The DAAD provides a unique institutional framework that allows foreign and German researchers alike to excel in their profession and guarantees top-notch work at German institutions. Scholars who have enjoyed support and funding from the DAAD are recognized internationally and contribute to the prestige and quality associated with its name. I will appreciate the opportunity to further the DAAD’s goals of excellence in research in Germany as Research Ambassador in the U.S. in 2014-2015.
The first DAAD scholarship I received in 2006 did not only send me to graduate studies at the Central European University. It also set me on a career path that has allowed me to develop a unique research profile, learn two more languages (Hungarian and Russian), and make it to the University of Pittsburgh, where I am about to finish my PhD studies on a topic that I first discovered in 2006.
For the last four years, I have been teaching European and American history to undergraduate students at Pitt. Not only has it been an amazing opportunity to improve my teaching skills. Since I aspire to establish personal relationships with all of my students – knowing everybody’s name, their extracurricular activities, their off-campus jobs, their likes and dislikes –, teaching has also become a source of great fulfillment. The most gratifying moments have involved students telling me they will change their majors or specialization to European history, plan travels to Europe, or wish to pursue graduate studies in history because of our work together. I find it extraordinarily motivating to see students becoming first interested and then passionate about recent European history. In those precious moments, when students start asking ‘personal’ question, wanting to know about my experience ‘here’ and ‘there’ or seek my advise, I truly believe one can make a difference in their lives.
As an advanced PhD candidate approaching completion, I have turned more and more to mentoring and helping undergraduate students. This year I have begun volunteering in the Vira Heinz Program for Women in Global Leadership at Pitt. This scholarship scheme supports female undergraduates from often less privileged backgrounds who have never been abroad to travel and spend a couple of weeks studying or researching in a country of their choosing. In return, they are encouraged to contribute to their home community. I was in charge of preparing a handful of young women for their time in Berlin, Freiburg and Vienna.
I was happy to learn that the participants in our preparatory meeting appreciated that they were able to approach me on basic questions as well as less comfortable topics such as gender relations, fashion and dress code, drinking, conversational taboos, and stereotypes of Americans in Germany. Additionally, I have helped colleagues of mine who are just embarking on their research trips to Europe with accommodation, transportation, archival research and institutional settings as well as funding opportunities.
Representing the DAAD as Research Ambassador in the US will allow me to pay back the support I have received from the DAAD. It would also enable me to contribute to the DAAD’s network of scholars and researchers interested in Germany or working at German institutions and universities. As DAAD Research Ambassador, I hope to develop my strengths in advising and mentoring and expand my skills in research management and funding.
VICTORIA HARMS 