Mohawk Valley Community College
The Traveler
International Festival
2012
Mark Your Calendars!
INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL: “A Celebration of
Our International Community” Wednesday, February 29.
Noon – 2:00 p.m., Lobbies, Information Technology
Building, IT 225. Learn about a culture other than your
own through ongoing displays and music and taste some
international snacks! Join in our annual celebration of our
diverse heritages. This event is organized by the MVCC
International Initiatives Committee.
WORLD LECTURE: “Obama and Kenya: Ethnicity
and Electoral Politics in Africa” by Matthew Carotenuto,
Assistant Professor in African Studies at St. Lawrence
University. 2 p.m., Theater.
Issue No. 1
www.mvcc.edu
MVCC To Host Fourth
Visiting Professor From
Vietnam
Some of the faces in this photo may look familiar since
three of the four have already been visiting professors at
MVCC from our partner college in Vietnam, Kien Giang
Community College. The MV previous visitors are Mr.
Khang on the left, plus Ms. Khanh and Ms. Thanh. The man
we do not yet know yet (chua, as the Vietnamese would
say) is Mr. Nguyen Van Thong (call him “Tom”) who at
this writing is in the process—we hope successfully—of
getting a visa to come to MVCC from the end of spring
break to the day after graduation.
Watch your email for more information on his visit. As
many of us know, it takes a college to host an international
guest!
a
a
Spring 2012
a
a
MVCC Wins National
Award!
According to Vice President for Learning and Academic Affairs Maryrose Eannace’s January update, “We
have received notice from the National Council of Instructional Administrators that [we] are one of two first place
winners of the Exemplary Initiatives Award for 2012! We
forwarded details of our commitment to diversity and a
global view--with our DGV graduation requirement, our
support of that requirement with a robust and exciting
Cultural Events calendar and our newest program of ‘Faces
of the Mohawk Valley’ which seeks to reflect the rich and
diverse ethnic cultural community in which we live by way
of photographs and brief narratives featured on the walls
of two campuses. We will be receiving our award in April
at the International Conference on College Teaching and
Learning.”
Congratulations! And if you would like to participate
in the Faces of the Mohawk Valley, please contact Larry
Migliori ASAP at extension 5643.
MVCC’s The Traveler
www.mvcc.edu
Why Should U.S.
Students Learn Chinese?
Two Students’ Perspectives
Professor Yixiong (Shawn) Liang asked his Chinese 101
students why American students should study Chinese, and
here are some of the reasons.
Mark Liable wrote, “Language has always been a part of
me. From adolescence I’ve been around multiple languages
reaching from Italian to German. The language of Chinese
“did it” for me, though…I was able to excel and take grasp
of the language as it came to me. Chinese is said to be, along
with American English, the hardest languages to fully understand…If I become fluent in Mandarin Chinese, I will have
knowledge of the two most difficult languages in the world.
Chinese is also politically helpful. “As most people are
aware, our country’s financial and political matters with the
Chinese rest unsettled. Due to this, the ever-growing demand
in translators and agents in various government agencies is
becoming more prevalent….As math and science and history
are all said to be needed throughout schooling for your basic
jobs in the workforce, Chinese is needed for the country’s
current economic affairs. I will devote the rest of my life to
the Chinese language and I hope I will someday be able to
live among the Chinese people and be as native as possible.”
Noting that eight hundred and eighty-two million people
speak Mandarin Chinese, Candice Jarrett wrote, “The most
amazing part of traveling the world is experiencing different viewpoints and cultures—it is absolutely impossible to
appreciate another country’s beauty without being able to
experience its people.” She also reminds us that an October
2011 study published by Newcastle and York universities
“claims that the act of learning languages outside of your
native language not only makes you smarter, but trains your
mind to see the world differently. Knowing only a bit of a
few languages other than my own, I can already see that my
perspective has been altered.”
Chinese is fascinating and beautiful to Candice. “A cultural insight: the word for ‘man’ is written as the word for
‘field’ over the word ‘strength’. My professor explained that
the Chinese believe that a man has to be strong to do farming work in the field—which is the root of this word. “
The words for numbers, too, are different—and easier.
“The word for ‘twelve’ is said ’10,2’. There is no new made
up word [such as twelve] to learn. You simply take the numbers you already learned up to 10 and use those.”
Candice concludes, “With an exotic and rich [Chinese]
history, breathtaking art and architecture, a language with
tones that are almost like music, and scientific proof that
learning another language alters grey matter in the left inferior parietal cortex of the brain…the real question should be,
“Why wouldn’t American students learn Chinese?’
