Going Places
Spring 2015
A Word From President Ken Starr Dear Friends, As you well know, Baylor University’s mission is not only “to prepare our students for worldwide leadership, “ but to welcome others from around the globe. The Center for International Education (CIE) offers abundant opportunities that are shining examples of global outreach. From faculty-led study abroad trips to exchange and affiliate programs, our students are afforded the extraordinary opportunity to travel and study other cultures, while at the same time learning form colleagues around the world. Our motto, Pro Ecclesia, Pro Texana – for Baylor and for the world – echoes the Great Commission of Matthew’s Gospel “therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” As a Christian institution of higher learning in this, Global Century, our mission is more important than ever. Baylor’s commitment to global education is unmistakable. We are grateful for the great work of the Center for International Education in fulfilling our mission. Yours Sincerely, Kenneth Winston Starr Baylor University President
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table of contents
Students going places
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photo contest winners
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Faculty Going Places 13 Department going places
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Students going places
A Love FoR KnowledgE By Jon Mark Buckner
If a distinguished lecturer was
to present his or her research in Indonesia you can be sure that every seat would be taken and students would pay big bucks to attend.
Iwan’s wife Metta carries that same thirst for knowledge found all over Indonesia. While her husband was busy doing research she was not content to sit around. “The people in in Indonesia, Metta quickly are hungry. They want to know more about Christianity started volunteering at the Bobo Spiritual Life and knowledge,” says Iwan Center to help other internaSandjaja. tional students acclimate to America. After a few months Now in the third year of his of serving she heard about doctorate, Iwan is a Conyer Truett Seminary and decided scholar and the president of the American Scientific Affilia- to apply. Applying from within the United States was a long tion chapter at Baylor. and difficult process but Metta perserved until she was “In the United States people will come to meetings if there acceped. is food, but leave if there is no After Iwan and Metta have pizza.” completed their degrees they Where is the passion in Amer- hope to return to Indonesia to teach on the integration of ican university students? faith and science. They want Iwan has spent a lot of time wondering about what can be to feed a hungry nation the done to take students back the food it needs the most. honeymoon stage of falling in love with knowledge.
“We disregard common grace because it is common,” says Iwan. “But in Indonesia we have never heard of it.”
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is impressive. But when people grow in faith and incorporate science that is unheard of.
In Indonesia if you are growing in your faith that
"We Disregard Common Grace because it is common"
Joining a new Team By Hannah Haseloff
College is all about change. You move away from home for the first time, classes are different and friend groups change. With all the normal changes that come along with going off to college, can you imagine moving to whole new country, thousands of miles away from your home and everything you ever knew?
use in America has also been a big change. The weather is very different here than in Australia. Kristy said it is usually summer the whole year in Austrialla and she can go to the beach anytime. When the team traveled to Kentucky for a game, Kristy saw snow for the first time. Kristy is doing general studies right now, but hopes to study business in the future. She also hopes to play basketball in the Olympics representing Australia.
Kristy Wallace isn’t your average 19-year-old freshmen. Not only is does she play guard on the Baylor Women’s basketball team, Kristy is also an international student from Loganholme, Queensland, Australia which is more than 8,000 Kristy encourages other students to study overseas, she says although she misses her miles from Baylor. family, getting to experience a new culture is Growing up her parents encouraged Kristy and worth it. all her siblings to be active and try new things. She has played basketball since she was 5-yearsold, but she has also played ASL Australian football, soccer, swimming, track and field. Kristy’s older sister got her interested in playing basketball and before long she realized she loved it. According to Kristy, college is different from high school no matter where you live. One of the things Kristy misses most about home is the food. Some of her favorites include: vegemite, meat pies, and Tim Tams (a type of Australian cookie). Waco, Texas is very different from Kristy’s home; but everyone has been really welcoming, and she already feels like she has a family here. Kristy is still getting used to understanding Texan accents and often has to ask teammates what they are talking about. Being used to the metric system, instead of the imperial system we
Countries
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DAvid Galic By: Lindsey Wilson
“A refusal to embrace a different culture and lifestyle turned out to make several of my teammates bitter,” Baylor University Alumni David Galic said. Galic came to Baylor University to play tennis from Australia in the summer of 2006. Tennis was everything for David. He says that tennis came first and education was just an afterthought. However, despite his love for tennis, Galic says that he was rather unprepared for the culture shock. “I was very laid back. I got off of the plane in Dallas wearing a pink, floral v-neck when the coach picked me up. It was definitely a culture shock for me,” said Galic. However, despite culture shock, Galic says that moving to America was one of the best decisions that he ever made. Growing up in Australia, Galic played for elite tennis teams that traveled all over the world. He worked hard and he was good. However, as he grew up David decided that it would be beneficial for him to study at a university and play tennis at a collegiate level rather than continue playing the way that he was. “The toughest thing about mov
Alvin Jude
ing here is for sure that family and friends are not close. It is no easy or enjoyable in the tougher times to not be able to give my mom a call quickly,” Galic said. His goal is to travel to see his family every year, but realistically that only happens every two years or so. Though there are things that he misses, Galic said that the transition to Waco was not too difficult and was definitely worth it. “I had an image of America before coming here, but in my head it was more the Southern Cal type image. I don’t think I spent any time looking at where colleges were, I just looked at the programs and talked to coaches and that was it,” Galic said. “At first, there was a period of trying to figure it all out; tennis requirements are rigorous. First I was trying to get used to structured training, then figuring out how to get to class and actually doing my homework and then meeting people,” Galic said. The first semester was for him, as for many, a whirlwind. Galic claims that his saving grace was building a routine that worked for him and sticking with it. “I would 100 percent recomend others to follow what I did.
