talk about how he became interested in the C.I.A and it in him—he had spent time in the military and was able to speak several languages. As an analyst he shares his knowledge and expertise about foreign policy in other parts of the world with top government leaders. “We’re there to help the people you elected do the job they were elected to do,” says the analyst, who is not identified because of the sensitivity of his work. Students get a feel for international affairs and politics in Johnson’s class, but they also begin to feel comfortable in the kind of small discussion class that is typically limited to third- and fourth-year or graduate students. He also spends time helping them develop their writing and oral advocacy, skills they will need as they move through the upper level courses. “I’ve got them writing already. There are some students who go through UGA and never have to write a paper,” Johnson says. “By the time they get to upper level courses they have self confidence about speaking. If you can’t write and express yourself orally, you can’t succeed.”
T
he first-year students in Associate Professor Marisa Pagnattaro’s class get a head start on teamwork and developing presentations. In “Managing the Dragon: The Challenges of Doing Business in China,” students select an American company that is doing business in China and research the obstacles it faces there.
Apple, for example, is prevalent in Chinese metropolitan areas. But as the students learn, many of the Apple stores are not real, but knock-off stores. They sell products that look like they’re made by Apple but are of a lower quality. “If you’re Apple, how do you deal with that?” asks Pagnattaro, who teaches legal studies in the Terry College of Business. “It’s a tricky issue. If you shut them down, people are out of work.” Another American company to move into China in recent years is Google, which at first complied with government regulations and censored information provided on its web site. Google later announced it would redirect Chinese users to an uncensored site in Hong Kong. Despite its popularity in the rest of the world, Google is not the most-used search engine in China. That title belongs to Baidu, a Chinese-run company that follows the government’s rules on censorship. Teaching the 16 first-year students has been eye-opening, Pagnattaro says. Unlike her older students, these are nervous not knowing what to expect during their first semester in college. To help them, she brings in a research librarian to explain how to access the resources available through the UGA Libraries, and members of the Mock Trial Team to provide pointers for their presentations. She also shares with them some of her research and talks about the trips she takes to China with MBA students. “They didn’t have any idea of what (faculty) do,” Pagnattaro says. “Now they can understand the connection between research and teaching and why the two are important.”
PHOTOS by peter frey
Left: Dressed professionally for their class presentation, Andy Creagan, from left, Clay Clifton and Holly Boggs look over their Powerpoint. Inset: Associate Professor Marisa Pagnattaro returns a paper to a student during her First-Year Odyssey seminar.
DECEMBER 2011 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE
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