2
International
Student Events
This fall the international student population was active
in the community and in collaboration with the area colleges.
On Saturday,
October 29,
2011, the Rome
Rotary Club
hosted its annual
International
Students Day
which provided
the opportunity
for area international students to visit Rome and spend time with Rotarians and the people of Rome .This year’s tour included a visit Rome Memorial Hospital, Griffiss Technology
Park, a guided tour of Lake Delta and the surrounding area
and a stop at Fort Stanwix National Park.
MVCC hosted its annual International Student Reception on November 2, 2011 in the Payne Hall Lobby.
Students attended In the Heights at the Stanley Theater
in Utica.
MVCC hosted the annual 5-College International
Student Dinner on November 16, 2011. One hundred and
sixty students, faculty and staff from MVCC, Hamilton
College, SUNY IT, Utica College and HCCC attended.
Vice President of Student Affairs, Stephanie Reynolds
provided a warm welcome and the evening continued with
a performance by the Tanzanian drum and dance group,
Tanza Art. Sodexo served a Thanksgiving dinner which
was followed by a dance party courtesy of Promo Productions Entertainment.
Members of the International Club participated in a
holiday potluck dinner and volunteered at the Utica Rescue
Mission.
After an activities-rich fall semester, plans are in place to
continue students’ immersion into the culture and community this spring—and we hope you are planning on
attending the international festival!
MVCC’s The Traveler www.mvcc.edu
MVCC Goes Irish –
and Scottish!
In January, Dr. Sandra Engel, Director of International
Education, paid a visit to the National College of Ireland
(NCI) in Dublin to renew the partnership and tentatively
identify new initiatives since NCI had had a change in personnel. Discussions are ongoing about faculty and student
exchange and possible online collaboration. (Check out
www.ncirl.ie.)
In addition, since NCI offers only business and IT programs, at the suggestion of Colleen Dube, Director of Fulbright in Vietnam, Engel visited Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT) in the Irish midlands, County Westmeath. AIT
offers programs including graphic design, tourism, culinary
and hospitality, business and engineering, but at this writing
it appears the first priority would be in the applied arts area
for both faculty and student exchange. In the middle of the
country, a short train ride to Galway in the west and Dublin
in the east, AIT would offer our students an authentic Irish
experience. (Check out www.ait.ie.)
In addition, Dr. Engel visited Royal Gordon University’s
Aberdeen Business School. MVCC has been invited to
sign an articulation agreement: students in select business
and hospitality programs will be able to transfer there for a
one-year bachelor’s, and one of the MV students will be able
to receive a $1000 scholarship. In addition, by 2014, RGU
would be able to accept our students for a semester to take
the courses they need, American cafeteria style, as opposed
to the U.K. more structured style.
Aberdeen is a city of 200,000 in northeast Scotland. Since
it is on the ocean, sometimes there are grey clouds--but
when the sun comes out, the many granite buildings seem to
sparkle.
y
Sand
at NC
2
y 201
uar
I, Jan
Bernie
Raynor
Goes Global!
Bernie Raynor and Rye
Barcott, author of It Happened
on the Way to War after Rye’s
fall presentation on the Utica
campus.
3
MVCC Does Go Global!
Taken in total, MVCCers have visited over half of the countries in the world, ranging from Antarctica to Zanzibar! Because of the limitations, it may be that the case that our global
experiences and tendencies tend to go unexpressed and thus
unshared--and as a result our experiences go uncelebrated at
work. But we have traveled for both play (almost everybody)
and work (a number of people), including Bruce Kurtz to the
Korean DMZ, Bernie Raynor (to recent military hot spots),
John Coleman (to Singapore).
And yes, this is just a general listing, not a reflection of
amount of time spent in any one country or number of visits.
Where we have visited most often? Aside from Canada and
Mexico, the countries we visited most frequently include Italy,
France, Germany, Austria and the United Kingdom. But we
have also traveled afar to Turkey, Fiji, China, Namibia, and
Argentina.
Here is the list pretty much as reported with one exception:
although a case can be made that Jersey City feels like another
country (George Searles included it in his list), technically it is
not another country anymore than Indiana and Iowa are.
And so here we are:
Helen Adsit: Wales, England, Canada, Mexico.
Jo Alexander: France, Greece, Russia, England, Finland, The Netherlands.
Rialda Alibegic: Slovenia, Austria, Italy, Germany,
Netherlands, Canada.
