China’s Southwest: Culture, Society, and Environment and Tibet Extension
Martha Denney
Director of International Education
Colorado State University
Participation in the SW China/Tibet Faculty Development tour has been one of the most useful and engaging professional development opportunities I’ve had in my 25+ years in International Education. I was able to fill in a huge gap in my understanding of China, a country and region that is considered to be a superpower in the making. Prior to my participation I’d worked with Chinese students and scholars, and contributed to the best of my ability to our President’s initiative in the People’s Republic of China, but until I was able to ground myself in the history, environment and reality of Chinese minority groups it didn’t feel grounded.
Since my participation I’ve found videos, artwork, books, newspaper articles and commentary on China more meaningful, and my ability to absorb current events, Chinese history and talk with students and faculty about the role of China as an emerging power all more informed. It now rings true when I tell students about why learning Chinese is imperative for Americans and how issues of the environment and natural resource supplies for China are a global issue we must all be aware of.
The faculty leader was wonderful. He was on virtually 18 hours a day, answering questions and describing what we were seeing. He was responsive, but he did not get in the way of the experience for us; he was there as a back-up and cultural interpreter. China is not an easy place to travel if you do not speak the language; even ordering meals can be complex in remote areas if there is no one to translate. The leader and his assistants were sensitive to those issues and balanced exposure and access with opportunities to hang back and observe. Their selection of sites and guides, as well as their efforts to focus on the educational rather than the overly touristy and commercial were appreciated.
I anticipate being able to use this information in my work as an administrator in International Programs in many ways; to inform our planning, to respond to our Asian Studies faculty board in a more informed and knowledgeable way, to provide insight on China for our programming efforts, and to encourage student and faculty exchange more effectively.
I presented a campus program on September 5 on “From Ming to “Ka-Ching:” Changing Times in China and Tibet. Fifty people attended the presentation. In addition I have provided photographs of China to faculty for use in their classes. In addition, I have prepared a CIEE Shanghai Study Center powerpoint (brief) for use by the study abroad advisers and the Chinese language faculty. My powerpoint used for the International Connections lecture is also available to those who would like to use it.
I have gained most from the general introduction to China. Before this trip I found that I had snapshots of experience from the past twenty years of peridically working with Chinese, but my images and experiences were very dated. The experiences I had in China were invaluable. I understand more about the environmental and ethnic issues, and how modern China is moving ahead, and a much better understanding of how issues like the “occupation” of Tibet is in fact a reality, and that much of the planning and research being done in China has to do with water and other resources from the Tibetan Autonmous Region.