Coming to Baylor was the best dumb decision I ever made. I had no idea what to expect and left having learned a ton,” Galic said. His decision to step outside of his comfort zone changed his life for the better. “I had no idea that I would experience the community, fellowship and friendship with people that I did. Things I learned through coaches were invaluable to me and changed the entire path that my life was on,” Galic said. While sharing his experience, Galic encouraged others to get out of their own way of thinking and be open to new things. It works wonders almost every single time. Currently, David is married to an American Meggan whom he met during his time at Baylor. The two live, with their two dogs, in downtown Houston where Galic is a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley.
By Andrea Perez
Alvin Jude, a recent Baylor graduate from Malaysia completed the Computer Science graduate program Spring 2014, after having finishing his undergraduate degree in Malaysia, where he grew up. During his time here Jude worked at Baylor specializing in human computer interaction or HCI, the study of how people and computers interact. He focuses on computer accessibility for people with hand disabilities, particularly arthritis, fibromyalgia and carpal tunnel. “The focus here is always let people use technology…. people should be able to dictate what they want to do with technology as opposed to technology dictating what a person can and cannot do.” said Jude. Currently, Jude lives in San Jose, California and works at Exxon Technology in development. When asked about his time at Baylor, Jude expresses his experience with Baylor’s Center for International Education as one of helpfulness promptness and is knowledgeable “even though I didn’t always know what I needed, I would always get it, and on time.” When asked about future plans, Jude expressed his hopes to come back to Baylor for an impending PhD program. He notes that he managed to get a job in a relevant area upon graduating from Baylor that is extremely relevant to what he is doing now. “Everything that I learned at Baylor is being used directly.” said Jude.
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Art and Architecture Winner- Ryan Richbourg Notre Dame, Paris Baylor Business in Europe
Landscape and Cityscape- Kristen Schemel Interlaken, Switzerland SAI Florence
People and Animals-Lindsay Stanek Istanbul, Turkey Bogazici University
2015 Photo Contest Winners
FAculty going places
It's time to get out and do it By: Jon Mark Buckner
There’s something special about Dr. Jacqueline Mougoue’s desire for each student to succeed. It is clear she does more then just lecture about events past and present. Her life is evidence that she practices what she teaches. Jacqueline-Bethel Mougoue was born in Cameroon but moved to the United States as a teenager. Every summer and holiday she found herself at another friend or family’s home. “In my home country everyone helps raise each other’s children.” Now in her second year at Baylor as an assistant professor of modern African history she is already challenging students to greater things. “I don’t want my students to be scared of stereotypes about Africa.” I want them to be on the streets and meet someone from Zambia and be able to start a conversation with them. She values interaction and experience more than just reading a book. “It’s one thing to sit in a classroom and learn about Africa and it’s another thing to actually go.” In a few years she would like to be able to take Baylor students on trips to her homeland. Dr. Mougoue sees that applied history is the best way to learn and tangible experiences are more valuable than any written work or lecture.
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“If you want to learn about Africans the best thing to do is to go to Africa!” She hopes the classes she teaches at Baylor will someday translate to students engaging in mission or non profit work in Africa.