David Bales: South Korea, Mongolia, China, Hong Kong,
Macau, Japan, Thailand, Burma, Vietnam, Indonesia, India,
Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Australia, Palau,
Mexico, England, Scotland, Wales, France, Germany,
Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Austria, Italy, Spain, Portugal,
Czech Republic, Egypt, United Arab Emirates.
Katherine Barefoot: Ireland,
lps
the A
Canada, Mexico.
n
i
y
er Ba
Amber Bay: Mexico,
Amb
Dominican Republic,
Sweden,Denmark,
England, France,
Portugal, Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovinia, Croatia, Hungary, Austria, Italy, The Nether- lands, Canada.
Sarah Beck: Cameroon, France, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Mexico, Canada, U.K., Italy, Spain,Tunisia.
Mary Lee Berg: Ireland.
Colleen Bolton: Canada, Spain, Italy, England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, France.
John Bolton: Vietnam, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Dubai,
England, Scotland, Ireland, Canada.
Sara Boulanger: Kenya, Uganda, Canada,
The Netherlands.
Continued on page 4
MVCC’s The Travelerwww.mvcc.edu
MVCC Does Go Global! cont.
Vietnamese Community
College Leader to Visit
On Wednesday, February 29, MVCC will be hosting
Mr. Pham Thiet Khanh, Head of the Vietnamese Association of Community Colleges and Rector (President) of Tra
Vinh University in the Mekong Delta of southern Vietnam.
This visit follows his attendance at the Community Colleges for International Development Conference in
New Orleans, Louisiana. The purpose of his visit to the
U.S. is to identify possible partners for projects
yet-unspecified, including those possibly having to do
with a faculty and staff development, vocational training
and business development.
This visit is in part a result of Dr. Sandra Engel’s Fulbright grant at Kien Giang Community College in Vietnam in 2003.
As your schedule allows, please plan to attend a reception on the 29th at 9 a.m. in PH304.
a
a
New Libguides On Vietnam
and Ireland
Have you ever imagined what it would be like to travel to
Venezuela?! Sweden!? Or Kenya?! Now you can! Explore
the world by learning from your fellow MVCC international
students right here in central New York!
In the last issue we introduced you to the International
Travel and Study (ITS) LibGuide, accessible through the
MVCC Libraries web site or directly at: http://mvcc.
libguides.com/its . Since then we’ve created two new accompanying LibGuides to honor our overseas international academic partners, Vietnam and Ireland.
The Vietnam LibGuide (http://mvcc.libguides.com/
vietnam) includes a list of books, ebooks, videos, and
music CDs available at the MVCC Libraries, a map, basic
information about the country, and a list of web sites for
more information. Also featured are links to articles about
our two visiting faculty from Vietnam as well as a link to
the web page of Kien Giang Community College. In other
words, it’s a one-stop shopping place for all your information about Vietnam! The Ireland LibGuide on
(http://mvcc.libguides.com/ireland) contains the same
lists and information about that country. More will be
added to both LibGuides as it becomes available. Check
them out before our visitors arrive!
4
John Bullis: Jamaica,
Cuba, Spain,
England, France,
Italy, Greece,
Lebanon, Jordan,
Singapore,Viet Nam,
Bahamas, Canada,
Malta, Turkey, Virgin
Islands, Mexico.
Anthony Burgess:
Sara Boulanger in Uganda
Mexico, France, Italy.
Kathleen Capone: Ireland, Canada.
Robert Chrisman: England, Canada, Spain, Italy, Greece,
Germany.
Elizabeth Clough: Italy, Canada, Grenada, Anguilla.
John Coleman: Japan, China, England, France, Germany,
Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Switzerland, Puerto Rico, Vatican, St. Kitts, Virgin Islands, Mexico,
Canada.
Sarah Coleman: Germany, England, Greece, Italy, Mexico,
Canada.
Shahida Dar: Pakistan, Italy, Austria, Morocco, United
Kingdom, Canada.
Terry Decker: Andorra, Austria, Bahamas, Belgium,
Bermuda, Canada, China, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark,
Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg,
Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Saint Lucia,
San Marino, Spain, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sweden,
Switzerland,Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, Vatican City.
Robert Decker: France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Netherlands, Andorra, Belgium, Singapore,
Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, Japan, Korea, Canada, Costa
Rica, Antigua, Belize.
Carolyn DeJohn: Germany, Italy.
