MU Faculty Return from Teaching in China

MANSFIELD, PA – Three Mansfield University professors have returned from Nanjing, China, where they taught for a week at China Pharmaceutical University (CPU).  Dr. Frank Chua, Dr. Jonathan C. Rothermel, and Dr. Lee Stocks were invited by the Dean of the School of Foreign Languages at CPU, Dr. Zhao “Helen” Guang-hui. Dean Zhao, who was a visiting scholar at Mansfield in 2010 and 2014,  welcomed her fellow Mounties and remarked, “The relationship between our universities grows stronger, and I hope that more Mansfield professors continue to participate in our summer program.”

An invitation was extended earlier in the year to submit course proposals. The seminars – American History & Culture, International Relations, and Physical Geology – were taught entirely in English using a variety of teaching methods.

Dr. Stocks said, “It was an amazing experience, combining visits to cultural and historic sites with the frenzied nature of living in a modern, high-density city. Students were eager to absorb American teaching methods and participate in our approach to science.”

The Chinese students were curious about the United States.  “Students were overwhelmingly optimistic about US-China relations and the future, despite recent headlines about the nascent trade war between our countries,” Dr. Rothermel said.

Nanjing is a city in China with a population of 8 million people. Dr. Chua, who travels regularly to Singapore, noted he “was not expecting Nanjing’s high level of development.” The city was also the site of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, where over 300,000 innocent citizens were brutally killed during the Japanese occupation. The professors visited the Nanjing Massacre Memorial where they paid their respects.

Indicative of a globalizing world, ties between Mansfield University and China are increasing.  Another Mansfield professor, Dr. Tim Madigan, taught a sociology course at Central China Normal University in Wuhan, China earlier in July. He briefly joined his Mansfield colleagues in Nanjing before continuing his journey to other parts of China. Dr. Madigan has been traveling to China for over 24 years.

Dr. Brad Lint, associate professor of English and US-China Exchange Coordinator, also traveled to China in June. In Beijing, he met with incoming student “Chris” Minxiu Li. In Xi’an, he met with former MU students and visiting scholars and visited the campuses of Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, and Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology to discuss opportunities for collaboration. Dr. Lint also attended the Sino-American CHEPD 1+2+1 Program Annual Conference and Graduation Ceremony, met with representatives of fourteen MU partner universities, and presented the diploma to MU  graduate “Jennifer” Qingyang Hao ’18, B.A. English.

Several recent Mansfield graduates are currently teaching English in China, with many more opportunities for MU faculty to teach short-term courses in China in the future.