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BY CASSANDRA J. SPROLES ’00 With the continued growth of international faculty members, the College is working hard to introduce its students to a wider world. While the College’s history has been peppered with professors from other countries, the number of international faculty members has increased exponentially during the past five years – and not only in subjects like foreign language. International faculty members instruct a variety of subjects, such as economics, history, math, biology and art, just to name a few. Academic Dean Amelia Harris believes that having international faculty members is a way to enrich the lives of students beyond the disciplines they teach. “They all bring something of their own cultures and ways of thinking to their classes and to their interactions outside the classroom, expanding students’ experience beyond the boundaries of Southwest Virginia,” Harris says. For 11 years Kevin Jones, associate professor of biology, has been teaching students about the “fabulous natural environment” of Southwest Virginia, which is more than 4,000 miles away from the small village on the outskirts of London where he grew up. While Jones’ specialty is the plant world, he likes to teach his students about “capturing the diversity of life” in the human world – something he hopes that he and the rest of the international faculty impart in their classrooms. “It is imperative to a liberal arts education to represent a broad spectrum of ideas,” Jones says. “Life is not always black and white, and I think international faculty have a unique opportunity to give students the power to think in diverse ways.” “International faculty members are like living windows into an open world,” says Witold Wolny, field director of international programs. Before coming to UVa-Wise, Wolny lived in Seville, Spain, to where he had moved from his home country of Poland. He came to Wise with a group of professors from the University of Seville on an exchange trip in 2001 and liked the atmosphere of the area. Now he helps students and other faculty members broaden their horizons through study abroad programs. For students who can’t afford to study abroad or have trepidation about travel, international faculty serve as a means of exposing them to a culture they would not otherwise have a chance to experience. History professors Tom Goyens (Belgium) and Donald Leech (Britain) say they often have opportunities to inject a bit of their culture and experience into the classroom. “I don’t wear my background on my sleeve, but I don’t suppress it either,” Goyens says. “When I mention it or draw comparisons, students are genuinely interested and often ask follow-up questions.” Goyens says teaching Western civilization gives him the opportunity to talk about Belgium and to elaborate on the different attitudes among Europeans and Americans regarding war, economic security and other matters. “Students appreciate this kind of outsider perspective,” he says. “It takes them out of their comfort zone.” Leech says he often shares his views and experiences in the classroom to “help dispel stereotypes and generate mutual respect,” in turn showing students that people from other cultures are quite normal. Kaushiki Saha, a teaching fellow in mathematics from India, believes international faculty are important to an institution the size of UVa-Wise because students get used to being around people of other nationalities. “When students go for higher studies they go into big universities, which have larger numbers of international students and faculties,” says Saha. “That can make students very shy and lost among their classmates, although they are curious and want to mingle with others. This will make it easier for them to be in a different kind of environment.” Spanish professors Rut Roman and Esteban Ponce, a couple from Ecuador, are prime examples of international faculty who bring their culture to the classroom and beyond. “Teaching foreign language is teaching culture,” says Ponce. Both say they are representatives of Latin American culture in the classroom and have placed high importance on teaching heritage inside and outside of their classes. The couple is involved in a number of groups, including the Spanish honor society, Sigma Delta Pi, which is reaching out to Spanish speakers in the area and teaching English as a Second Language (ESL). They also help head up “la mesa Hispana” (the Hispanic table), which encourages Spanish speakers to meet in the cafeteria and practice their language skills. But immersing the students in Ecuadorian culture is perhaps the most enlightening thing the duo has done for students. They have twice taken UVa-Wise students to see their homeland, once in 2007 and again this summer with a mission to collect oral histories and traditions. “We tried to be independent and stay away from tourist areas,” Roman says. “It was nice to see how much the students enjoyed the trip and the practice in speaking the language.” Assistant Professor of Economics Zafar Khan hopes to have the same kind of impact on his students with a nine-day trip to his homeland of India. Khan says beyond his classroom interjections of Indian culture, he has proposed a weekly meeting of international students and faculty to “go beyond just one [College-sponsored] international week each year.” Members of the international faculty say they have chosen to teach at UVa-Wise for a number of reasons, including the small class sizes and the geographical location. For others, like Leech and Jones, it was the kinship they felt with students from the area and their approval of the College’s mission. “As a first-generation college student myself, I am enthusiastic about helping others in a similar situation,” Leech says. Jones, who was also a first-generation college graduate, wants to impart to his students that no matter what their background or where in the world they come from, they are able to accomplish whatever they desire. “It’s all right to dare to dream!” he says with enthusiasm. Though international faculty members may not realize it, they are critical for the mission of the College. “Our strategic plan, ‘Creating the Future 2012,’ calls for creating a collegewide global emphasis,” says Harris. “What better way is there of launching that initiative than by adding scholars from other countries to our faculty? In doing so, we provide not only the students, but also the members of the faculty, staff and community with the opportunity to associate with individuals from other cultures and to learn from them.” |
Among the several international faculty members at UVa-Wise are (seated) Rut Roman, Tom Goyens, Donald Leech and Kaushiki Saha, (standing) Kevin Jones, Zafar Khan and Esteban Ponce.
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