Stephen Noerper, Associate Professor, Department of Regional Studies, Asia Pacific Center, Winston-Salem, NC
Lecturing: International Relations
Host: School of Foreign Service, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
August 2000-October 2000

Professor Stephen Noerper in "Del" (robe) with father of Mongolian State Secretary B. Ganbold, whose family presented the horse in recognition of friendship and Noerper's service at the National University.

Stephen Noerper's hosts were so grateful for his work in Ulaanbaatar, and the spirit with which he carried it out, that they presented him with a horse. And not just any horse. They took Noerper, an accomplished rider, 150 kilometers into the Mongolian countryside to find a larger than average steed, to accommodate his six-foot frame.

They may have known that their magnificent gift, which is stabled in Ulaanbaatar, would induce the professor to return for future engagements. And he has-twice- since the October, 2000 completion of his three-month Fulbright lectureship.

Noerper, now serving with the U.S. State Department, taught upper-level graduate courses, at the National University of Mongolia's School of Foreign Service, on globalization and geopolitics-preoccupations of Mongolians struggling to find their way in a changing world. With two super-powers (China and Russia) at their borders, students packed his lectures and roundtables on security and diplomacy, as well. Noerper also lectured on the U.S. presidency at the country's prestigious Academy of Sciences, and provided "attendant commentary" at a satellite broadcast of the second Gore-Bush presidential debate.

Noerper had come to Ulaanbaatar from Honolulu, where he'd been a professor of international relations at the Asia Pacific Center; he bought a traditional Mongolian coat, sash, and boots after his arrival for protection against the cold. He also developed a taste for yogurt and fermented mare's milk. He was intrigued by the interplay of modernity and tradition. "You think you're at the end of the world, but the city's got 150 Internet cafes. If you turn on your television, you get Italian TV, Spanish TV, three Russian stations, the BBC, CNN and more." The average student speaks four languages, he adds.

The experience "greatly expanded my horizons," says Noerper, who is planning a book on Mongolia and its place in the world, and contemplating another trip next year. "There are," he says, "few things more romantic than riding under the big blue skies of Mongolia, with its green vistas and rolling hills."

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