BUFFALO, NY – Canisius students Eric Mietz ’13, Jonathan Beck ’13 and alumna Kaela M. Glenn ’11 are the college’s most recent recipients of J. William Fulbright Scholarships. Named for Senator J. William Fulbright, it is the U.S. government’s premier scholarship program designed to foster mutual understanding among nations through educational and cultural exchanges. The Fulbright program provides recipients with tuition, fees, travel and research funds for up to one year.
Mietz is a senior international relations, German and European studies major. He will use his Fulbright Scholarship to study Austrian policies regarding European security policy and integration, as part of the Masters of Advanced International Studies Program at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna. Meitz’ research is a continuation of his Canisius Honors thesis, which focuses on Europe’s role in developing security policy and maintaining transatlantic relations. Central to his Fulbright research will be an examination of how Austria’s implementation of non-military foreign policy options is carried out using instruments of intergovernmental organizations, such as the European Union, NATO and the U.N.
“Vienna is the home of many international organizations and offers a unique perspective for both advanced study in international relations, as well as my interests in European security institutions and relations between the United States and Austria,” says Mietz.
Mietz is fluent in German and spent a semester abroad at Germany’s Katholische Universität Eichstätt. He plans to pursue a diplomatic career with NATO or the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe).
Beck is a senior German, European studies and political science major in the All-College Honors Program. He will use his Fulbright Scholarship to examine how European Union (EU) integration theories apply in the context of several decisions within Germany’s Constitutional Court. Beck will conduct his research, which is a continuation of his Canisius Honors Thesis, at Eberhard Karls Universität Tubingen.
“While the court has consistently confirmed a constitutional commitment to European integration, it does so under the condition of the maintenance of sovereign statehood, constitutional identity and the principle of conferral.” says Beck. He will explore the extent to which German and EU federalism can be compared, the extent to which the EU can be called a federalist system, and how this affects policymaking in the EU.
“I will have the opportunity to pursue my research interests with access to some of the best faculty and resources in the German-speaking world at Eberhard Karls Universität Tubingen,” says Beck. I intend to visit law courses, which will have a specific focus on the European Union.”
Beck is fluent in German and spent a semester abroad at Germany’s Katholische Universität Eichstätt. He plans to pursue a PhD in political science/government.
Glenn is 2011 alumna of Canisius University and a resident of Babylon, NY. She holds a bachelor’s degree in early childhood/childhood education.
Her Fulbright Scholarship afforded Glenn the opportunity to spend 10 months working and learning as an English teaching assistant in Malaysia. Her role in the classroom was to encourage and improve English conversation skills.
"My students’ English levels were very low when I first arrived and some students lacked confidence or were extremely shy,” says Glenn. “But upon the conclusion of my Fulbright experience, I was able to have full-blown conversations with many of them.” She adds, “I owe a lot of my skills and talents as an educator to the education staff at Canisius. They taught me so much.”
Glenn originally applied for a Fulbright to Indonesia in 2010, which she did not receive. However, her application ranked first among the organization’s alternate list and six months following her initial application, the J. William Fulbright Program in collaboration with the Institute of International Education, offered Glenn the opportunity in Malaysia.
“I literally had 24 hours to accept or decline,” recalls Glenn. “The choice was obvious, as working abroad has been a dream of mine for so long. So I packed up and moved to a country of which I had little to no knowledge. It was my first time out of the United States.”
Glenn’s, Beck’s and Mietz’ Fulbright Scholarships bring the total number of Fulbrights awarded to Canisius students or alumni to 37, since 1987.
One of 28 Catholic, Jesuit colleges in the nation, Canisius is the premier private university in Western New York.
