David Schoenbaum, born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, in 1935. Ph.D. from the University of Oxford. Professor of History at the University of Iowa, Iowa City.
Fellow (1 September 1998 – 30 June 1999)
What I can say is that I know more than when I arrived, have a better idea how to organise my material, and had some useful experience addressing audiences. Does this match my initial plans? To a point, it exceeds them.
While at NIAS, I was interviewed at length for a piece in the Volkskrant, wrote an opinion piece for the NRC-Handelsblad, and reported on Isaac Stern’s master class in Cologne for National Public Radio in Washington, Der Tagesspiegel in Berlin, and the New York Times. In March, the Humboldt Foundation invited me to speak at a conference in Bamberg, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Federal Republic. On 1 April, I talked here about the Hill family and London violin scene.
I also learned a bit of the language, something of the newspaper culture; more than I planned for about the police and immigration authorities, as well as useful things about the local violin and concert scene, including interviews with makers, dealers, and the manager of the Concertgebouw. I also found it easy to reach sources in Germany, Italy, France and Britain.