Category: Teaching in China

Warning:  Only faculty members are likely to find this post remotely interesting.

So, it’s the beginning of the new school year.  Time for a meeting of the faculty of the School of Government (which includes the Political Science and Public Administration departments).  

To commence the meeting, the School of Government’s Communist Party chief gives a short welcome speech.  He appears to be at the same level of authority as the School’s Dean, the amazing and ridiculously hard-working Ma Jun (Dean Ma).  

In my experience, ALL deans are amazing and hard working.  No surprise there….but I don’t understand yet the authority boundaries of the School’s CCP chief.  And that’s where the dissimilarities end.  (Note:  I didn’t understand much of the Chinese, but Jane was sitting next to me and whispering the Cliff Notes version.)

First, Dean Ma welcomed the new faculty and we stood up for perfunctory applause.  Then he encouraged everyone to work hard this new year.  Topics included:

* The move to the new campus and space concerns…”we are working on getting your new offices on the East campus ready for you…very sorry for the delay.”

* Encouragement for the faculty to do more collaborative research projects.  Go overseas.  Invite scholars here to Zhongshan Univ for more research projects, not just lecturing. 

* Qinghua University (a noted competitor) has established a center for case studies.  Here at Zhongshan University, we are about to launch a new archives for government documents at our library…

* We are publishing a newsletter to inform people about the School of Government faculty accomplishments, but we need your help, faculty — please tell us about your accomplishments so we can put it in the newsletter.

* We are also updating the brochure this year, and the website is in the process of being updated.

Then a talk by the Graduate Program director:

**We have X full time Masters students, Y part time Masters students and Z doctoral students.  The large number of students in their final year means that a huge number of students need thesis advising.  Please note that students need to graduate, and your service on thesis committees is important.

**We need to work harder on our graduate recruitment.

**And now for the budget update…

Etc.  I had to suppress a smile when they started talking about “faculty, tell us about your accomplishments so we can fill out the newsletter”, but when it came to the brochure and website update….well, I could be 6000 miles away attending the same meeting in the U.S.  

 

 

My first day of class at Zhongshan University was, thankfully, almost two weeks after my arrival in Guangzhou, so I had ample time to prepare for the first few lectures.  Unfortunately, I needed every day to prepare, as I had scrapped my old U.S.-centric syllabus in favor of an internationally focused collection of readings and activities.

My class is “Introduction to NGO Administration” for first-year Masters of Public Administration students.  I teach it in English in one 3-hour block.  It takes about one hour to get to the new East campus on the shuttle bus, so teaching the course takes most of my Wednesdays.  Note that Fulbright lecturers commonly teach two courses each semester, but instead of a second course, I will be available for periodic lectures to undergraduate students.

I entered the classroom and 54 students were there waiting quietly.  First, murmurs and groans could be heard when student assistant Linlin announced to the class that I don’t use Powerpoint.  Then, they burst into applause when I greeted them in Chinese, and burst into applause yet again when I continued to talk in Chinese.  Then (joking), I asked them if they preferred their lecture in Chinese or English.  They preferred English…of course, there’s no way I’d be able to deliver a three hour lecture in Chinese.

With an ESL teaching background (1987-88), I fell back into that mode and used the chalkboard a lot, as well as a paraphrasing style (stating things in two different ways so that students follow verbally)…and then opened it up for introductions.  And they just took the baton and ran with it….Some of the students went on and on in English.  With 54 students, this took over an hour. 

Yet — it was valuable information for me.  From this, I knew to speed up the lecture pace, and also that most of my students (with the exception of some advanced doctoral students) had virtually no experience in the nonprofit /NGO sector.  The following photo is as close as you can get to an action shot in teaching — see how nice the classroom is?

Many students sit in on the first day of class (without registering) just to check it out, so I expected some “melt.”  Sure enough, for week 2, attendance was down to 44 students.   (It helps to assign a lot of boring reading material early on, too.)  Out of those 44 students, a couple are “outside” unregistered students; either from another major or another university or just from the community!  As time goes on, I’ll find out more about these “sit-in” students.

Why I don’t use Powerpoint: 

* Students memorize the slides and regurgitate the contents word for word on exams.  Ugh!

* Writing on the chalkboard slows me down.   I go way too fast with Powerpoint presentations.

* The process of writing lecture notes in class helps students retain the material better.

* Clicking through Powerpoint slides tethers me to the laptop.  I would rather pace back and forth the length of the room, writing, erasing…it’s more dynamic and involves more arm waving…thereby helping keep students awake for the full 3 hours.

