Introduction: Who Are We and How Did We Get to Oz?

Hi. This is us, Chad and D. If you've been perusing our Great Australian Adventure (GAA) pages, then you might be wondering what the heck we're doing so far away from home for so long. That is, if you don't know already. So. . . we're both American students at the University of Michigan, both at the dissertation-writing stage of our Ph.D. programs. (That means we have no classes and no exams left to take, just research to do, write, and defend.) D works in Theatre and Performance Studies, Chad in Aerospace Engineering. Nine months after we leave Australia to go back to the US, we're getting married!

We have come to the sunny land of Oz (as the Aussies call Australia) because D won a Fulbright Fellowship to do her dissertation research with the great people at the Department of Performance Studies at the University of Sydney. You'll hear more about the folks at DPS as my research progresses, but in a nutshell, their work is interesting because it is currently the only institutional setting in the world to support students and researchers as they observe, record, and analyze professional actors and directors in rehearsal.

The Fulbright Fellowship is administered by the Australian-American Fulbright Commission (in cooperation with the US IIE: International Institute for Education, which administers the program for the US State Dept), and it provides support for D to travel to, live in, and do research in Australia for up to one year, plus nifty extras like friendly faces at the airport, an Australian bank account, twelve month visas, and a three-day seminar in the Australian capital of Canberra. The Fulbright program currently sends over 1,000 college graduates to study overseas in many countries each year, and the history and prestige of the program make it a wonderful opportunity for internationally-minded students!

Chad, as it happens, is also a Fulbright alumnus, having lived in Taiwan in 1999-2000. For this trip, though, he is supporting himself with student loans, working with a research group at the University of Sydney in Fluid Dynamics. By the end of our GAA, we both should have our dissertations drafted, our heads full of the sights of Australia, and our hearts full of new friends and colleagues.

Of course, at home, our kitties await.

;)
- D

Most of the content in these pages will be written by D, though Chad may make guest appearances from time to time. If you'd like to send us fan mail in Australia, we'd love it!

D. Ross and Chad Ohlandt
8/13 Marion St.
Leichhardt NSW 2040
Australia


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