A Home Cooked meal
By Hannah Haselhoff
It is often said that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. It is true that food plays a huge role in our everyday lives and not just to provide nutrition. Everyone has their favorite foods; homemade chocolate chip cookies, a pepperoni pizza to share with your friends or even a big tub of ice cream to cheer you up when you are sad. Now just imagine how hard it would be to move to whole different country where none of the foods are recognizable. A common problem international students face when coming to Baylor is the change in their diets. They miss the foods from their homes and many American foods are unrecognizable. Baylor religion professor Dr. Chris van Gorder and his wife Vivian van Gorder, originally from Nigeria, faced this problem when they moved to America. American food was different from anything Vivian was
used to. To make matters worse, she could not find the proper ingredients to make any of her favorites from back home. It took Vivian a long time to figure out which American foods could be substituted for Nigerian ingredients before she could cook authentic Nigerian food. The van Gorders have been active with the Center for International Education for several years. They have hosted students, cooked meals and done anything they could to help international students feel at home at Baylor. When the van Gorder’s found out that 16 Nigerian students would be studying at Baylor this year on scholarship, they knew they had to help. They informed their church, Western Heights Baptist, about the students and the church welcomed them with open arms. The van
Gorders met students at the airport and gave them their phone number. Then, Vivian cooked the students a traditional Nigerian dinner the Wednesday following their arrival and the church made good old Texas barbeque for them the that Sunday. Since there are no African restaurants in Waco, Vivian frequently invites the students over and cooks for them. She also helps them learn what American foods to substitute for Nigerian ingredients so they can make their favorite dishes from home. She said she often gets calls from students at HEB asking what to buy to use as a substitute when cooking an African meal. Vivian loves experimenting with new foods, not just American or African dishes. She said when she tastes something wonderful she asks
the cooks for their recipes and then goes home and tries to make the dish. Vivian especially loves cooking for other people. She recalled one instance when she fed American students goat meat and to her surprise they ate it all. According to Vivian, it is a good day for the cook when all the food is gone. Vivian and Chris do not just feed the Nigerian students, they also help them get settled into Baylor. They offer advice on how to succeed in classes, help students get their driver’s licenses and give them a place to stay over the holidays. The van Gorders are fully committed to making Baylor a home away from home for the students. “Waco is a great place for international students, because the people are wonderful and it is not overwhelming making it easier to adjust,” Vivian said. The van Gorders’ church also helps in several ways.
It provides a bus to give the students a ride to church every Sunday. Families in the church have taken in several students. These families cook for the students and give them a place to stay over long holidays. In addition to their work with international students, the van Gorders have a full plate. They have three children: Tatijana, Gretchen and Andy, ages 7, 6 and 2. Dr. van Gorder teaches World Religions and Islamic Studies at Baylor. Vivian not only is going to school at Tarleton, for International Business, through the McLenan Community College program, but she started the Celebration Africa FilmFest, which is a film fest in September that features African films and dances. Vivian also wrote a children’s book, Master Kofi and Frisky the Dog, a retelling of an ancient West African fable that teaches honestly, loyalty and forgiveness.
“I was both humbled and honored to have received the award.”
McKinney takes on global education
In addition to the teaching award, McKinney has quite an impressive resume. He has taught at universities in both France and Japan, published several professional journal articles, testified before the United States International Trade Commission on the economic effects of NAFTA and is a founding member of the Association of Christian Economists.
By: Clarrissa Guerro
In this day and age, where everything is now accessible either electronically or globally it only makes sense that education should also be globalized. Joseph McKinney, professor of international economics, is working diligently to make sure that a touch of globalization is making its way to the Baylor campus. “I have always had an interest in international things,” said McKinney, “I specialized in international economics in graduate school.” McKinney has been teaching his passion to students in the Hankamer School of Business. According to McKinney, teaching international economics is a joy because of the wonderful Baylor students. Not only has he been able to teach a subject he loves, but has always been given the opportunity to travel abroad. According to McKinney, he has had some great traveling opportunities throughout the years, and has collected wonderful memories from each place. One of his favorite traveling experiences was when he was teaching abroad in Japan.
“That was a great experience for the entire family,” said McKinney, “To learn in some depth about the incredibly rich culture of Japan was fascinating.” During their time in Japan, according to McKinney, his daughter attended an internationalschool where she made friends from all over the world and his son became quite proficient in the Japanese language. McKinney also mentioned fond memories of the time he spent in London teaching and his short but pleasant trip to France. In 2014, McKinney’s hard work was finally recognized by the university when they made him the recipient of the 2014 Cornelia Marschall Smith Teaching Award. “I have great affection and appreciation for Baylor University, and to be recognized as having made a positive contribution at Baylor was indeed gratifying,” said McKinney.