* Turning toward the chalkboard allows students to yawn without me seeing them.  Unfortunately, I can hear them yawning…

Yes, there’s the huge drawback of missing the visual material that Powerpoint can provide.  It is best to mix the two formats.

After class this week (week 2 of 18) I took 5 students (all young women) out to lunch.  Originally, I had intended to take 3 students out to lunch each week (they pick the restaurant, and help me learn about various styles of Chinese food), but the sign-up sheet was so popular on week 1 that I allowed more students to sign up.  The five students took me to a Hunan restaurant near campus.  Hunan province is Mao Zedong’s birthplace and the cuisine features spicy food — hooray!  My favorite dish was the spicy duck, but everything was marvelous (even the eggplant, which I generally avoid).  The total bill for the 6 of us was 162 yuan….about $24 total.

We talked about the food, of course (3 of the 5 are from  Hunan Province), my college history (they wanted to know about boyfriends during college and how I met my husband), and they asked if I knew the movie star “Brad Pitt.”   Having just seen his hilarious role in “Burn After Reading”, I nodded enthusiastically, and we all agreed that Angelina Jolie is impossibly beautiful.

[Don’t be misled by the movie star discussion.  These students are very bright; the very best in their field in a country of 1.3 billion.]

This campus is a tropical oasis in the middle of a city of 14 milllion residents and a province that manufactures a large percentage of what the world consumes…

It is, in short, a miraculous place.  Just writing this entry makes me realize I have failed miserably in capturing this beautiful scene on my camera.  Here’s the first little picture — the gate memorializes some students who took part in some revolutionary activity (maybe they died?  sorry; I don’t know the full details):

I have my work cut out for me, to show you the palm trees, the bamboo thickets, the ponds with water lilies, the pagodas…all quite extraordinary.  I think I was told that Sun Yat-Sen gave a famous speech in this building:

I like the History building’s 10 statues of revolutionary heros because they define both the impressive entrance to the building as well as the Chinese historical point of view.

Some heroes:

 And the history building itself.  Note the “open book” in the architecture:

In addition to campus buildings (the most modern and well appointed of which is….the MBA building; as with all campuses everywhere!), there are dormitories and apartment buildings galore.  Picture your typical large university…now place housing there for *everyone* who works there; faculty and staff.  So, it’s a veritable academic metropolis.  As such, we have on campus several “malls” (streets lined with little shops) and an extensive open air market as well.  Oh, and cafeterias and restaurants all over the place! 

The extensive foliage on campus cools the air — I swear, it is 5 degrees (F) cooler here.  (When it’s over 100F, 5 degrees doesn’t make much difference, but oh well.)  Birds love this campus, too.  A north-south (mainly closed to car traffic) road links the South gate all the way through campus to the North gate at the Pearl River.

Here is the side of the Lingnan building, next to some Rong Shu (Banyan?) trees.  You can also see the north-south arterial here:

Near the library is a readerboard with the daily newspaper…(solemn greetings to embattled print journalists everywhere…I love my daily newspaper back home!):

I hardly need to go off campus for anything.  Except, when I do, there’s plenty of shops outside the school gates and a subway station as well.   The West gate (about 2/3 mile walk) has the subway station (“ZhongDa”, short for “Zhongshan Daxue”, the university’s name).  The foreign student and scholar residence (Zi Jingyuan Hotel) is very close to the South gate. 

The subway system is brand new and the highest tech I’ve ever seen, with easy to understand instructions in English, everything spotless and pretty, electronic ads to gawk at on the subway itself, etc.  To go across town, it costs me 3 to 5 yuan — about 45 to 70 cents, depending on how far I’m going.

My apartment at the Zi Jingyuan Hotel is clean and big.  Details about the apartment (for the benefit of future faculty members) are provided in a separate post.

Oh, and by the way…Zhongshan University actually has four campuses.  This is the main old one.  A newer, just as large campus has been built on an island in East Guangzhou that houses several universities…it is a University Megacenter, according to the street signs.  Professors joke that Zhong (middle) Dong (East) campus (shorthand for Zhongshan Daxue East campus) is a good name because the relative lack of mature trees makes that campus very hot, like the Middle East.  (hyuck hyuck)  I will be teaching my class there in the Middle East, starting Sept 16th. 

