New program offers opportunities for faculty in China
This is a guest post from the Center for Global Programs and Studies:
During the winter break Jon Smart, assistant teaching professor in Wake Forest’s Writing Program, traveled to Qingdao, China, to teach an academic writing course to eleven Chinese high school students who plan to study in the United States upon graduation.
Jon Smart teaching in China
The course was the result of a yearlong effort in the Center for Global Programs and Studies to provide Wake Forest faculty additional opportunities for meaningful cross-cultural interaction with international students in their home culture. Benefits of cross-cultural interaction include:
- Greater ability to interpret events from multiple perspectives
- Greater ability to communicate across difference to formulate solutions to complex problems
- Increased self-awareness and understanding of how one interacts with others
For Smart, whose work focuses second language writing, the opportunity to visit Qingdao was a chance to become more familiar with the learning contexts and experiences of Chinese high school students. It gave him a chance to interact with students, their instructors, and their parents, and he hopes to apply what he learned from teaching the course to his approaches to teaching at Wake. Read more
Categories: Faculty News
