Xiaofen Sun, Dean and Associate Professor, Department of English, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China
Lecturing: Education, Asian Life and Literature
Host: Fairmont State College, W.Va.
Scholar in Residence
August 1999-January 2000

Sun talks with students after speaking at California University of Pennsylvania.

Xiaofen Sun's five-month lecturing grant in West Virginia brought increased knowledge of Asian life and literature to colleagues and students at Fairmont State College. The Chinese dean and associate professor in the department of English at Capital Normal University is familiar with the United States, this being the third educational exchange she has participated in. On this trip, however, she was accompanied by her husband, who had never traveled beyond Chinese borders. Both were pleased to find that Fairmont students wanted to expand their knowledge of China and its culture, history and language. "I am so happy that I could help them understand China better and inspire their great interests in China," Sun remarked.

In addition to teaching conversational Chinese, Sun led informal discussions with faculty and students about life in China and gave more formal lectures on the nation's development with regard to traditional culture, education and gender roles. As part of the Fulbright Occasional Lecturer Fund, she made a presentation at the California University of Pennsylvania's women's studies department, "Changing Roles of Chinese Women: A Personal Account." Her lecture focused on the evolution of women's roles in China as illustrated by the lives of several generations of women in her own family.

When Sun returned to Asia, she organized a conversational English course, to be taught in part by a visiting professor from Fairmont State College, for approximately 30 Chinese teachers from colleges and universities in Beijing. She explained, " I would like to do something that can promote the understandings between Chinese and Americans … Everyone involved in this program felt it was a productive and meaningful experience."

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