Montclair Wins DAAD-Funded Graduate Student Experience Spots Three Years Running

Every year, The Ohio State University, one of the most established and best recognized graduate programs in German Studies in the United States, hosts a competitive fully-funded weekend travel workshop in Ohio, bringing together some of the most high-achieving undergraduates to explore graduate seminars, consider thesis topics, share conversations in German, and generally get a sense of how graduate-level German Studies work intersects with other fields, as well as what career fields graduates pursue upon completing their degrees. The Graduate Student Experience (GSE) is funded by the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD), one of the most robust and influential organizations supporting international research related to Germany.

Montclair’s students have won coveted spots at the GSE three years running and have frequently gone on to pursue graduate study or international scholarships upon completing their BAs at Montclair.

• Ath-Yah Brathwaite, a 2023 GSE winner, stayed in touch with other graduate student prospective students after her travel workshop, was accepted with graduate assistantships and full tuition waiver at several German Studies MA and Ph.D. programs across the country, and has begun her masters degree at the University of Maryland in College Park.

• Bailey Dunn received a Fulbright Austria teaching assistantship upon graduation and is spending the 2025-2026 academic year in Austria while also working on an online masters in creative writing at Johns Hopkins University.

• Avelisse Guzman is currently doing a prestigious Fulbright grant-funded year in Germany and is considering various teaching and/or graduate study options after her Fulbright grant is completed.

• Jack McCabe is currently considering a variety of travel and study plans, many of which are tied to scholarships, grants, and paid assistantships in the United States or Europe. He describes his participation in the Aktion Sühnezeichen Friedendienste summer program as one of his richest undergraduate experiences and looks forward to further building on his experience with applied German language, culture, and historical work.

These students, like others pursuing a German major or minor or a Language, Business & Culture major with a concentration in German with Montclair’s German program, each got to participate in a study abroad experience. They each complete their undergraduate studies poised to pursue international careers, intercultural leadership roles at international corporations, teaching, or a variety of other careers in which they apply their language, communication, and intercultural expertise.