Not only has McKinney served the Baylor community academically, but he and his wife have been working with PAWS for the last thirty years. People Around the World Sharing (PAWS) is an organization where students, faculty and staff are able to commit to partnering and helping with the transition of an international student to the Baylor campus and Waco for one year. “My wife and I have considered it a privilege to serve as a welcome family for international students over the past thirty years,” said McKinney, “We appreciate the opportunity to learn about other countries and cultures.” According to McKinney, getting to know international students is delightful and he has found that both students and faculty alike have been very supportive of international activities. Learning about other people and their cultures is crucial for our students in order to integrate in this day and age. It is also crucial for people who are entering the workforce today to interact with other cultures because there is so much more globalization today than there was twenty years ago. “I think it is critically important for Baylor students to have an understanding of the global economy, and of international events in general,” said McKinney, “We are all affected in a variety of ways by events happening in the rest of the world, and we need to be informed about them.”
"I think it is critically important for Baylor students to have an understanding of the global economy"
LaNette Thompson LaNette Thompson, a doctoral student at Baylor University, knows what it is to adapt to cultural differences and has seen how people of different backgrounds force a gap between those cultures.
by Arden Howell
Thompson and her husband lived in various parts of West Africa for over two decades, working as missionaries with the Southern Baptist Convention, planting churches, sharing the gospel with nonliterate people and learning about their systems of learning. Now studying educational psychology, Thompson uses her experience with a contrasting educational culture to drive her passion for research.
ploma has been passed and the graduation stage has been crossed. Highly educated people often lack the ablity to adapt and learn outside of a classroom. This mysterious mindset is a large part of why Thompson is studying the cultural perceptions of education. An even bigger issue at hand is the individualistic inclination of western-educated people. Thompson noticed, “As long as they were in control and were the ones telling people what they felt and believed, they were fine, but sitting back and letting someone else guide the conversation or listen was sometimes difficult,” the likely root and result being that, “It was difficult establishing a relationship with someone who is very different from them.”
“We have such a literate bias,” Thompson said, “It’s difficult for people to understand that other people
Because of Thompson’s religious background, she’s had an even more inclusive experience looking at cul-
learn if we use the methods they’re used to in their oral cultures.” Pushing beyond the idea of literacy as king, Thompson reminds us that while “It’s difficult for us to understand that people can learn without literacy, they do. They have for thousands of years.”
tures’ crossroads. She confessed that she began her missionary career with literate methods, and by the
Thompson has been at Baylor since her return to the states in 2011, when she almost immediately noticed the chasm between Baylor’s American students, many of whom have not experienced other cultures, and foreign students. There, she saw an opportunity for learning about other cultures and how American students view their own education. She explains the challenge for Americans to expand their learning beyond the classroom setting, especially when they joined her in West Africa on mission. While the Thompsons were placed in leadership roles, they were in charge of helping Americans adapt to the African culture, learning from the common people there. “I found that often it was very different for college graduates to learn through ‘lifelong learning,’” Thompson said, “They wanted to be in a classroom to learn the language. They wanted a teacher to spoon-feed them. ‘Is this going to be on the test?’-- That’s not life.” And she’s right. Even in the United States, there is typically an attitude of finished learning once the di-
1990s, shifted toward oral methods, seeing exceptional results. Thompson noted that many people are still going to either accept or reject Christianity, but giving them a legitimate opportunity to understand it in their own way produces personal relationships. Christian missionaries have historically taken literacy as a part of their faith-based mission, with the idea that one must learn how to read the Bible in order to become a good, practicing Christian. “However,” Thompson said, “Since the 1980s, the mission community has realized that they are leaving out many people of the world by using literate methods. So, what the mission community has actually embraced is that we need to change the way we communicate.” Now, working on her dissertation, Thompson’s goal is to educate the academic community on how to shift our cultural and academic worldviews, opening our minds to learning outside of classrooms, books and articles. So much of learning is listening to other people, and the stories and knowledge they can share. Once students at Baylor University can grasp that idea, we’ll have the opportunity to continue sharing and learning.
Department going places
New Faculty and Staff Dr. Jeff Hamilton
Vice Provost of Center for Global Engagement
Dr. Mark Bryant
Assistant Director for International Student and Scholar Services
Dr. Mark Dollar
Assistant Director for Study Abroad
ERin Thoes
Coordinator of Faculty-Led Study Abroad Programs, International Travel, and Communication
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&
Hong Kong
The Hong Kong Baptist University program is one of the lesser-known study abroad programs offered at Baylor University. The relationship between the two universities was established twenty years ago, and although not as popular as it once was it is still a program students should consider.
