In Summer 2018, Colleen Berry (Instructor of Asian Studies and CAS Associate Director) took 12 students to China on a Global Seminar with scholarship funding supplied by the CAS Tang Endowment. Students from a variety of majors participated in the “Urban China: Tradition, Modernity, and Nostalgia” course in Beijing, Xi’an, Shanghai, and Hangzhou. Two highlights of the program were the walking tours of the Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) in Beijing, led by historian Jeremiah Jenne, and of Shanghai’s former Jewish Quarter, led by Dvir Bar-Gal, who has been researching the history of the Jews in Shanghai for many years.
The combination of course content and participation in everyday life in Chinese cities gave the students a meaningful, in-depth experience and a higher level of intercultural competence—an asset that can enrich their lives and enhance their careers. Post-trip reports from the students included these comments on what they gained through the experience of living in China for three weeks:
“The program was very strong in pushing people to become more independent and more confident in navigating places that they are completely unfamiliar with.”
“I reaffirmed to myself that I have a good sense of direction and with practice and focus can navigate and explore new places by myself or as a leader to others.”
“This type of experience is one of the things that makes life meaningful and worthwhile, so I’m absolutely glad that I was able to have that experience.”
Cultural Transformations in Indonesia" study indigenous ecologies in the Mentawai Islands. The seminar is led by Christian Hammons (Instructor in Anthropology & Critical Media Practices) every May, and this year’s students received scholarship support from the CAS Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Languages program grant for Southeast Asian Studies from the US Department of Education.
Congratulations to Jill Avery Ingebritsen, Rachel Marie Kline, Isabelle Moroco, Ashley Kathleen Pretorius, Emily Christine Protz, and Isabella Rulon Stephens!
