BRIDGING CULTURES: CULTURAL INTERACTIONS

AND BUILDING COMMUNITIES

Bridging the “Uncomfortable Space”

Bristol Community College

Maureen Melvin SowaCecil Leonard

Michael J. Vieira

Quinsigamond Community CollegeKenneth WongAmy Beaudry

Gaelan Benway

Middlesex Community CollegeMargaret Rack

Johannah SegarichDona Cady (cohort leader)

Bridging the “Uncomfortable Space”

ProspectusProposed Goals and Objectives:• Develop East and South East Asian Studies Modules

and/or Certificates • Develop new courses in East and South East Asian

Studies• Faculty/Student/Community Outreach• Robust e-portfolio blog for discussion and RLO

resources Year One:

• Identify new courses required for Asian Studies curricula

• Provide opportunities for faculty development• Participate in Bridging Cultures regional activities and

outreach• East Asian and Southeast Asian Film Series• One and a half day Distinguished Speaker Conference

Year Two:• Propose at least one new Asian Studies course• Propose an Asian novel for the college’s One Book project• Develop modules for infusion into existing and new courses• Continue to support and participate in regional activities and

outreach• Multi-day conference

Year Three:• Obtain approval for any new courses and/or Asian Studies

Certificate• Continue to support and participate in regional activities and

outreach• Encourage research in East Asian and South East Asian

topics• Participate in online conference • Report on Community Outreach

Bridging CulturesDistinguished Lecture Series

Themes:

• The Uncomfortable Place - Culture Diversity• Gender• Religion• Migrations

Dates: October 25-26 or November 1-3

Possible Speakers: • Kathy Foley, Professor of SE Asian Dance and Puppetry, UCSC• Michael Schuster, Asian Theatre, and the Hourglass Theatre, UH

Manoa• Margo Machida, Assoc. Professor of Art History & Asian American

Studies, UConn• Anne Fadiman, Adjunct Professor of English &Francis Writer in

Residence, Yale U• Sam (George T.) Crane, Chair & Fred Greene Third Century Professor

of Political Science, Williams College• Nelly van Doorn-Harder, Professor of Islamic, Wake Forest University • Patricia B. Henry, Associate Professor of Foreign Languages and

Literature (Indonesian), Northern Illinois University

Bridging CulturesMaureen Melvin Sowa, Professor of History, Bristol

Develop new courses for Asian Studies Certificate Program

• History of Traditional East Asia• Introduction to Asian Philosophy• Introduction to Asian Art• The Merchant in Asia: Trade, Transfer and

Transformation

Develop East Asian and Southeast Asian content modules for faculty use.

• Encourage faculty inclusion of modules on East and Southeast Asia into new and existing courses .

Assist Regional Team in meeting the goals of the Bridging Cultures grant.

• Assist with conferences and programs.• Encourage campus participation in grant events.• Contribute to the Regional Resources and other

programs.

Bridging CulturesCecil Leonard, Business Chair & Professor, Bristol

Develop and revise business courses • New course to support Asian Studies Certificate• Revisit and revise as needed International Business

Certificate• Create an instructional module that will broaden the

current content of the global business portion of the Principles of Management course•   Include information on growing economic strength of

“Greater China” and the importance of shipping routes through Southeast Asian waters•   Illustrate the historic trade routes linking China and

South East Asia to India, Africa, Europe and Western Asia.  Include information on two way transfers of technology• Role of “ecotones” along trade routes and nation state

borders• Role of Confucianism and Buddhism in early China• Role of Buddhism and Islam in early and current

Southeast Asia•   Inter-relationship of historic traditions & philosophies

of China and Southeast Asia with current government and business operations.

Bridging CulturesMichael J. Vieira, Assoc. VP of Academic Affairs,

Bristol

Provide administrative support & participate in course development

• Coordinate efforts with new Director of Multicultural Center.

• Enlist support and cooperation of Multicultural Fellow.• Collaborate on review and possible revision of Global

Leadership Certificate.• Explore the possibility of creating a new degree

option focused on cultural diversity and global understanding.

Research Asian connections with the Portuguese and explore ways to build on existing partnerships, especially BCC’s LusoCentro, to expand understanding of the diversity that exists in our community.

Develop East Asian and Southeast Asian content modules for faculty use.

• Encourage faculty inclusion of modules in existing courses.

• Add Asian studies modules to existing Course Redesign Toolkits.