Anyway, back to the main campus.  On the first night I was here, I did some unpacking, then was whisked away to a nice dinner at one of the campus restaurants.  I don’t remember which one…I was bleary that night.  I didn’t see the campus at all, but knew enough to run North to the Pearl River the next morning.

In the morning, I put my running gear on and set out to run to the river.  It was my first look at campus.  I thought…”ah, I’m a runner again” and “oh my…I am lucky to be on this campus!”

The U.S. Embassy really knows how to throw an orientation.  Every meal was a feast, snack breaks featured umpteen different types of cookies and cakes and obsequious coffee service, and the line-up of speakers was amazing. 

Day 2 featured a tour of the Drum Tower (69 steep steps!), a rickshaw ride in a historic district (utterly beguiling scenery, despite some Western democratic discomfort with the whole rickshaw idea), and a tour of a preserved hutong and mansion with elaborate garden.   Here I am in my dorky hat, the hat I paid full price for at the Arts & Crafts store at Wangfujing (much to the salesperson’s delight).  I swore never again to pay full price (which is silly; I often just don’t have the energy to negotiate).

Day 2’s evening was capped with a trip to the Minzu (Ethnic Minority) Hotel, where we dined compliments of the Chinese Ministry of Education.  From the windows of the bus, we were able to see just how astounding Beijing’s transformation has been — every building on Chang An Avenue seemed to be a new architectural marvel! 

The buffet dinner was a feast indeed, and we had a good time talking afterwards as we waited for the signal for our departure.  JUST as the signal appeared, I had discovered strawberry ice cream at the buffet (hadn’t found it before)!  What to do — keep eating strawberry ice cream and miss the bus?  I managed to finish it and scooted out the door in time.  The following Beijing Noir photo was from our return trip:

 Focusing on food and architecture so far…I have neglected the actual orientation schedule.  We learned about health, various other issues regarding living in China, the view from the student and Chinese teacher side, about Chinese-US diplomatic relations, and so on.  I took copious notes and have referred back to them several times. 

Here’s our meeting room.  You’d never guess from this shot what was happening in the suite of rooms next door….that’s right; a fashion lingerie trade show!  Complete with astoundingly thin and gorgeous Russian teenage lingerie models!  12 frumpy professors and assorted Fulbright orientation speakers looked on in amusement as the models, announcers, and various trade show organizers and minions hustled about.

Very sorry — I did not get a photo of the teenage Russian lingerie models.

Capping our amazing stay in Beijing, the Embassy staff took us to a Tibetan restaurant  — yay, another 20-course banquet!  The food was amazing (even though we really didn’t want any food, no more! Please!).  The entertainment — Tibetan songs, dances and a fashion show — also fun to watch.

That’s Jane, my Zhongshan University liaison in the yellow sweater…and here is Jane dancing…

More on Jane later — she is a gem!  Finally, the Tibetan fashion show:

Via the Fulbright Scholars program, I have a lectureship Fall Semester 2009 at the fabulous ZhongShan University — also referred to as Sun Yat-Sen University: 

http://www.sysu.edu.cn/en/index.html

There, in the School of Government, Department of Public Administration, I’ll teach a course in Nonprofit and Nongovernmental Organization (NGO) Administration.  I’m an economist by training, but my research is in nonprofit organizations and philanthropy, so (in addition to the usual public finance and public economics courses) I often teach nonprofit topics such as this.

Zhongshan University’s Public Administration program is at the top of its field in China, and I am also delighted to report that Zhongshan University has one of China’s three centers specializing in civil society.  Granted, the nonprofit sector is nascent in China…it will be a fantastic opportunity to see the emerging status of nonprofit organizations there.

My home university is the flagship AAU university of the beautiful and policy-innovating state of Oregon, University of Oregon: www.uoregon.edu

My home department at UO, the Department of Planning, Public Policy & Management: http://pppm.uoregon.edu.  We have two (and possibly three, pending approval) excellent masters degree programs in Community and Regional Planning and Public Administration, and a growing undergraduate degree in Planning, Public Policy & Management.  Finally, we have one of the nation’s largest nonprofit programs (in terms of breadth of curriculum, faculty expertise, and numbers of enrolled students and graduates); the Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Managment and our undergraduate Minor in Nonprofit Administration.

My department is located, rather oddly but I won’t go into the history, in the School of Architecture and Allied Arts:  http://aaa.uoregon.edu/

My own research, CV, tacky picture, etc.: http://pppm.uoregon.edu/index.cfm?mode=faculty&page=reneeirvin