Sinclair is host to its first Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence. Professor Hui Hsi [Debby] Hung came from Taiwan to teach International Business Management and Marketing. Sinclair is one of eight community colleges in the country to be awarded a Scholar-in-Residence.
Deborah Gavlik, Director of International Education at Sinclair set this process in motion a year ago as a way to internationalize the school and expose students to another culture.
“We’re trying to build our international program and this is one tool to help us do it,” Gavlik said.
While Hung teaches two classes, she does not do it alone. She co-teaches with Dennis Brode. Brode is a professor and chairperson for the management and marketing department. Brode believes Professor Hung will be able to help the department build a more international curriculum.
“Hopefully what it means is we the department have gained a better understanding of the international scene, the international business world, at least as far as Asia’s concerned. We can incorporate that into the curriculum so the students then get that exposure as well,” Brode said.
Professor Hung has never been to America before, but has experience teaching. She is enthusiastic about her role here at Sinclair. “I would really like to see the success of this program,” Hung said.
Hung’s roles at Sinclair include teaching her two classes, as well as outreach opportunities with other classes. When doing outreach, Hung goes to different classrooms to talk about Chinese culture. She brings different items with her that represent different parts of her culture. Deborah Gavlik believes exposure to different cultures is crucial for students. “I think it is vitally important for all of our students to have global knowledge,” Gavlik said.
Brode also believes this is an important opportunity for students. “For the students currently, I think it’s an outstanding opportunity for not only the international piece of it but from a diversity standpoint. I think there’s a huge benefit to the students being exposed to a foreign scholar and a totally different way of teaching,” Brode said.
For the future, Gavlik hopes to see more international interaction for Sinclair and possibly a partnership with her university in Taiwan. She knows students will always need international exposure.
“The world is global. I don’t care what major somebody is in, the chances are when they graduate from Sinclair either a client will be international or a customer will be international,” Gavlik said.
Aside from this being a learning opportunity for the students, the administration has been able to learn from the experience. There were a few obstacles at the beginning of the school year, while getting Hung acclimated.
“I think it [the process] was much more than we thought it would be,” Brode said, but added, “I think we’ve learned a lot.”nWhile this process was complex, Brode hopes this experience can give students, as well as faculty and staff the opportunity to, “make the world smaller.”
Celia Lavoie
Reporter