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November 21, 2002
Faculty Travel Grants give
professors
valuable educational opportunities
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — The following are interviews with three of nearly 50 Indiana State University faculty who have been awarded grants to travel and work abroad, further expanding ISU's ties to institutions in Morocco, Thailand, China, Russia and other countries around the world. [See complete list of ISU faculty travel grant recipients]
Jing Chen, assistant professor of life sciences
Q. To what country did you travel and how did you choose that location?
A. I traveled to China with the support of ISU faculty international travel award. The reason why I chose this location is provided below. Research projects in my laboratory at ISU, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), investigate health-related problems. Similar research programs are conducted exclusively in medical schools. Through collaboration with domestic medical schools, I have gained access to research facilities that ISU cannot afford. However, collaboration with big schools such as Duke University Medical Center may overshadow ISU, which could jeopardize our position in future competition for federal funding. Thus, while continuing to work with domestic partners, I have also been collaborating with Nanjing Medical University (NMU), China.
The collaboration with NMU started two years ago when I, as an alumnus, was invited to give lectures there. NMU and I agreed to collaborate in research and share authorship. NMU also awarded me the title of adjunct professor. Since then, the collaboration started but progressed slowly without my direct supervision. It became clear to me that my physical presence there could accelerate the collaborative research. Thanks to ISU faculty international travel award, I was able to work there in the last two summers.
Q. What type of work did you conduct while there?
A. At NMU, I was engaged in research projects and teaching. As for research, my roles included designing experiments, training Ph.D. students in various special techniques, searching literature, directly having hands on the experiments, and writing manuscripts. Resulted from these research activities, two research articles have been submitted for publication in refereed international journals. A third paper is in preparation. Authorship of these papers will be given to me as an ISU faculty member.
I also gave seminars on several topics including the ischemic cell injuries, protein phosphorylation, protein-protein interactions, the use of laser confocal microscope in cell biology, and improvement of English writing.
In addition to research and teaching activities there, I interviewed the candidates for working in my laboratory at ISU. As agreed between NMU and me, one visiting scholar Dr. Luo Gu from NMU worked at ISU for eight months since October 2001. He helped complete a project left over by my former Ph.D. student, then developed a new project. His name was included in one publication this year as a co-author. Another first-authored manuscript was submitted early last fall. I have received positive responses from the reviewers. With revision, the chance for final acceptance of this manuscript seems great. A second visiting scholar Dr. Weiping Xie from NMU [arrived at] ISU on Nov 12 of this year. Dr. Xie is planning to work in my laboratory for one year.
At all official or casual meetings with NMU faculty and students, I introduced ISU to them and encouraged their undergraduate and M.S. students to pursue Ph.D. degrees at ISU. I brought up to NMU authority the idea of developing exchange programs with ISU nursing and business schools. Unfortunately, they had contacted Johns Hopkins University for training their students in the majors of nursing and hospital administration. I also mentioned the willingness of ISU in exploring collaboration opportunities in acupuncture and sports medicine.
Both NMU and myself are satisfied with the progresses so far and highly optimistic to a productive collaboration in the following years.
Q. What are some of the benefits of the international collaboration?
A. Both ISU and myself [have benefited] from the international collaborations in several aspects.
- Attracting extramural research
funding: As mentioned above, this collaboration will enhance the
chance for me to obtain extramural funding from Federal
government including the National Institutes of Health and
National Science Foundation. One visiting scholar from NMU
worked and the other will work directly on projects that will
generate preliminary data to attract more federal funding.
- Publications: The collaboration
between NMU and me in the last two years has contributed to four
or five research articles. One of them was published this year.
Three others will very likely be published in an early future.
The fifth paper is in preparation.
- Culture exchange: Visiting
scholars from NMU will bring back home images/impression/influences
of American culture both on and off campus. Better understanding
of American academic system and culture is definitely good for
people of both countries and the peace of the world.
- Potential mutual benefits: Collaboration between ISU and NMU can be potentially expanded to areas beyond life sciences. For example, NMU has strong programs in acupuncture and sports medicine. The library at NMU has collections of many Chinese journals/books. Collaborations in these areas can benefit both sides.
Q. What is your background both educationally and professionally?
A. Education: Postdoctoral Training -- Cell Biology, Duke University Medical Center, 1993-1998; Graduate training -- Ph.D., physiology, University of Louisville, Louisville, Ky., 1990-1993; M.S. -- physiology, Nanjing Medical College, Nanjing, China, 1984-1987; Undergraduate training -- medical technology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China, 1978-1981.
Employment: Assistant professor, Department of Life Sciences, ISU, 1998-present; NIH postdoctoral fellow, 1996-1998; Department of Cell Biology, Duke University Medical Center, 1994-1996; National Kidney Foundation postdoctoral fellow, Department of Cell Biology, Duke University Medical Center, 1994-1996; Research associate, Department of Cell Biology, Duke University Medical Center, 1993-1994; Instructor, Department of Physiology, Nanjing Medical College, Nanjing, China, 1987-1989; Medical technologist, cardiovascular research lab, Jiangsu Province Hospital, Nanjing, China, 1982-1984.
