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Dakota State hosting visiting faculty from China

From left to right: Wang Zelai, Gu Qing, Qiu Fen-Hua and Dai Hong-Zhen

            Dakota State University is currently hosting four faculty members from Chinese Universities. Ms. Gu Qing and Mr. Wang Zelai arrived on the Dakota State campus from Tianjin Municipal Education and Testing Center and Ms. Dai Hong-Zhen and Mr. Qiu Fen-Hua arrived from East China Normal University in Shanghai.

            They will be staying in the Zimmermann Hall dorm facility for the length of their stay.

            All four visitors are here to learn more about the American culture, the education system and America in general.

DSU Director of International Programs Lynn Ryan says, “We have been trying to get Chinese faculty here for awhile. The terrorist attacks last September stymied us last year, so we are very excited to be fulfilling our goal of faculty exchanges.”     

            Fen-Hua says he’s learning about America through being a part of it. These faculty members are taking Dakota State classes through the Internet and in the classroom. They are taking an E-commerce class, an Organization in Management class and Distance Ed classes.

While here the four are taking classes from DSU professors to gain a perspective on how the American University professor teaches class. Professors in China are geared more towards teaching through lectures.

            “Different teachers have different ways of teaching,” Hong-Zhen said. “Teachers here use more body language and are more interactive with the students.”

            During his brief stay here, Zelai has already taken notice that there are more assignments given in the American university than in China’s university system.

            The four have been impressed with how friendly the people are and how they feel at home here.

            “I’ve been impressed with the friendliness and readiness (of the people) to help,” Hong-Zhen said. “All go out of their way to make our stay a good one. Very cordial, very friendly people.”

            A person Hong-Zhen says she will not forget is Rose Brasier, a part-time curator at the Smith-Zimmermann Museum. She was impressed with how friendly she was and how she “took charge without payment.” Brasier volunteers her time at the Museum.

            The four faculty members will be on campus until December. Qing and Wang Zelai will leave the first of the month and Hong-Zhen and Fen-Hua will leave at the end of the month.

            Fen-Hua says being here is different than what he imagined in his mind. He expected to be around more people even in the countryside. “The wide open spaces with no people is the greatest difference,” Fen-Hua said reflecting on his homeland. “We’re used to the lifestyles set up in our minds.”

DSU President, Dr. Jerald Tunheim and Ryan will be traveling to China in October. They will seek to sign agreements with other universities in China and solidify contacts made previously.

“We want to keep up the traffic between here and China,” Ryan added. “Last summer three DSU faculty taught at East China. We hope to send more next summer, and to additional locations.”