Faculty to Present Lectures in China
BY MIMI KO CRUZ

Four Cal State Fullerton faculty members will be among the presenters during this month's International Conference on Asian American Literature in Beijing.

Giving papers at the May 27-30 conference will be Mary Kay Crouch, associate professor of English, comparative literature and linguistics; Eric E. Reyes, assistant professor of Asian American studies; librarian Jie Tian, who teaches library resource classes; and Heping Zhao, associate professor of English, comparative literature and linguistics.

On the first day of the conference, Tian will deliver a paper on "Women of Two Cultures; On Pearl S. Buck's Chinese O-lan and American Carrie." The presentation will focus on the late Nobel Prize-award winning author and her message of compassion for humankind.

Zhao, Crouch and Reyes will speak on May 28. Zhao will address "All Dressed Up but Nowhere To Go: Ha Jin's "Waiting' as a Universal Experience," while Reyes will present "Shaping Social Space in Filipino American Literary Texts."

Crouch, who will be heading to Vietnam after the conference, will read her paper on "Teaching the War in Vietnam to Children Who Never Knew It." The focus of her presentation will be on how Vietnam War-based literature presented in her class changed students' views of the war. While in Ho Chi Minh City, Crouch said she will be conducting workshops for the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization.

In addition to her participation in the conference, Tian will be buying $6,000 worth of Chinese books, DVDs and other materials to enhance the Pollak Library's collection. The purchase was funded by Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, who is preparing to propose the university offer a minor in Chinese language.