Brian Kilp, assistant professor of music
Q. To what country did you travel and how did you choose that location?
A. China. I have always wanted to visit China. I have two close friends from The University of Arizona that I worked with who teach and perform in China. They both arranged for invitations for me to teach and present recitals.
Q. What type of work did you conduct while there?
A. The first year I performed a recital program at Shenyang Conservatory and the Beijing Central Conservatory. I also taught privately and presented master classes at both schools in addition to a master class day at Tianjin Conservatory and a master class with the Chinese Military Band School in Beijing. The second year (last year) I was in China for about six weeks. I spent the first 10 days participating as a guest artist in the Fifth International Music Festival sponsored by the Shenyang Conservatory, then stayed and taught for about one month after the festival. I also spent a few days in Beijing at the Beijing Central Conservatory and Middle School presenting master classes.
Q. What are some of the benefits of the international collaboration?
A. The experience was and still is invaluable. I was able to share a common interest with people of a very different culture. Not only did I collaborate with my former student colleagues, but also with other Chinese, Russian, Australian, Japanese, and Canadian musicians. I taught many students of many ages. I was there long enough to begin to learn Chinese ways of pedagogy, musical style and interpretation, and personal interaction. I was able to present music for them that was new and different for the audience, and heard many concerts of music, both vocal and instrumental that was new, different and interesting to me as well.
We exchanged ideas, teaching styles and methods, music, and have made plans to collaborate more in the future.
This fall a six-member delegation from the Shenyang Conservatory visited ISU and spent four days in Terre Haute. They experienced an ISU winning football game and marching band (both new to them), yards sales, Covered Bridge Festival, etc. They came with a very positive experience from their visit.
They presented a proposal for future collaboration to exchange faculty, ensembles, students, and to work to develop a curriculum that would enable qualified Chinese students to do part of a degree or certificate program at ISU. I feel like the whole university community of both cultures benefit from exchanges like this.
Q. What is your background both educationally and professionally?
A. BM at Cincinnati College-Conservatory; MM at New Mexico State, DMA at The University of Arizona. I performed with many groups in Arizona, tour regularly with the New Sousa Band, was a member of the Arizona Opera Orchestra, Principal Horn of the Classical Music Festival in Austria for the last three years, Principal Horn of the Terre Haute Symphony, 2-3 Horn of Sinfonia da Camera in Champaign, IL, and sub frequently with the Evansville Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony, Indianapolis Chamber Brass, and various chamber and new music recitals. I am also an advocate for new music, and have commissioned several pieces since moving to Terre Haute in 1998. I was also named "Visiting Guest Professor" at Shenyang Conservatory.
Q. Is there anything else you would like to add?
A. The International Travel Grant in essence has enabled me to realize one of my most important dreams: to combine my love of travel with my love of music. In addition to working to strengthen our ties in China, I am working on a similar relationship with the Rahajabat Institute in Thailand, and hope to visit there this summer as well!
Carmen Montanez,
associate professor,
Spanish, languages, literature and linguistics
Q. To what country did you travel and how did you choose that location?
A. I went to La Habana, Cuba. On that time we had the visit of Dr. Soraya Castro, a Cuban professor, and we talked about the potential of a study abroad program in Cuba.
Q. What type of work did you conduct while there?
A. First, while I was there I visited the Universidad de la Habana and had an interview with Ariel Aguilar, coordinator of the study abroad in Habana. He coordinates programs that take students to Cuba from different states in the United States. We talked about why Cuba is a very interesting site for a study abroad program, beside the safety and cost, and how this project can be possible. Also, I interviewed a young Cuban writer, Angel Santisteban, who is writing about his point of view about Cuba participation in the Somalia War and how young people are seeing the Cuba of today. For young people in Cuba the Somalia War was something like Vietnam for the young people in the U.S. They questioned why and for what they have to go there and risk their lives.
Q. What are some of the benefits of the international collaboration?
A. This was a great opportunity for me for which I am very grateful to the International Affairs Center and the Provost Office to awarded me with a grant that allowed me to accomplish that great experience.
Personally, I was able to make new friends and meet new colleagues, and professionally, I enhanced my curriculum because I can talk about Cuban literature and culture with more authority. But mostly, if we have in some way a study abroad program in Cuba, it will give a great opportunity for our students to get a rare personal insight into Cuba to which most American students would never have access. At the same time, besides practice their Spanish, it would give them a chance to meet with the Cuban people, learn their personal way of life and how they cope with life today, how Cubans participate in the new age of technology and communication, gain some insight into the circumstances that make lives different from those in any other Latin American country, and an overall view of the relations with the United States since 1959 and its effects on Cuban society, family and education.
Q. What is your background both educationally and professionally?
A. I am from Puerto Rico, from where I had my primary formation. I went to Law School at the Interamerican University at Puerto Rico (1983). In 1984 we moved to Indiana and I went to the University of Louisville for my master's degree (1989). Immediately after, I went to the University of Kentucky for my Ph.D. (1995). I have been at ISU since 1994.
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Contact:
Gaston Fernandez, executive director, ISU International Affairs
Center,
(812) 237-4391 or ascfern@isugw.indstate.edu
Writer:
Jennifer Kearns, ISU Public Affairs,
(812) 237-8037 or devkearn@isugw.indstate.edu
ISU
Public Affairs:
(812)
237-3773 or http://isunews.indstate.edu