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Note: While James DeCaro's Fulbright grant was in Sweden,
as this scholar story indicates, he has continued to be an advocate
for the deaf around the world.
Fulbright Alum Aids Deaf Students in Asia
By Kathleen Smith
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Dean Ohnuma and President Nishijo of Tsukuba College
of Technology
sign the Memorandum of Understanding with PEN-International
Director James J. DeCaro
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Rochester, New York -- Former Fulbright Scholar Dr. James J.
DeCaro is director of a new initiative dedicated to bringing education
and technology to deaf college students worldwide.
DeCaro, a Fulbright Scholar at Orebro University in Sweden during
the 1998-99 academic year and former dean of the National Technical
Institute for the Deaf (NTID) in Rochester, New York, now leads
the Postsecondary Education Network International (PEN-International).
In little more than a year the program is opening the doors of
technology for thousands of deaf students in countries in the
Asian-Pacific Basin.
PEN-International is funded largely by The Nippon Foundation of
Japan, which has provided more than $2 million in grants to support
the first two years of this multinational program.
PEN-International is headquartered at NTID, one of eight colleges
of Rochester (New York) Institute of Technology (RIT). NTID offers
educational programs and access and support services to 1,200
students from around the world who study, live, and socialize
with 13,500 hearing students on the campus of RIT. DeCaro was
dean of NTID from 1985-1998.
"Simply because of deafness, young people have been deprived
of the social and economic benefits society has to offer,"
says DeCaro. "PEN-International is providing all of us who
work on the project an opportunity to change those circumstances."
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Dr. DeCaro and PEN-International Coordinator E. William
Clymer enjoy
a traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony.
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PEN-International's goal is to share instructional technology
and expertise with colleges and universities worldwide so that
university-age deaf students have access to quality educational
opportunities in technological fields.
"Historically, the number of colleges that provide education
for deaf students has been very limited," DeCaro says. "As
a result, there is no network to share knowledge ranging from
basic educational methods for teaching deaf students to preparing
these students for careers in a fast-paced technological world.
PEN-International is working to bridge that gap and make sure
that these students, regardless of the wealth or size of their
countries, will have full access to myriad educational and career
opportunities."
Having spent the vast majority of his career in deaf education,
DeCaro is well suited to the job. He holds a B.S. and M.S. in
Civil Engineering and a Ph.D. in Instructional Technology and
has been a faculty member at NTID since 1971.
However, it is his personal family history that perhaps has motivated
him the most. His spouse of 30 years, Pat, is hearing, but comes
from a family where deafness spans three generations. Her mother,
father, grandparents, aunt, and uncle all were deaf-most were
teachers of deaf people. When asked why he is involved in deafness,
DeCaro jokingly responds, "I married into the field."
PEN-International's two lead institutions are NTID and Tsukuba
College of Technology (TCT) in Japan. While the NTID connection
is obvious, PEN-International's partnership with TCT actually
is an outgrowth of TCT's formal "sister institution"
relationship with NTID, which began several years ago.
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Visiting with faculty and students at Tianjin University
of Technology in China.
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TCT, founded in 1987, is a unique national three-year college
for students with visual and hearing disabilities. Its Division
for Hearing Impaired provides state-of-the-art programs in design,
mechanical engineering, architectural engineering, electronics,
and information science.
PEN-International has other partners, most notably Tianjin Technical
College for the Deaf of Tianjin University of Technology (TUT)
in China. DeCaro was named a visiting professor at TUT in 2001,
in recognition of his contributions to deaf education.
Two other institutions joined PEN-International's efforts in 2002:
Bauman Moscow State Technical University in Russia and De La Salle
University-College of St. Benilde in the Philippines.
Although little more than a year old, PEN-International's accomplishments
reflect the passion of those involved to make this program successful
on many levels.
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Vising the home of Confucius with Tianjin University
of Technology administrators and project officers of The
Nippon Foundation.
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In October 2001, two high technology multimedia labs for deaf
students were dedicated at TCT in Japan and TUT in China. Additionally,
student and faculty cultural exchanges have taken place, with
more planned in the coming year.
"The importance of such efforts at cross-cultural cooperation
can't be underestimated," says DeCaro. "Today we are
faced with some horrible events that are driving wedges between
nations and peoples. Now, more than ever, there is a need for
collaborative multilateral programs and efforts like PEN-International
and the Fulbright program. We must choose to build and not tear
asunder."
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For more information about PEN-International, contact James DeCaro
at 585-475-2939 or Kathleen Smith at 585-442-0528.
Please contact us
if you would like to submit your own story and/or photographs.
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