1. Welcome to
Romanian Alumni
Community
Romanian Alumni Community
Monthly Newsletter
Bucharest, May 31 2011
Volume I, Issue 5
Alumni News
From Alumni
Table of Contents
Alumni News
 2011 Hours Against Hate: Stand up and Speak out ► Romanian Alumni and Grantees
 East-West Cultural Passage Conference
 Interview by Cristina Cheveresan, Romanian
Fulbright Alumna
From Alumni  Interview with Maria Niculescu, Romanian
Hubert H. Humphrey Alumna
► U.S. Alumni and Grantees
 News from Catalin Albu, Romanian Fulbright
Grantee
 Jake Shulman-Ment Talks about his Latest Concert
in Botosani
 News from Michael S. Jones, U.S. Fulbright Alumnus
in 2000-2001 Alumni Information
 News from Dan Ratliff, U.S. Fulbright Scholar
 Exhibition by Aline Cautis, U.S. Fulbright Alumna Alumni Links
 Ileana Orlich, Fulbright Specialist - Awards and Ac-
tivities
 U.S. Fulbrighter in the Romanian Media
http://www.facebook.com/
Romanian.US.Fulbright.Commission
https://alumni.state.gov/romania www.fulbright.ro 1

2. Bucharest, May 31 2011
Volume I, Issue 5
Alumni News
2011 Hours Against Hate: Stand up and Speak out
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton recorded a video supporting the
2011 Hours Against Hate campaign (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-
4XlLis7CA). In her video message, Secretary Clinton called on citizens
around the world to “stand up and speak out against hate.”
The focus of this campaign is to encourage people to take action against
hate and bridge divides across lines of culture, religion, class and gender by
volunteering their time for someone different from themselves. People can
pledge hours and help someone who “doesn’t look like you, live like you, or
pray like you” through the 2011 Hours Against Hate Facebook website
(www.facebook.com/2011HoursAgainstHate). This site is a forum for people
from every corner of the globe to come together and share ways they are standing up against hate.
- Join the campaign at http://www.facebook.com/2011HoursAgainstHate.
- Take a pledge to do something for someone who doesn't look like you, pray like you, or live like you.
- Share your pledge with State Alumni on Twitter: #StateAlumni #2011AgainstHate.
- Tell us how alumni work to stop hate at https://alumni.state.gov/news2/alumni-articles.
East-West Cultural Passage Conference
The 2011 edition of the “East-West Cultural Passage Conference: Contact Zones in the Global World”
organized by the Department of British and American Studies, the Academic Anglophone Society and
“C. Peter Magrath” Research Centre for Cross-Cultural Studies in association with the Romanian-U.S.
Fulbright Commission took place in Sibiu on May 6,7. Romanian and U.S. Fulbright alumni and grant-
ees presented papers in different panels of the conference. Besides the scientific value, the conference
was also an opportunity for the American Fulbrighters to meet as a group before finishing their schol-
arship and leaving Romania. Let us use this opportunity to say a warm THANK YOU, DEAR FRIENDS!
to all American Fulbrighters who are finishing their Romanian grant and will be leaving soon.
https://alumni.state.gov/romania www.fulbright.ro
2

3. Bucharest, May 31 2011
Volume I, Issue 5
From Alumni
► Romanian Alumni and Grantees
Interview by Cristina Cheveresan, Romanian Fulbright Alumna
Cristina Cheveresan, Romanian Fulbright Alumna in 2010-2011 interviewed the
American writer Gish Jen. The interview was published in the Romanian publication
entitled “Orizont”. To read the interview, please follow the link below.
Gish Jen Interview by Cristina Cheveresan
Interview with Maria Niculescu, Romanian Hubert H. Humphrey Alumna
The interview featuring Maria Niculescu, Romanian Hubert H. Humphrey Alumna in
2004-2005 and entitled “Never Say Never” is available online at:
http://elite.lsrs.ro/2011/05/22/%E2%80%9Dnever-say-never%E2%80%9D-%E2%
80%93-un-interviu-cu-maria-niculescu/
News from Catalin Albu, Romanian Fulbright Grantee
Dr. Catalin Albu of the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, Romania,
currently a Senior Fulbright Grantee at the University of Dayton, Ohio, reports
on his visits to three major American Universites. Two of these visits were fi-
nanced via the Occasional Lecturer Fund (OLF), namely Temple University
(Fox School of Business and Management) and San Diego State University
(Charles W. Lamden School of Accountancy). The third lecture took place at
DePaul University (School of Accountancy).
Catalin has lectured during his visits on the
theme of accounting developments in emerg-
ing economies, with a focus on accounting
education, profession and International Finan-
cial Reporting Standards implementation in
Romania to an audience comprised of faculty, PhD students, graduate
and undergraduate students. These visits served as excellent opportu-
nities to develop the level of understanding between American and Ro-
manian accounting researchers, and possibly create professional and
personal relationships.
http://www.facebook.com/
Romanian.US.Fulbright.Commission
https://alumni.state.gov/romania www.fulbright.ro
3

