Greetings, this looks like an interesting and overdue discussion group.
My work takes place at the American Studies Crossroads Project, which is an international Internet and curriculum innovation project sponsored by the American Studies Association and funded with major grants from the US Department of Education and the Annenberg/CPB Project. (On the web at http://www.georgetown.edu/crossroads).
The work of the Project involves four areas of activity:
The American Studies Electronic Crossroads (ASEC), a comprehensive, integrated, information platform on the World Wide Web maintained at Georgetown University containing pedagogical, scholarly, and institutional information for the international American Studies Community, along with full information about the American Studies Association;
Experimental projects of curriculum revision in key American Studies courses at select test sites, and among individual faculty members who are using electronic media as newly integrated tools in the American Studies curriculum;
Workbooks, videotapes, disks, and other materials intended to assist teachers and students in making use of technology and in promoting international collaboration in the study of American history and culture;
The sponsorship of a series of workshops and institutes to foster serious innovation in American Studies curricula especially related to the integration of new technolgies as well as electronic literacy and other aspects of faculty development.
We're in our second year at the Project (the grant runs 3), and find ourselves in the midst of all the questions implied in this forum. I look forward to discussions!
Jeff Finlay, Administrator
American Studies Crossroads Project
303 New North
Georgetown University
Washington, DC 20057
Phone: (202) 687-4535
Fax: (202) 687-5445
URL: http://www.georgetown.edu/crossroads
Currently a research associate at UNU/IAS in the area of multilateralism and governance and is involved in the Virtual University Project and Global Ethos Project. Received his Ph.D. and M.Phil. degrees in political philosophy from Cambridge University, M.A. in political economy from Nottingham University, and B.A. in economics from Keio University.
My name is Egondu R. Onyejekwe. Many people call me Ego. It is pronounced like "EGGO" waffles - how lucky I am!
I am the Director of Emerging Technologies at the Ohio State University, in Columbus Ohio. I am an American, but my family emigrated and naturalized here from Nigeria. (Please see my signature card at the end of this message).
Email address: onyejekwe.2@osu.edu.
Work/Interests: I can classify these under three headings, teaching research, and service.
For teaching - I am planning to teach a Web-based course next Spring titled: "Science and Technology in Africa" It will be interdisciplinary, and we shall team teach it. If you are interested -either as a student or part of the delivery team, please let me know, and I will send you the format.
For Research - I am interested in "complexity" and "nonlinear systems". I have tied this to learning, especially learning at a distance, in collaborative ways using a myriad of technology tools. I am particularly interested in how to bridge the technology and information gap between the developed, and the not so developed countries.
For Service - I do different things, from planning for the emerging technologies, to consulting, promotions, to even managing and coordinating distance learning engagements. Of all these, I believe the most relevant is the virtual community we have created of those interested in African Studies, especially in the study of their women. The Electronic organization is called "African Women Global Network" (AWOGnet). I am the president of this organization.
Here's an excerpt from our Web page.
African Women Global Network (AWOGNet) is an organization that is inclusive of men, women, non-governmental organizations and institutions whose activities are directed towards improving the standards of living for African women and children, especially those within the Continent of Africa. While our major focus is towards better educational infrastructure and support, we also welcome projects and services in other areas such as those that promote peace and stability, those targeted toward the preservation of natural environment, as well as those targeted toward agricultural development, services for refugees and orphanages among others.
AWOGNet is Action oriented, and will support other non-governmental organizations that have programs for the improvement of life within Africa, especially those designed for women and children. AWOGNet will design and implement technical and other support services targeted to improve the lot of women and children of Africa. Services include anywhere from rural agricultural development to distance education delivered to reach teachers and students in the rural areas of the continent. AWOGNet will pay particular attention to educational services, especially those that provide quality education to women and children, including also projects that advance Internet connectivity for African countries.
Please visit our Webpage at
http://www.osu.edu/org/awognet/
Thanks.
Ego
Egondu (Ego) Rosemary Onyejekwe Ph.D. Phone: (614) 292-5901
Director, Emerging Technologies
University Technology Services Fax: (614) 292-7081
438 Baker Systems Engineering
The Ohio State University
1971 Neil Ave Suite 406 E-mail: onyejekwe.2@osu.edu
Columbus, OH 43201
Name: Christina Hannah
Preferred e-mail address: channah@polaris.umuc.edu
Intro: Associate Dean, Academic Affairs -- Graduate School of Management & Technology University of Maryland University College. I teach a survey/foundations of management course on-line and also provide support and guidance for the Graduate School's rapidly expanding distance education and international initiatives. We are most interested in leveraging our expertise in providing quality graduate programs that benefit from a rich interdisciplinary perspective and that are specifically designed for working professionals. As a teaching/learning institution, we rely on practitioner faculty to deliver our courses and their support, preparation, and ongoing development is another major area of interest. This is especially critical as we increase delivery of computer-based and technology-enhanced offerings and strive to ensure the technological competency of our graduates. Enhanced service and support for our geographically dispersed student body is another priority.
