Christiansen Awarded DAAD Fellowship

For Jette Christiansen '01, it's a case of like dad, like daughter, at least where the DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst) grant is concerned. Christiansen, a Latin American studies major and politics minor, recently learned that she is a recipient of a DAAD fellowship, the same grant her father, MHC professor of economics Jens Christiansen, received thirty-one years ago as a graduate student at Hamburg University in Germany.

The grant made it possible for the elder Christiansen to study economics at Stanford University. Now the DAAD, known around campus as the German Fulbright, will enable Jette Christiansen to spend ten months pursuing academic interests and rekindling personal ties to Hamburg. Her father was born and raised there, and she has visited the city on numerous occasions. "It's funny that we're doing it in the reverse direction," says Jette Christiansen. "I'm going to Germany from the United States. My father is joking that thirty years from now, I'll be in Germany because his DAAD brought him to the United States and resulted in him staying here."

While that would be yet another coincidence, Christiansen says she has no idea where she might be in thirty years. What she does know is that next year she will research transnational migration and citizenship in Germany, expanding on her honors thesis, which was deemed exceptional and focused on the immigration of Mexicans to the United States. "I plan to investigate how African migrants in Hamburg renegotiate their identity, membership, and rights in the context of changing German immigration policy and attitudes of German citizens," says Christiansen. Jens Christiansen is proud of his daughter's academic achievements and her strong commitment to social justice. "I think it's fascinating," he says. "I'm thrilled that the daughter of two German immigrants—her mother, Brigitte Kahnert, hails from Berlin—is trying to reestablish her connections to Germany."

Jette Christiansen grew up in the Pioneer Valley and graduated from Williston Northampton School in 1996. She spent a year in Hamburg when she was a young child and again as a sophomore in high school when her parents were on sabbatical there. She has also spent summers in Germany, where she has many friends, including several West Africans.

Christiansen's academic interests in international migration and her personal connections prompted her to apply for the DAAD grant last September. Her interest in immigration has roots that run deep. After graduating from Williston, Christiansen spent a year in Mexico, working in an orphanage through a program called Volunteers Exchange International. And last summer, she did an internship for the Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild in Boston. Through the internship—and subsequent course work at MHC—Christiansen realized that immigration laws seem to conflict with the economic needs of the United States, and she felt that regulations were often unjust. "Clearly, immigrants are essential to the United States economy, yet many citizens and government officials seem determined to deny them rights or opportunities for political participation. I am astounded by the way we treat the very people that are necessary for the lifestyle we enjoy in countries such as the United States and Germany," she says. "That's how I approached my thesis, in terms of figuring out the logic of something so seemingly contradictory."

Christiansen says that two MHC professors, Lowell Gudmundson, professor of Latin American studies, and history professor Harold Garrett-Goodyear, have been instrumental in helping her achieve her goals. Gudmundson is Christiansen's adviser and served as chair of her honors thesis committee. He says Christiansen took almost every course he offered at MHC and set the standard for student performance. "Her theoretical acuity is really quite remarkable and well attested to by faculty,"

Gudmundson reports. "Her linguistic and cross-cultural skills are the envy of all of us, and her irrepressible commitment to democratic practices, both real and radical, seem to me to be her trademarks. And they will be missed around here next year, I'm quite sure.”

In addition to English, Christiansen speaks German and Spanish. She will graduate summa cum laude and as a Mary Lyon Scholar, is the recipient of the Latin American Studies Prize and the Program in Critical Social Thought Prize, was named a Sarah Williston Scholar in 1999, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa after six semesters, and was the Mount Holyoke nominee for the 2001 Truman Scholarship. In addition, Christiansen was also invited to present some of her thesis work to the Smith College Kahn Institute seminar on exile and immigration, during the spring 2001 term. Beyond that, she found time to be one of the principal organizers of the student support group for the Mount Holyoke housekeepers during their recent contract negotiations with the College.

After spending the year in Germany, Christiansen wants to work for several years for a nonprofit organization before deciding upon her field of graduate studies.