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UB to receive 3 Chancellor's Awards for Internationalization
By JOHN WOOD
Reporter Contributor
UB will receive three grants of $8,000 each to support new study-abroad programs in summer 2004 as part of the Chancellor's Award for Internationalization, a new initiative of SUNY's Office of International Programs (OIP) designed to support the development of short-term, overseas academic projects in less commonly traveled countries.
UB will receive funding for programs in Brazil, Haiti and Turkey.
The new awards are part of Chancellor Robert L. King's long-range plan to internationalize SUNY. To that end, OIP created a peer-reviewed competition to award 12 grants system-wide for the development and implementation of innovative, study-abroad projects.
"These awards enable our students and faculty members to work and study abroad and help strengthen SUNY's international reputation as a prestigious institution of higher education," said King. "With innovative programs such as these, the educational opportunities for SUNY students are expanded in new and exciting directions."
The primary goal of the Chancellor's Award for Internationalization is to provide students with new opportunities to have an academic experience in a country that is less commonly visited.
"We are delighted that UB has been so successful in the new Chancellor's Award competition," said Stephen C. Dunnett, vice provost for international education. "The awards are a tribute to the exceptional creativity and strong international focus of our UB faculty.
"I congratulate my colleagues on their success. Their innovative programs will provide unique overseas learning opportunities for our students and contribute in an important way to the internationalization of the university," Dunnett added.
Sandra J. Flash, director of study abroad programs, noted that UB faculty submitted nine proposals for the award. "I only regret that more of our proposals could not be funded. All of them were for outstanding programs that I hope will run in 2004, whether or not they receive award funding," Flash said. The six UB proposals that were not funded were for programs in Cuba, Hungary, Kenya, Russia, Senegal, and Sri Lanka.
The "Rehabilitation in Brazil" project is part of a new exchange program between UB and the Universidade Presidente Antonio Carlos (UNIPAC), Brazil, in the area of occupational therapy (OT).
The Chancellor's Award will support the visit of UB OT students to Brazil in August 2004. The program will be conducted as an elective course that will feature one week of pre-departure orientation and three weeks at UNIPAC.
The academic program in Brazil will focus on the exchange of information about the practice of OT in Brazil, approaches to OT education, visits to local clinics to observe professional practice and discussions of cultural influences on views of disability and rehabilitation. Upon their return to UB, students will submit a report of their experience and observations related to the similarities and differences in OT in Brazil and the U.S. UB students will stay with host families during their sojourn in the small city of Conselheiro Lafaiete.
The exchange agreement with UNIPAC was the initiative of Maria de Mello, an alumna of the UB masters-degree program in OT and currently chair of the OT department at UNIPAC. De Mello will coordinate the program on behalf of UNIPAC. UB will have three co-directors from the Department of Rehabilitation Science in the School of Public Health and Health Professions: John Stone, associate clinical professor and director of the Center for International Rehabilitation Research Information and Exchange (CIRRIE); Mary Matteliano, clinical assistant professor of occupational therapy, and Jo Sweitzer, director of fieldwork education in the OT program.
Prior to coming to UB in 1991, Stone held faculty positions at Brazilian universities for 17 years.
As part of the "Haiti: A Bicentennial Appreciation" program, students will explore the rich political, social and cultural history of Haiti and the wider African Diaspora. Few U.S. universities offer study abroad programs in Haiti, one of the hemisphere's most vibrant cultures but also one of its poorest. The occasion of the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Haitian Republic presents a unique opportunity for students to learn about the history and culture of Haiti.
The first five days of the four-week trip will serve as an in-country orientation. Students will fly to the capital, Port-au-Prince, and stay for two nights. While in Port-au-Prince, the group will view historical monuments and national museums, as well as markets and the 200-year old Fort Jacques.
The group then will travel to the country's second largest city, Cap-Haitien, to spend three days viewing revolutionary era architecture and historic sites, seeing a performance by a vodou dance group and visiting art studios.
Students then will move on to Jacmel, the home base of the program. Located on the southern coast, Jacmel is considered the cultural center of Haiti and is home to a vibrant arts community. In Jacmel, the program will consist of two 300-level, three-credit courses for undergraduates and two 500-level, 3-credit courses for graduate students. All classes will be conducted in English, although students will be encouraged to familiarize themselves with both local languages, French and Haitian Kreyol.
The co-directors of the program are Patrick McDevitt and Jason Young, both assistant professors in the Department of History in the College of Arts and Sciences. McDevitt teaches courses on the Atlantic world, world civilizations since 1500, historical theory and imperialism; Young teaches courses on slave folklore, slave narratives, the Black Atlantic and African-American history.
The four-week, three-credit study-abroad program in Turkey, "The Alishar Regional Project at Cadir Hoyuk and Its Environs," is a practicum in field archaeology for students in the departments of Classics and Anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences who are seeking experience at a major archaeological dig in Anatolia.
The excavation of the site of Cadir Hoyuk will provide students the opportunity to learn firsthand and in detail about the material culture of the Hittites of Anatolia/Turkey, one of the great ancient, Near Eastern cultures, and the Assyrians in Anatolia, as well as the culture of the late Roman/Byzantine periods.
Students will stay at a permanent base camp near the excavation site. Local workmen will be hired, and the students will be taught to supervise and help excavate. The 2004 season will be devoted to full-scale excavation of the site.
The long-term goal of the Alishar Regional Project is to understand the cultures of central Anatolia over time. During the program, students will visit related sites in the area, such as the Hittite Capital of Hattusas/Bogahzkoy; the royal cities and provincial centers at Alaca Hoyuk and Alishar Hoyuk, the Median City at the site of Kerkenes Dagh, and the Anatolian Museum.
The Cadir Hoyuk site is four hours east of the Turkish capital, Ankara. Students will live in Peyniryemez, a small farming village not far from the regional city of Sorgun and the provincial capital of Yozgat. They will have the option to travel in Turkey both before and after the program.
The project director is Samuel M. Paley, professor of classics and an authority on the culture of the ancient Assyrians. He has spent much of his academic career studying Assyrian bas-relief and has written one and co-authored two books and more than a dozen articles on the Northwest Palace of the 9th century BC Assyrian king, Ashurnasirpal II, at Nimrud, ancient Calah.
Since 1993, Paley has been assistant director of the Alishar Regional Project, serving as on-site specialist for the Middle Bronze period and relations with Mesopotamia. From 1979-92, he conducted a practicum in field archaeology for UB students at a major excavation site he directed in Israel.
Faculty and staff who would like additional information about the Chancellor's Awards for Internationalization or about developing new study abroad programs may contact Flash at 645-3912.