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