Graduate, Professor Awarded Fulbrights
	Ithaca College graduate Jayson-Debora Hinderliter and anthropology professor Barbara Johnson have been awarded Fulbright grants to work and conduct research overseas. Hinderliter, who received a bachelor of arts degree in planned studies during the College's May 17 Commencement ceremony, was awarded a U.S. Student Fulbright Grant to teach English in the former German Democratic Republic. She will also use her time in Germany to do volunteer work pertaining to women's issues. Johnson, an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology, received a Fulbright Senior Scholar Regional Research Fellowship to facilitate the translation and analysis of Indian songs sung by elderly Jewish women in Israel. Hinderliter was awarded the Fulbright based on a proposal focusing on helping to teach English in the German secondary school system. "She really impressed the campus Fulbright committee with her knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of the former East Germany and how this has changed since unification," says Martin Sternstein, an Ithaca College faculty member who provides assistance to students and faculty who apply for the grants. "It's a pleasure to work with students like her." As a planned studies major, Hinderliter designed her own major in geopolitical communication with an emphasis on western Europe. She also minored in German. In 1993-94, she lived in Denmark as a Rotary exchange student, and in 1996-97 she spent a full year in Germany doing an internship as an English language specialist. Johnson, who has been conducting research on Cochin Jewish women's songs in India and Israel for more than a year, will use her grant to accomplish the translation of the songs brought to Israel during a migration from southern India long ago. The translations from Malayalam to English will eventually be published. "There are very few women left in Israel who know the songs, which have only been preserved in little notebooks and manuscripts. The songs are in danger of being lost," says Johnson, who will be affiliated with Hebrew University's Jewish Music Research Center and Department of Indian Studies during a five month stay in Jerusalem. She will also spend two months in India working with linguists to verify the accuracy of the translations. Hinderliter and Johnson are among some 700 Americans to receive Fulbright grants this year. The U.S. Congress created the Fulbright Program in 1946, immediately following the conclusion of World War II, to foster mutual understanding among nations through educational and cultural exchanges. Sen. J. William Fulbright, sponsor of the legislation, saw it as a step toward building an alternative to armed conflict. The program is designed to give young professionals and artists opportunities for personal development and international experience.