For public school teachers interested in traveling to China, along with having an intellectually stimulating and broadly traveled summer should contact two University of Memphis professors.
Hsiang-te Kung, professor of geography, and Kenneth Holland, interim chair of political science, have received the Fullbright-Hayes Group Project Abroad Grant to travel to China next summer with 17 teachers from the Mid-South. The $64,000 grant covers the participants’ international airfare, travel in China and room and board for the summer.
“The seminar gives the participants a really great first-hand experience on foreign culture,” Kung said.
The seminar is open to teachers in the Memphis City, Shelby County, Tipton County, Fayette County, Crittenden County and DeSoto County Schools.
The participants must be K-12 social science or foreign language teachers. Kung said that there is no Chinese language proficiency required, but the participants will have a chance to learn Mandarin Chinese while on their three-week-long trip.
Kung will teach a geography course, and Holland will teach a comparative government course while at the Central Chuba Normal University in Wuhan. The participants will be required to register for one of these courses in addition to Mandarin Chinese courses.
The trip, which is scheduled for July 5- Aug. 9, 2003, also includes a tour of the Three Gorges Dam project, a cruise on the Yangtze River, a tour of the ancient capital of Xian and the current capital, Beijing.
This is the second trip to China that Kung and Holland have led. In 1999, the two professors took 15 teachers from the Memphis and Shelby County school systems.
“The teachers thoroughly enjoyed it and think it’s a wonderful trip,” Kung said. “They were able to learn a lot about Chinese culture.”
Kung is confident that the participants will benefit immensely from their personal experiences, classes and colleagues at the seminar. The professors and teachers will develop lesson plans when they return to help incorporate what they have learned into their classes.
They are asking for a $500 commitment fee upon being accepted into the program. Potential applicants should contact Kung or Holland via phone or e-mail by Nov. 15. Kung can be reached at 678-4538 or at hkung@memphis.edu, and Holland can be reached at 678-3320. .o.kholland@memphis.edu.