JoAnn DeTraglia: Canada, Mexico, Egypt, Switzerland,
Italy, France, Greece, Germany, Austria, England.
Julie Dewan: China, Canada, Bahamas, Jamaica, Mexico.
Jennifer DeWeerth: Mexico, South Africa, Botswana,
Poland, Germany, The Netherlands, Ethiopia.
Joann Dickson: Canada, Bermuda, Barbados, St. John,
Martinique, Aruba, Italy.
Lizabeth Doherty: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia,
Czech Republic, Germany, Greece,Hungary, Ireland, Italy,
Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, St. Maarten, Switzerland, Turkey,
United Kingdom.
Celia Domser: Italy, Australia, Venezuela, China, Spain,
Germany, France, Switzerland, Mexico, Canada, Caribbean
Islands.
Alison Doughtie: Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, Finland,
Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium,
The Netherlands, Scotland, Ireland, England, Iceland, Italy, Hungary, Vietnam, Canada, Mexico.
continued on page 5
MVCC’s The Traveler
www.mvcc.edu
MVCC Does Go Global! cont.
Kathleen Dunsavage: Mexico, China.
Maryrose Eannace: England,
Italy, France, Switzerland, Denmark,
Ireland, Scotland, Canada, Mexico.
Sandra Engel: Viet Nam, Laos,
Cambodia, Thailand, Hong Kong,
Ireland, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Portugal, Italy, Spain,
Iceland, Austria, The Netherlands,
Argentina, Mexico, Costa Rica,
Canada, Japan, The Vatican,
Belgium.
Sharon Eghigian: Fiji, Malaysia, Ireland, Mexico,
Sandy E
Japan.
ngel in I
reland
Scott Erlandson: Canada,
Iceland, U.K., France, Belgium, Germany, Austria.
Matthew Fikes: Italy.
Luciana Flynt: Italy.
Lindsey Geary: Chile,
Antarctica.
Jim Gifford: Iceland,
England, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Ireland,
Jim Gifford in Ireland
Scotland, Mexico, Canada,
Luxembourg, France, Hungary, Caribbean Islands.
Andrew Gladstone: Honduras, Ireland, Canada, Puerto
Rico.
Thomas Gleason: Mexico, Scotland, South Korea, Ireland,
Canada.
Catherine Glod: England, Ireland.
George Goerner: Japan, Korea, Hong Kong,
Penang, Viet Nam, Okinawa, Germany, France,
Philippines, Spain, Italy,
Austria, Croatia, Mexico,
Grand Cayman.
George and Leslie Goerner in Venice
Leslie Goerner:
Sue Ha
lbritter
Germany, France, Austria, the
in Sout
h Afric
Caribbean, Mexico, Croatia,
a
Italy, Spain, Canada.
Alexander Haines-Stephan:
England, France, Nicaragua,
Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica,
Canada.
Susan Halbritter: Namibia, South
Africa, Canada, Mexico.
5
MVCC Does Go Global! cont.
Christi Harrington: Germany, France, England, The Hague, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Hungary, Italy, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, The Netherlands, Panama, Portugal.
Krista Hartman: England, Canada.
Mary Hartz: England, Scotland, Wales, France,
Belgium, Netherlands, Austria, Germany, Switzerland,
Luxembourg.
Jill Heintz: Mexico, Canada, Italy, Austria, France.
Jody Hicks: Guyana, Brazil, Venezuela, Barbados,
Trinidad.
Chrono Ho: South Korea, Thailand, China, Japan,
Canada, Viet Nam.
Dale Horton: United Kingdom, Ireland, Netherlands,
Germany, South Korea, Canada, Mexico.
Richard Hunt: Iceland, Ireland, England, France,
Canada, Japan.
Bernard Hyman: St. Maarten, Ireland, Scotland,
Wales, England, Mexico, Canada, St. Barts,
St. Kitts, St. Thomas, Puerto Rico.
Anne Ichihana: Canada, England, Scotland, Wales,
Japan, South Korea.
Robert Ichihana:
Beijing
South Korea,
Karen Keep in
Canada.
Lynn Igoe: Canada, Russia,
Norway, Italy.
Lewis Kahler:
Jamaica, Canada.
David Katz:
France, The Netherlands.
Karen Keep: Spain, Mexico, Canada, Italy, France,
Ireland, Scotland, Wales, China, Monaco, Portugal.
Maimun Khan: Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada,
France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Switzerland, United
Kingdom.
Jedediah Kimball: Mexico, Dominican Republic,
Canada, Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, Russia,
Spain, Ireland, Wales, England.