Bridging CulturesAmy Beaudry, Professor of English, Quinsigamond

• Create modules for two courses: Children’s Literature and Introduction to Liberal Arts

• Develop, propose and teach global perspectives Humanities course entitled The Arts & Revolution, with modules on China and Southeast Asia

• Develop course materials and/or present pedagogical workshops for Liberal Arts faculty so that they can incorporate information on China and Southeast Asia into their courses

• Review and update library resources on China and Southeast Asia; work with librarians to create a module on this topic for the library web site

• Consider a book related to our theme for the College’s One Book Project

Bridging CulturesGaelan Benway, Professor of Sociology, Quinsigamond

Curriculum Develop• Inter-disciplinary modules• Based upon QCC’s 10 Gen Ed Learning Goals• Available to all faculty and professional staff

Course Design• Intersections: Global Society and Culture• Sophomore-level social sciences course• Viewpoint, theory, and content primarily organized

around global South, particularly Asia

Research• Southeast Asian Sexualities• Cultural and textual analysis

Bridging CulturesKenneth Wong, Professor of History, Quinsigamond

Curriculum Develop• Develop course modules on Asian art and belief

systems for world history survey

Course Design• Develop new course on South East Asian civilizations

Liberal Arts connections• Incorporate Asian Studies into “Liberal Arts

Distinguished Lecturer Series”• Encountering Tropical Islam: Catholicism and Race

in the Pacific World, 1590-1700 (October 25, 2012)

Bridging CulturesMargaret Rack Professor of Art, Middlesex

Connect S.E. Asian & E. Asian histories to contemporary art

• Comparisons of Buddha form including what is in use in our local temples

• artists referencing heritage, post colonial themes

• Global consumerism

The big conceptual take away for me is choosing material and designing pedagogy to elicit diversity

Cambodian Kiln Project• Bridging cultures and generations• Continuing and contemporizing a traditional

art

It’s as much about encouraging and sustaining diversity as it is about creativity and making art.

Bridging CulturesJohannah Segarich, Professor of Music, Middlesex

• Create East Asian and South East Asian modules for two courses: • World Music and Introduction to American Music

• Present lecture/recitals of East Asian, & South East Asian music as part of the Music Outreach Program

• Further research and collaboration with colleagues at Documentation Center of Cambodia in fostering education and leadership skills among Muslim youth from three villages, focusing particularly on the emerging role of young women

• Further work on Strings for Cambodia, a fund-raising project to bring high quality Western string instruments to the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, as the first phase in an exchange of knowledge between RUFA, MCC, the Khmer immigrant community in Lowell, MA, and NEH cohort colleges

Bridging CulturesDona Cady, Assoc. Dean Humanities & Asian Studies,

Middlesex

• Create modules on Mulan : English Composition II & Intro to the Humanities• Transformation• Confucian Role Ethics• Gender

• Conferences• Certificates

• East Asia

Social Science Concentration 6.1, A.A. in Liberal Arts & Sciences        Revised - 2/13/2012                 Major and General Education Core CoursesSocial Science Foundation 15      HST 130 - History of World Civilization Before 1500        HST 131 - History of World Civilization After 1500        ECO 140 - Principles of Macroeconomics        GOV 110 - Introduction to Government        ANT 101 Cultural Anthropology/SOC 101 Sociology                 Additional General Education Core 20      ENG 101 - English Composition I        ENG 102 - English Composition II or ENG 111 - Intro to Chinese Literature        MAT 120 - Math Modeling for the Liberal Arts / MAT 100        MAT 177 - Statistics        ENV 131 - Environmental Science with Lab        Lab Science Elective                 General Social Sciences Option World Cultures OptionAmerican History or Government Elective 3   World Cultures Electives (Choose any 15 Credits) 15      World History Electives  Social Science Electives (Choose any 12 Credits) 12   Asian or Latin American Studies Electives  History/Government/Economics/Geography Electives   World Geography  Approved Behavioral Science Electives     World Religion Electives  International Fellowships     International Fellowships  Honors Seminars     Honors Seminars           Humanities Electives (Choose any 9 credits) 9   Humanities Electives (Choose any 9 credits) 9PHL 101 Philosophy/ETH 101 Ethics and Society     PHL 101 Philosophy/ETH 101 Ethics and Society  Humanities Elective     Approved Humanities Electives  Humanities Elective     World Language Electives        THE 109 Balance Through Acting                    Free Elective 3   Literature Elective (Choose any 3 credits) 3      World Literature Elective           Total Credits 62   Total Credits 62