Bonjour Paris, Au Revoir
Cal State Fullerton
by Susan Katsaros
from Dateline (April 10, 2003)
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Nancy Fitch, professor of history,
and Renae M. Bredin, associate professor of women’s studies,
are getting ready to spend part of their summer in Paris at
the CSU International Faculty Partnership Seminars.
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Nancy Fitch, professor of history, and Renae
M. Bredin, associate professor of women’s studies, are packing
their bags for a summer sojourn to Paris, thanks to a CSU program.
Bredin is researching the economic side of Martha
Stewart in the United States for a book she is writing, and is interested
in the domestic doyenne’s popularity in France.
Fitch will study how history is being presented in
theme parks in both France and California. “I plan on looking
at Euro Disney and Parc Astrix, which is a medieval theme park similar
to Disney’s California Adventure,” said Fitch, who has
taught on campus since 1986.
The pair will take part in the CSU International Faculty
Partnership Seminars sponsored by the California State University
Academic Council on International Programs (ACIP), which are designed
to provide international experiences for CSU faculty in diverse
disciplines.
The mission of the partnership seminars is to provide
international experiences for faculty members from throughout the
CSU system. Barry A. Pasternack, chair and professor of information
systems and decision sciences, was one of 20 CSU faculty members
who attended the 2001 inaugural conference, “The New Europe
and the New California: Coexistence, Convergence and Collision of
Cultural Communities,” held in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany.
This year’s seminar in France will focus on
the world’s perception of Paris and California as the place
of dreams. Participants will explore the leading geopolitical roles
each city plays and how it highlights the contrast between dream
and reality. The 20 CSU faculty members taking part will be joined
by 20 of their counterparts from the University of Paris.
“Since opportunities for international academic
experience are offered rarely, these faculty seminars will create
a synergistic effect where both faculty and students encourage one
another to seek out further opportunities for study abroad,”
said Bredin, a member of the campus community since 1998.
“This opportunity will have a serious impact
on my research, as well as on the work we are doing in the Women’s
Studies Program to increase student opportunities for study and
research outside of the U.S.”
Faculty participating in ACIP can establish professional
connections and contacts with foreign colleagues; have an opportunity
to explore issues of international concern with colleagues in their
own and in related disciplines; familiarize themselves with foreign
educational institutions; and discover and investigate international
opportunities available through IP for themselves and for their
students.
“I look forward to participating in this international
exchange,” said Fitch. “This will give me a needed opportunity
for research in Paris and will provide me with fresh international
perspectives that I can incorporate into my classes at CSUF.”
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