Contact:

Gary Scharnhorst 277-3015 Miguel Gandert 277-7573 Carolyn Gonzales 277-5920

February 26, 2002

SCHARNHORST AND GANDERT RECEIVE FULBRIGHTS

Two University of New Mexico faculty, Gary Scharnhorst, professor of English; and Miguel Gandert, associate professor, Communication and Journalism; have recently been notified that they are the recipients of Fulbright scholarships.

Scharnhorst will participate in "International Migration and National Identities," a Fulbright German studies seminar to be held this summer in Berlin, Leipzig and Cologne. Of the 25 attendees from around the U.S. to be selected, Scharnhorst is the only person affiliated with a Department of English. This is Scharnhorst's fourth Fulbright to take him to Germany.

Scharnhorst was also recently elected chair of the American Literature Section of the Modern Language Association (MLA) for 2002. The position is the highest elected office for an American literature professor.

Scharnhorst is also the recipient of the Western Literature Association Thomas J. Lyon Award for "Outstanding Book in Western American Literary Criticism" for his book, "Bret Harte: Opening the American Literary West," published by Univ. of Oklahoma Press in 2000.

Miguel Gandert, a recent recipient of a Southwest Book Award from the Border Regional Library Association for the book, "Nuevo Mexico Profundo: Rituals of an Indo-Hispano Homeland," featuring Gandert's photographs, will be involved in a three-year project in Bolivia where he will photograph the feast day celebrations of the Indo-Hispano people in rural and urban regions. Gandert anticipates spending two months of each of the next three years on the project.

"The Fulbright allows me to continue looking at Mestizo ritual among the poorest indigenous populations in Latin America. The project will show the connection between American Southwestern rituals and those of Bolivia - demonstrating a unique shared heritage, both of which are products of the confluence of 400 years of Meso-American and Spanish Colonialism."

Gandert's first Bolivian photography exhibition will open at the Museum of Ethnography and Folklore in La Paz, Bolivia in May.

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The University of New Mexico
Public Affairs Department
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Albuquerque, NM 87131-0011
Telephone: (505) 277-5813
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