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Summer classes abroad expand students’ lives |
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Tuesday, 13 February 2007 |
Professor leads students to China
by DYLAN CLAYTON
News Reporter
Appalachian State University students won’t have to dig a hole to get to China this summer.
Dr. Zhiyuan Chen, an associate professor of foreign language and literature, will lead a 61-day trip to Suzhou University and 23 other places across China.
 Active Image | Special to The Appalachian
A group of students will spend their summer traveling across China with Dr. Zhiyuan Chen, associate professor of foreign language and literature. The trip will help broaden students’ perspectives and their cultural world view.
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The trip, broken into three parts, will include six to nine credit
hours of cultural and Chinese language training, cultural language
activities with Chinese high school students and intensive traveling,
Chen said.
The trip will last from May 8 to July 6 and is designed for students of
all majors through the Office of International Programs and the
department of foreign language.
The cost of the trip, $4,200, includes air tickets, all meals, hotel
costs, ground transportation, banquets, cultural activities, museums,
receptions and even tips, Chen said.
“Dr. Chen has a lot of knowledge and is very well connected with a lot
of people and places in China,” Meg Marck-Kennedy, director of
Appalachian overseas educational programs, said.
Dr. Howard A. Giskin, an English professor, has co-led overseas trips with Chen in the past.
“He tries to do something different every time he goes,” Giskin said.
“One thing he has done is established an English language clinic at the
end of the trip for Chinese students.”
Some of the places that students will visit include the ancient capitals of China and the Great Wall of China.
The principles for this trip are learning a different perspective of
life, multicultural study, morality, cooperation, professionalism and
integrity in order to prepare a new generation of human beings, Chen
said.
“The China summer study is part of the larger Appalachian state array
of summer study abroad programs. I’ve co-led five study abroad trips –
three to Europe and two to China,” Giskin said. “In my opinion, it’s a
type of experience that you can’t get any other way. For me, it’s been
the most interesting, fun and exciting things I’ve done at Appalachian.”
Although many students decide to study abroad for an entire semester,
several benefits exist with summer or short-term study abroad
opportunities.
“Hopefully study abroad never sets a student back, but with a summer
trip, students are not missing a semester,” Marck-Kennedy said.
Short-term Appalachian overseas education programs also are taught in
English by an Appalachian professor, ensuring that credits will
transfer.
“One really great thing about these trips is that some number of the
students that have gone on this trip with Dr. Chen either end up
studying longer in China or going back for extensive language study,”
Giskin said. “I think there have been at least eight students that have
gone back to China after going on the summer study abroad trip with Dr.
Chen.”
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