annual conventions political processes that have long been a focus of research. Healy’s study between November and early January each year. The Center for Austrian ranges over issues of food shortages and consumption patterns, propa- Studies joins in as well with announcements of its prizes. Historians of the ganda and wartime entertainment, censorship, rumors, denunciations, the Habsburg monarchy and modern Austria have much to celebrate in the changing social roles of women and men on the home front, and the impact prizes this year. of the war on children. That much of the richness of this book comes from Vienna and the Fall of the Habsburg Empire: Total War and Everyday Life the systematic application of gender analysis in a variety of contexts is a in World War I (Cambridge, 2004) by Maureen Healy of Oregon State reminder to all of us in the field of how much we have to gain by more thor- University has won two major prizes. At its annual meeting in November, ough examination of gender issues than we have undertaken previously. the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies awarded Also during the AHA annual meeting in January, I had the pleasure to the Barbara Jelavich Prize to Healy’s book. This prize is awarded annually announce the awarding of the R. John Rath Prize for the best article in the to a distinguished monograph on any aspect of Southeast European or Austrian History Yearbook in 2005 to “Early Modern Urban Immigration Habsburg studies since 1600 or on 19th- and 20th-century Ottoman or in East Central Europe: A Macroanalysis” by Jaroslav Miller of the Palacký Russian diplomatic history. The jury praised Prof. Healy for leading the way University in Olomouc, Czech Republic. The jury for the Rath Prize, com- toward a new understanding of the processes by which the Habsburg state posed of Gerald Stourzh, Cathleen Giustino, and Paula Fichtner, praised collapsed. She developed cogent, convincing arguments concerning the far- Miller for his enormous skill in dealing with difficult and often fragmen- reaching disintegration of civic life and popular confidence in the state in tary sources in constructing a careful comparative analysis of migration Vienna and, by extension, on the home front more generally well before the patterns and demographic trends for a range of cities. Miller’s essay is end of World War I. The jury noted in particular Healy’s highly original exemplary in its use of an elaborate statistical apparatus with a clarity and research in “teasing out the attitudes and actions of women in breadlines, directness that elucidates for the non-expert reader the complex dynam- would-be child heroes, demasculated former soldiers, and others who chal- ics of urban society and migratory processes in the early modern era. The lenged the unity of wartime Viennese and the idea of empire.” great virtues of this article remind us that the skills required for important In early January 2006, the American Historical Association announced work in historical demography are both valuable and rare in the historical that it has also awarded its prestigious Herbert Baxter Adams Prize for a profession today. best first book by a North American scholar in European history to Healy. As I conclude this letter, I welcome the return of David Good, former This great honor underlines the significance of the book in a much wider CAS director, to the leadership of the Center for Austrian Studies. Always scholarly arena beyond Habsburg and modern Austrian history. the loyal colleague, David has graciously agreed to serve as interim director Vienna and the Fall of the Habsburg Empire is a wonderfully original for the spring 2006 semester while I take a sabbatical to do some scholarly work of social and cultural history and demonstrates vividly the ability of writing of my own. CAS will surely be in the best of hands. Gary B. Cohen EDITOR’S NOTE AUSTRIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER Volume 18, No. 1 • Spring 2006 Once again, it’s time for a hello, a goodbye, and even a semi-goodbye at the Center for Austrian Studies. Editor: Daniel Pinkerton First, the goodbye. Arnold Lelis, editorial assistant for our con- Editorial Assistants: Linda Andrean, Jules Gehrke, Arnold Lelis, ference volumes, ASN editorial assistant, and website editor, is leav- Nicole Phelps, Annett Richter ing the Center to be a visiting assistant professor at University of Hawaii, Hilo, for a semester (we Minnesotans sigh every time he says ASN is published twice annually (February and September) and dis- “Hawaii”). When he returns to Minnesota, he will spend his time tributed free of charge to interested subscribers as a public service of furiously working on his dissertation rather than at CAS. We’ll miss the Center for Austrian Studies. Director: Gary B. Cohen his meticulous work and quiet wit. Administrative Manager: Linda Andrean The semi-goodbye is for Nicole Phelps, editorial assistant and Editor: Daniel Pinkerton copyeditor for the AHY. She will teach a class in spring 2006 and will Send subscription requests or contributions for publication to: continue to be AHY’s copyeditor, but will relinquish her duties as edi- torial assistant and be a physical presence in the office a lot less. She’ll Center for Austrian Studies still be working for us, but there will be fewer opportunities to discuss Attn: Austrian Studies Newsletter film, theatre, and the ouvre of the Muppets. 314 Social Sciences Building, 267 19th Avenue S. We have already welcomed Annett Richter, who is taking over as Minneapolis MN 55455 Phone: (612) 624-9811 Fax: (612) 626-9004 AHY assistant editor, ASN editorial assistant, and is coordinating the website: http://www.cas.umn.edu spring conference. We now ask you to welcome Jules Gehrke, who will Editor: [email protected] be taking over Arnold’s duties as website editor, editorial assistant for Subscriptions: [email protected] conference volumes, and ASN editorial assistant.