“It is used to be very popular but it has kind of petered out,” said Bobby Leis, exchange program and study abroad advisor, “we usually have 1 or 2 students go per year, when in reality we have openings for much more.” The HKBU program is one of the more unique programs offered for Baylor students who are wanting to study abroad. There are several major highlights that students should consider about HKBU before overlooking it. One of the major highlights is the housing situation. According to Leis, students would be paying regular tuition with this program but their housing would be entirely free thanks to the relationship between the two universities. The second highlight of this program is the how similar the academics are. Hong Kong Baptist University was set up with their courses being similar if not the same with Baylor’s courses. This will make it easier for students to get course credit. “Hong Kong is much easier to match with student’s degree programs than some of the European programs,” said Leis.
IsRael
study abroad
Starting in Fall 2015, Baylor University will be able to send students to Israel. Students will be able to study there through the Center for International Education and with the partnership Baylor has forged with Tel Aviv University. “We haven’t had any problems with sending people to Israel because it’s a new program,” said Bobby Leis, exchange program and study abroad advisor, “we have two students going in the fall term and we are very excited.” There aren’t that many study abroad options in the Middle East, which is why this new opportunity is very exciting for both the university and students. Tel Aviv University is a well-recognized university internationally, and many other American universities have been sending their students to study abroad there. “It doesn’t take long to do a little bit of research into Tel Aviv University to know how safe and well protected it is,” said Leis, “this is a relationship that we (Baylor University) have wanted for a long time.”
neW vice provost on campus Most Baylor students don’t know there is a building sandwiched between Moody library and Jones library. While the building may be tiny, what goes on inside is important. This building houses the Center for International Education, and Vice Provost for Center for Global Engagement, Dr. Jeffrey Hamilton’s office is located on the second floor.
department of History and was Department Chair of the department of History from 2004 until 2014. Hamilton has always had a deep interest in international education. He has been on the Council for International Education and during his time at Baylor has participated in several study abroad programs.
by Clarrisa Guerro
grow over the next several years,” Hamilton said. Although the increase of international students is a goal for Hamilton, there are some limitations. According to Hamilton, expanding also has a impact on admissions policies and enrollment, and those aren’t decisions the Center for
According to Hamilton, the university has been doing a good job accommodating international students, but that there can always be improvements. The largest number of international students here on campus comes from China, and the majority of international students are in either Business or a STEM field. As Vice Provost, Hamilton doesn’t just work with international students, he also works with students wanting to study abroad. Hamilton also expressed some of his goals regarding this topic for the university in the next several years. “We would certainly like to see more of our students studying abroad for a whole semester rather than a summer term,” Hamilton said, “and for our students to study in non Englishspeaking parts of the world”. Study abroad programs at Baylor are offered in over 50 countries with regions varying from Europe to Asia. According to Hamilton, Baylor already has great study abroad programs, he just wants to add more to the list, and go from 28 percent of students having a study abroad experience to 50 percent.
“Our office oversees all of Baylor Study Abroad, Hamilton was named interim vice provost last as well as coordinates our International Student August, and assumed the fall role starting in and Scholar Services,” Hamilton said. January 2015, and he is already looking forward to what he hopes to accomplish in his new role. The Center for International Education doesn’t According to Hamilton, he hopes to continue to overlook mission trips. According to Hamilton, increase the population of international students anything involving international travelers goes at Baylor over the several years. through this office. “I think it is a national trend, we are just under Before Hamilton held the position of Vice Pro- 700 international students at the moment and vost, he was a faculty member of the I would anticipate that that would continue to
International Education can make. Increasing the population of international students here at Baylor is one goal, Hamilton mentions another goal that he hopes the university will accomplish. “We (the Center for International Education) would like to do a better job with integrating the international students into the life of the university as a whole,” Hamilton said.
It is obvious the tiny building housing Hamilton’s office. has some big plans for the university regarding global involvement and education. “I think we will increase, in any case it’s just the degree to how many more (students),” Hamilton said, “we would like more diversity among the student body”.
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Linsey Wilson, Jon Mark Buckner, Abigal Lynch, Christine Reddy, Caroline Jerome, Jenn Webster, Clarissa Guerrero, Shelby McCollum, Andrea Perez, Maggie the Dog, Arden Howell, Caitlin Robb, Lauren Preola
Clarissa Guerro Account Executive
Lauren Preola Graphic Designer
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