My name is Dr. Lucinda Hart-Gonzalez, but on the Net I go by Cindy H-G; it's easier, and Americans tend to be informal. I am Director of English, Humanities, and Modern Languages for the University of Maryland University College, which is dedicated to the undergraduate and graduate education of adult working students. We have programs for U.S. nationals all over Europe and Asia on the U.S. defense bases, as well as campuses in Germany and Russia for locals of those countries. Stateside, we offer both graduate and undergraduate degrees at a distance by phone voice mail and computer conferencing. While originally designed with U.S. students in mind, those programs have welcomed an increasing number of internationally based students, who greatly enrich the diversity of perspectives in the virtual classroom. Of my programs, English and Humanities are both available as distance degrees, and my goal over the next couple of years is to develop and launch distance language courses, beginning with Spanish. (I speak English, French, Spanish, bad Portuguese, and a little Quechua, with an inkling of several others.)
Prior to joining the Univ. of Maryland, I was with the language school of the Foreign Service Institute in the U.S. Department of State, where we trained foreign service officers in all the official languages of the world to prepare them for diplomatic service in those countries. In the language school, all our instructors were native speakers from the countries where the languages were spoken, so we had a richly international environment. Having worked with people who needed international awareness as a critical part of their jobs, I am convinced that American students as a whole need a better awareness of people and cultures in other parts of the world, not only for work but in their lives and thinking, as part of what it means to be an educated person. I look to distance learning as a way of linking people. I am eager to hear other points of view, experiences, and ideas as this conference proceeds. -- Cindy H-G
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Lucinda Hart-Gonzalez, Director
English, Humanities, and Modern Languages
Undergraduate Programs
University of Maryland University College
University Blvd. at Adelphi Rd.
College Park, MD 20742-1660
(301) 985-7877 voice
(301) 985-7910 fax
lhart@polaris.umuc.edu
lhart@erols.com
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Self-introduction: I am a Chinese historian by training, with an emphasis on the Qing (Ch'ing) dynasty (1644-1912). My books have focused on such diverse subjects as Chinese military history, Chinese culture, Chinese divination, Chinese almanacs, and Chinese maps. I have also written extensively about China's management of foreign civil and military employees in the nineteenth century. Recently, however, I have become interested in contemporary Chinese culture and in the process of "globalization." I have also acquired a deep interest in new technologies, not only as tools for teaching and research, but also as as a way of understanding the global circulation of people, ideas and commodities.
My colleague, Benjamin Lee (Anthropology) and I have become involved recently in several initiatives designed to explore issues of globalization and technological change. The most immediate of these is a two-day conference (April 26-27, 1997) on "Rethinking Area and Ethnic Studies: The Case of China," to be held at Rice University. The basic format will be for each of ten or so participants from Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the United States to deliver a brief "position paper" (about 15 minutes in length) on an issue (or issues) that he or she considers to be at the leading edge of culture change in the greater China region. Within this general framework, each participant will discuss strategies for gathering information about the specific topic (or topics) that have been identified and how this information might be used most effectively in the classroom.
Since the focus of the conference will be primarily on teaching, we have mailed to each of the participants some materials (including a "rationale," a description of "modules," and a syllabus) for a course on contemporary Chinese cultural studies that is now being taught at Harvard as part of the University's core curriculum. Our hope is that these materials will help stimulate wide-ranging discussion and debate. These are some of the major organizing themes of the conference:
(1) "Making Connections: Technology, Teaching and International Cooperation
(2) Crossing Borders: Globalization and the Interdisciplinary Study of China
(3) Issues of Space and Time in the Study of China [geographical and historical perspectives]
(4) Identity Politics in China: Issues of Gender and Ethnicity
(5) Electronic Media and Messages: The Cultural Role of Movies, Radio, Television and the Internet in China
(6) Problems and Possibilities: The Study of Contemporary China in the Classroom [based on the practical experiences of participants]
(7) Popular Culture: How Popular Is It?
(8) Dichotomies: True and False [e.g. "tradition"/"modernity;" "elite culture"/"mass culture;" "urban"/"rural," etc.]
(9) New Structures of Understanding [theoretical perspectives]
(10) Commercial China: Consumerism, Capitalism, and the Commodification of Culture
(11) Localism, Nationalism and Transnationalism
(12) Art and Literature
(13) Issues of Language and Translation
We also expect the participants to address issues related to the Chinese diaspora, questions of democracy and "civil society" in China, the culture of human rights, etc.
We have asked for each participant to focus on a specific example (or examples) to illustrate a more general issue--a "case study" approach, so to speak. For instance, how might one most effectively use a work such as Zhongguo keyi shuo bu (China Can Say No), together with its various spinoffs and critiques, to explore the multifaceted theme of "Chinese nationalism?"
Richard J. Smith
Professor of History and
Director of Asian Studies (MS-42)
Rice University
6100 South Main Street
Houston,TX 77005-1892
Phone: (713) 527-4947 Fax:(713) 285-5207