Leslie Kubica: Canada, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, England.
Bruce Kurtz:
West Germany,
France, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Belgium,
Austria, Holland,
Switzerland, South
Korea, North
Korea, (DMZ),
Canada.
Bruce Kurtz in Korea
continued on page 6
MVCC’s The Traveler
www.mvcc.edu
MVCC Does Go Global! cont.
Ronald Labuz:
France, Netherlands,
United Kingdom, Switzerland, Italy, Canada.
Magan Leahy: Sweden, Canada, Mexico.
Yixiong Liang: United
Kingdom, France, Gerance
uz in Fr
many, Switzerland, Italy,
Ron Lab
Ireland, Mexico, Canada.
Tia Lock: Italy, Poland, Czech Republic, Germany,
Switzerland, Austria, France, Spain, Ireland, Mexico,
Canada.
Todd Marshall: France, Spain, Germany, The Netherlands, Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, Austria, Mexico,
Canada, Bonaire, Belize.
Jonathan Meeter: Guam, Philippines, Taiwan,
Hong Kong, China, Japan, Viet Nam, Mexico,
Canada, Central America, Germany, Holland,
France, Switzerland, Belgium.
Timothy Messick: Canada, England, Spain,
Germany, Italy.
Larry Migliori: Italy,
Canada.
Carolyn Pace: Italy, Tim Messick in Italy
Japan, France, Canada,
Mexico, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Belgium, England,
Scotland, Greece, Turkey, Luxembourg, Iceland.
Mary Jane Parry: Nigeria.
David Pasick: Spain, Ireland.
Beverly Quist: England, Ireland, Wales, France, Austria, Italy, Germany, Spain, Greece, Morocco, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Iceland, Canada, Bahamas, Balearic Islands.
Dina Radeljas: Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, Hungary,
Montenegro, Pakistan, Canada, Greece, Austria, Germany,
Czech Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Bermuda, Caribbean.
Bernie Raynor: Spain,
Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Iraq,
Afghanistan, Turkey, Germany,
Africa, Canada.
Stephen Reynolds: Jamaica,
Grand Cayman, Puerto Rico,
Holland, Germany, Belgium, Carolyn West Pace in Siena
France.
Sam Russo: Portugal, Mexico, Canada.
Roman Santos: Argentina, Mexico, Italy, Spain.
Donna Lee Sawyer: Mexico, Germany, Switzerland.
Thomas Schink: Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Italy,
France, Israel, Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Trinidad, Spain,
Monaco.
6
George Searles: Canada, Bermuda, Italy, England,
Scotland, Wales, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, France,
The Netherlands, The Czech Republic.
Scott Selden: Switzerland, Germany, Italy.
Joan Serino: Ecuador, Spain, Mexico, Bermuda,
France, The Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Colombia,
Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, Panama.
Erin Severs: Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Lichtenstein,
West Germany, Holland, England, Scotland, Spain, Canada, Iceland,
Brandon Shaw in Australia
France, Belgium.
Brandon Shaw:
Australia, Thailand,
Burma.
Matthew Snyder: Canada, United Kingdom, Belgium,
The Netherlands,
Luxembourg, France,
Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Poland.
Lynette Sorbello: Italy, France, England, Canada,
Mexico, Puerto Rico, Aruba, St. Thomas, St. John, St.
Maartin.
Rosemary Spetka: Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Colombia, Dominican Republic.
Mary Lourdes Summa: England, France, Italy, Mexico, Canada, Jamaica, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Turks &
Caicos, St. Thomas, Greece, Croatia, Caribbean Islands,
Lyne
Vatican City.
tte So
rbell
John Susenburger:
o in A
ruba
England, Canada, Guatemala, France,
Iceland, Belgium,
Germany, Mexico,
Caribbean Islands.
Maryanne Taverne: Northern Ireland, Republic
of Ireland, Italy, France,
Austria, Germany, Switzerland.
Sarah Tierney: Canada, England, France, Switzerland, Italy.
Alina Mildred Treis: Zanzibar, East Africa, India,
Pakistan, Germany, England.
Randall VanWagoner: Germany, Mexico, Canada,
Dominican Republic, Viet Nam.
Joe Woodrow: Canada, Singapore, Indonesia, Midway
Atoll, Dominica.
Donald Willner: Germany, England, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Russia, Antigua, Jamaica,
Mexico, Grand Turk, Cayman Islands.
MVCC’s The Traveler
www.mvccedu