Noreen Herzfeld teaches in Bosnia and Herzegovina as Fulbright Scholar

There’s a story Noreen Herzfeld likes to tell that serves as a metaphor for her recent visit to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as part of the Fulbright Scholar Program.

It seems Herzfeld, a professor of theology and computer science at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University, decided to celebrate the end of an almost six-month span in Bosnia and Herzegovina with a lunch in a local restaurant with another Fulbright Scholar. So they settled in and ordered off the menu.

“The waiter came out with our food and put it in front of us,” Herzfeld said. “We both looked rather bemusedly at our plates and then at each other, and I said, ‘That wasn’t what I ordered.’ He said, ‘Neither was this.’ The waiter came over and said, ‘Is anything the matter?’ And I said, ‘Neither one of us got what we ordered.’ And the waiter said, ‘Very good, very good’ and walked off.

“It was a metaphor for life in Sarajevo. It never was what you were expecting, even though what you got was very good,” Herzfeld said.

The Fulbright Scholar Program sends 800 U.S. faculty and professionals abroad each year. Grantees lecture and conduct research in a wide variety of academic and professional fields.

The program is sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Under a cooperative agreement with the bureau, the Council for Independent Exchange of Scholars (CIES) assists in the administration of the Fulbright Scholar Program.

For Herzfeld, that meant a sixth trip to the region – but her first extended trip of more than a couple of weeks. She was in Bosnia from February to early July.

“I found out about this particular program on an earlier trip I had made to Bosnia (in 2006). Nick Hayes (University Chair of Critical Thinking at SJU), SJU President Br. Dietrich Reinhart, OSB and I were meeting with alums in Sarajevo, and we were introducing Br. Dietrich to the country and to many people there,” Herzfeld said. “We met with the dean of the faculty for Islamic Studies (at the University of Sarajevo), and he mentioned that they sponsored a Fulbright Scholar and invited me to apply.”

She expected to teach a class for Islamic Studies, but that didn’t work out due to administrative changes at the school. Instead, she wound up teaching a course for the philosophy department at the university on the sociology of religion in which she lectured on religion and politics. She also taught a course at a Franciscan seminary on religion and technology.

Despite the changes, Herzfeld enjoyed her time in Sarajevo.

“It’s an extremely interesting culture and place, with wonderful people,” Herzfeld said. “I think that’s what keeps me coming back to Bosnia – despite the country’s political and economic difficulties,” she said. “Partly, I suppose, the difficult politics of the country make it an interesting place, trying to figure them out. But mostly, it’s the people. Their resiliency is amazing when you think about what they have been through during the last 20 years. And still, they are one of the most kind, open, and hospitable people I know.”

However, she encountered far more pessimism about the country’s future than she had on her previous trips.

Occasionally during her stay, Herzfeld’s rented apartment was without running water. One night, it started to rain, and Herzfeld took a big red dish pan and put it underneath the down spout from the gutters to capture some water.

A couple of nights later, she and her landlords were enjoying a meal. “My landlady was teasing me saying, ‘the other morning, I came out and there was Noreen’s big red wash basin underneath the drain spout. The girl has got survivor skills.’ Someone in the family replied, ‘We know who to call when the next war starts.’

“What struck me was that in the past, I think they would have said, ‘If another war starts.’ What they said this time was ‘when,’ ” Herzfeld said. “That is sad to hear. I hope that they are wrong.”

Despite the setbacks and inconveniences, Herzfeld would recommend the Fulbright Scholars Program to anyone.

“It’s an eye-opening experience, both to see how education is done differently in different places, and to be immersed in the culture and politics of a new place,” Herzfeld said. “It’s a good experience to get stretched a little bit beyond the day-to-day routine that one is comfortable with.

“You deal with the unexpected – I rarely got what I ordered, but what I got was always good,” Herzfeld said.