Ben Rickaby of the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has been awarded a $1,000 scholarship to study Japanese visual culture this summer.
Rickaby moved to Nebraska last year, transferred to UNL from Concordia College in Seward this past semester and is majoring in journalism. He plays lacrosse and says he wants to play on the university's team next fall.
Students must participate in faculty-led study abroad program or language study abroad programs in order to receive the funds. Rickaby will spend three weeks in Japan during the eight-week summer course beginning May 14.
Frauke Hachtman and Dana Fritz are the course leaders. Hachtmann is graduate chair and advertising and public relations associate professor in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. Associate professor Fritz, who taught in the Visual Literacy Program, teaches photography in the Hixson Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts. Their backgrounds in advertising and art bring together two important aspects of visual culture.
In 1991, Lee, George and David Grimes, the surviving sons of George and Eva Grimes, established the George and Eva Grimes Memorial Trust Fund in memory of their parents, who were newspaper people.
The Grimes award doesn't place restrictions on how the students spend the money, but travel abroad is encouraged. George and Eva believed well-rounded members of their profession should be knowledgeable of international as well as national and local affairs.
The course on Japanese visual culture was first offered in 2010. Hachtmann and Fritz received an Initiative for Teaching and Learning Excellence grant from UNL in 2009 to develop this general education study abroad course. The grant enabled them to purchase books and language materials as well as travel to Japan to research accommodations and activities for the students.
The University of Nebraska Foundation through the Office of Academic Affairs funds the Global Gateway program. UNL offers up to 150 scholarships to students each year.
Ben Rickaby