Cox Center Visiting Scholars Complete Stay
Two mass communication scholars from the Federal Republic of Germany completed their visits to the Cox Center in November and returned to Europe, though both have promised to continue their relationships with the Cox Center and the University of Georgia in the future.
Dr. Edmund Lauf, a research scientist at the Institute for Journalistic and Communication Research at the Academy for Music and Theater in Hannover, Germany, completed a three- month research collaboration with Cox Center staff that included analysis of employment rate differentials among graduates of journalism and mass communication university programs. He also consulted with the Center on analysis of evaluation data from Cox Center workshops and helped with the organization of data from the Cox Center evaluation of the Knight International Press Fellowship Program, administered by the International Center for Journalists in Washington.
Ms. Iris Groscurth, a graduate student at the University of Hannover, worked with Cox Center Director Lee B. Becker on a survey of public opinion in Athens, where the University of Georgia is located. The survey was undertaken by students in a graduate class taught by Prof. Becker. Ms. Groscurth also returned to Germany in late November.
Dr. Lauf and Ms. Groscurth were the fourth visiting scholars to visit the Cox Center in the last year and a half. Dr. Eva Carolin Ulmer and Jorge Alvarez also were Cox Center visiting scholars in 1998.
Upon his return to Europe, Dr. Lauf prepared for a move to the University of Amsterdam, where he was to become a research scientist in the Department of Communication at the beginning of 1999.
Ms. Groscurth met with faculty and students in the Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication while at the Cox Center in an effort to learn more about applied journalism and mass communication education in the United States. Ms. Groscurth continued her studies at the University of Hannover, where she is specializing in political science with a minor in mass communication, upon her return to Germany.
"These two visiting scholars made a tremendous contribution to the work of the Center in recent months," Cox Center Director Becker said. "We'll miss them, but we also expect to continue working with both of them in the months ahead."
Funding for Cox Center Visiting Scholars comes from sources outside the University of Georgia and is usually arranged by the scholars themselves.
