Recent UA Graduate Named Fulbright Scholar

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Joshua Frank of Moody, a recent graduate of The University of Alabama, has received a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship to study abroad.

Fulbright Scholars receive round-trip transportation, tuition, book and research allowances and living expenses for an academic year in an effort to increase mutual understanding between people in the United States and those in other countries.

Frank, a 2009 UA graduate with a bachelor’s degree in German and philosophy, received a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Germany.  Frank has already begun work on his master’s degree in German at UA, and he will continue after his year abroad.

Frank is a member of Phi Sigma Tau national philosophy honor society and Delta Phi Alpha national German honor society.  In the 2009 spring semester, Frank was awarded the Marten and Marie ten Hoor Prize for the UA department of philosophy’s annual essay competition.  He was awarded second prize for the Iredell Jenkins Endowed Memorial Scholarship for outstanding students in the philosophy department.

During the 2008 fall and 2009 spring semesters, Frank worked as a teaching assistant for Introduction to Philosophy under UA faculty members, Dr. Scott Hestevold, professor and chair of philosophy, and Dr. Torin Alter, associate professor of philosophy.  Frank also plans to pursue a graduate degree in philosophy and has aspirations of becoming a professor, he says.

While in Germany, he will study philosophy at the Institut für Philosophie at the Friedrich-Shiller-Universität Jena. “I will focus on the British philosopher Bertrand Russell’s rejection of Hegelianism. Hegelianism is a broad school of thought based heavily on the works of German idealist Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel,” he explains.

The Fulbright Scholarship Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, is the largest U.S. international exchange program offering opportunities for students, scholars and professionals.  The program allows participants to undertake international graduate study, advanced research and teaching in universities, elementary and secondary schools in more than 150 countries.