4. Bucharest, May 31 2011
Volume I, Issue 5
From Alumni
► U.S. Alumni and Grantees
Jake Shulman-Ment Talks about his Latest Concert in Botosani
On April 28, Jake Shulman-Ment, U.S. Fulbright grantee and violinist held a Jewish recital during a con-
cert entitled La Zi de Sarbatoare (On Celebration Day) in Botosani. The event was organized in collabo-
ration with the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest and one special guest was Mark H. Gitenstein, the U.S. Am-
bassador in Romania.
The event in Jake’s words:
„Performing this music in front of 700 Botosaneni, the Jewish community, and especially in light of the
Ambassador's beautiful remarks was a deeply emotional experience for both Eleonore (note: Eleonore
Weill is a musician from France who played with Jake during the concert) and I. I must say that I have
played countless concerts in all kinds of situations all over Europe and North America, and never, until
last night, have I experienced emotion to the point at which I thought that I would cry on stage. Some
of the Romanian singers backstage, who grew up with Jews in the Botosani area, told us the same thing
about themselves. So, I think this event touched a lot of people in a special way.”
News from Michael S. Jones, U.S. Fulbright Alumnus in 2000-2001
Michael S. Jones, U.S. Fulbright alumnus in 2000-2001 and currently professor of Philosophy at Liberty
University published an article about Lucian Blaga’s philosophy in the "Internet Encyclopedia of Philoso-
phy".
Lucian Blaga was a Romanian philosopher, poet, playwright and a prominent personality of the Roma-
nian culture during the period between the two world wars.
To read the entire article and find more about Lucian Blaga's work, please follow the link below.
http://www.iep.utm.edu/lucian-blaga
News from Dan Ratliff, U.S. Fulbright Scholar
Fulbright Senior Scholar Dan Ratliff presented on “Systems of Care
for Children and Families: American and Romanian social services”
at the 3rd Annual International Conference on Social Services
hosted at LUMSA University in Taranto, Italy, on 8 April, 2011. Dr.
Ratliff, currently teaching at Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca,
shared the program with the Romanian Consul George Teseleanu,
who spoke on “Romanian Minors in Italy: Between Exclusion and
Integration.”
Dr. Ratliff addressed the need for a comprehensive, culturally re-
sponsive system of social services that serve the needs of children
and families. He illustrated such an approach in community-based
interventions for juvenile offenders in one city in the USA. Using the USAID NGO Sustainability Index
for Romania, Dr. Ratliff described the needs of Romanian social services and highlighted two Romanian
NGOs that are having an impact on social needs of Romanian children and families. Dr. Ratliff and Prof.
Ing. Teseleanu discussed the need for research to assess the social inclusion needs of Romanian immi-
grants in Italy. An important starting point is how Romanian immigrant children are succeeding in Ital-
ian schools. Utilizing LUMSA University’s social service partnerships with 11 communities in the region,
such research would identify social needs of this prevalent immigrant population and encourage the use
of EU initiatives that encourage inclusion and intercultural education.
https://alumni.state.gov/romania www.fulbright.ro 4

5. Bucharest, May 31 2011
Volume I, Issue 5
From Alumni
Exhibition by Aline Cautis, U.S. Fulbright Alumna
Exhibition by Aline Cautis, U.S. Fulbright Alumna at Sabot Gallery in Cluj-
Napoca. The exhibition entitled With, For and Against Each Other is open
until June 30 and features recent experiments with painting alongside two
16mm films transferred to dvd projections. More details by following the
link below. Congratulations, Aline!
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=213795605308043
Ileana Orlich, Fulbright Specialist - Awards and Activities
Dr. Ileana Orlich, a distinguished Fulbright Senior Alumna, is a
Professor of Romanian Studies and Comparative Literature and
Director of the Arizona State University Romanian Studies Pro-
gram. She was recently awarded the title of Professor of the
Year 2011 by the Arizona State University Parents Association.
More details at http://asunews.asu.edu/20110413_poy. Let us
also mention that Ileana is the Honorary Consul General of Ro-
mania in Arizona. Please find details about the consular program
conducted by Ileana at http://www.public.asu.edu/~orlich/.
Among many other activities and projects, during the 3 weeks in
Romania Ileana Orlich is currently spending in Romania as a Ful-
bright Specialist, she was a key-note speaker at the International Conference organized by the Depart-
ment of International Economic Relations within the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest.
Ileana also has accepted the invitation of Adina Ciugureanu, Dean and Professor of American Studies at
the Ovidius University in Constanta, to give a talk on Saturday, May 28, to the graduate students and
faculty in the program. The title of the talk was “Writing between Two Cultures: The Novels of Herta
Muller”.
As always, Ileana has helped the Fulbright Commission carry out its other programs, this time as a
member of the panel for Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program interviews. Here is Ileana’s
comment to the event: “It's always a privilege to be a part of the Fulbright office activities here, in Bu-
charest, and today's interviews were no exception. I am confident that the successful candidates will
bring a world of talent and positive energy to the teaching profession and that their efforts will make a
difference in the lives of American and Romanian students.”
U.S. Fulbrighter in the Romanian Media
On May 27, Barbara Mueller, U.S. Fulbrighter in Constanta held a
presentation at the American Corner entitled "The Cowboy: An
American Icon". The presentation in Barbara’s words: “ As an
overview, I discuss the the Cowboy is an icon of America and a
colorful symbol of "the west." Some of the legends regarding the
cowboy culture are true; others have been exaggerated by Holly-
wood, artists, and novel writers, mainly for profit. This presenta-
tion separates the myths from reality to present a more accurate
picture of the American cowboy, past and present.”
The presentation was covered by the Romanian media. To read
the entire articled, please follow the links below.
http://www.ziuaconstanta.ro/rubrici/social/the-american-cowboy-la-american-corner-galerie-foto-
66994.html; http://observator.ro/cowboy-la-universitate-89053.html
https://alumni.state.gov/romania www.fulbright.ro 5

6. Bucharest, May 31 2011
Volume I, Issue 5
Alumni Information
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This Newsletter is produced by the Romanian Alumni Coordinator
6