Highlights
Student Profile: Kate Sorrels
by Gina McDonell
Before she could even begin the research associated with her doctoral degree, history scholar Kate Sorrels had to become a linguist, a world traveler, and a teacher. It was not until she had developed these skills that she was ready to immerse herself in the subject matter that became her dissertation on the contribution of Jewish intellectuals to ideals of multinationalism and cosmopolitanism in Europe from 1880 to 1939.
While pursuing her undergraduate degree at SUNY Binghamton in New York, Kate studied abroad in Austria for a year. This opportunity was followed by a number of other international experiences during her graduate and post-graduate study—a year plus engagement as a Fulbright Fellow in Moldova, returning to Austria to teach, presenting at conferences in Romania, England, and Germany, and earning an MA at Central European University in Hungary. In addition to gaining international travel experience, Kate has completed intensive language study in German, Hungarian, Romanian, and Yiddish.
Not unlike the way she pulled her many skill sets together in order to more comprehensively pursue her subject matter, Kate was able to cobble together the University's diverse offerings in order to approach her work in the most comprehensive way possible. She says, "The availability of such a variety of resources was one of the main reasons that I was drawn to Pitt." Outside the history department, she has worked with the following organizations at the University of Pittsburgh:
- Center for Russian and East European Studies
- European Union Center of Excellence
- Nationality Rooms of the Cathedral of Learning
- Graduate and Professional Student Assembly
- University of Pittsburgh Yiddish Club
- Graduate Organization for the Study of Europe and Central Asia
In addition to funding from the history department and various University centers and programs, Kate was offered outside funding from a wide array of organizations, including the following:
- Leo Baeck Dissertation Fellowship, Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes
- Ernst Mach Scholarship, Austrian Exchange Service, Vienna, Austria
- Dora and Mayer Tendler Fellowship, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, New York
- Foreign Languages and Area Studies Grants for Summer Intensive Study of Hungarian and Romanian, Indiana University
- Fulbright Fellowship, Chisinau, Moldova
- David Herzog Center Research Grant in Jewish Studies, University of Graz, Austria
In order to adequately dedicate herself to her research, Kate has done a commendable job of reaching beyond the Department of History and utilizing the many cross-disciplinary resources offered by Pitt and by external organizations.
