Halfway! University of York

The theme for today was "internationalization in higher education and the vital role of support staff". We heard a series of lectures from the Director of Internationalization, the Academic Registrar (more similar to our VP of Student Affairs role), the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and the General Manager of the Graduate Students' Association. I left with pages full of notes about the creative ways in which they are layering their internationalization efforts and leveraging their sister-city connection to Nanjing, China. 

Some examples:

- They conduct service staff cultural training (ex. catering) to help them better understand the needs of the international students and their own inherent cultural values. They even took it as far as exchanging chefs with their sister institution in Nanjing. 

- The York Award was developed to recognize student excellence in co-curricular activities and skills development. Students earn points from study abroad, volunteerism, internships, etc. The interesting thing is that participation alone does not earn them the award. They must pass an oral exam where they are required to present evidence of their skills. Selling yourself doesn't cut it. You must explain what you learned through the co-curriculars. This helps to distinguish between "doing and learning". Check it out at http://www.york.ac.uk/study/careers-skills/york-award  

- They use Skype to connect international alumni to Career Services so alumni can train career advisors on how the job search process differs by country. This helps their career staff better assist international students who wish to return home for jobs and it brings about a general sense of global awareness.

- They hold a graduation ceremony in China for the international students from that country. It allows their families to take part in the celebration. 

After lunch and a group photo we took a double decker city bus into the city center of York. We met up with the Yorkshire Museum Director, Science City York, a representative from the City of York Council, York's Adult Education Director, and other representatives. They told us how they have been able to promote York as a destination for tourism and a place for new business growth. As someone married to Indy's "Mr. Sister City" I was really interested to hear how their partnership with Nanjing had equally strong connections in the business community. I have lots of ideas to share with Peter.

We were very thankful to be let loose into the city for sometime to explore. A small group of us decided to climb up to the top of the city wall and take this great walk around the perimeter of the city. The narrow walkways gave magnificent views and a totally different perspective of the town. It was a real treat and a total surprise. At the end of the wall we descended into narrow streets in an area called "The Shambles". The old bowing buildings almost touch. We happened upon a great antiques store and a local soap shop. 

When our time was up we headed over to St. Helen's Square for a reception hosted in York Mansion House by the Right Honourable Lord Mayor Julie Gunnell. What a mansion! Sipping wine with a view of the York Minster out the old wavy glass windows felt a bit posh for a study abroad advisor. But she was so gracious, fun and welcoming that we felt right at home. She opened up her dining room just to show us around and tell about hosting guests like the Queen. The Lord Mayor is an elected position from the City Council with a one year term. The only other Lord Mayor is of London. She is the 9th woman in this role. Technically she is in line for the throne, although "practically a millionth" according to her-- but was good humored enough to high-five Jay when he suggested that at least she is in line. I loved meeting her and could tell what a true love she has for York and public service.

A Day of Shakespeare

We headed out early to Stratford-upon-Avon for a special visit to the Shakespeare Institute, run by the University of Birmingham. I have to say it feels quite special for folks to come in and open things up for us on a Sunday. We had a house tour and lecture by Professor Michael Dobson, Director. He had great humor and wonderful stories about all that goes on there.

Afterward we had a guided tour of Stratford with a tour guide named Helen :-) She was great. It was my first time to Stratford. And although I am not a Shakespeare buff, I really loved the old architecture. I'm just amazed how homes made from timber, sticks, mud, manure & urine can last 500 years and bow dreadfully while still remaining functional (and safe!). My only disappointment was seeing a dozen shops I wanted to go in and a great market in the park by the river, but we had no time to split off and enjoy it. I guess I have to come back!

Most of this afternoon was spent on our trusty coach with our driver, Mick. We arrived early (a record) at the University of York. After checking into Franklin House we made our way over to "The Treehouse" for what was supposedly an informal dinner. It was casual in feel but the food looked like something out of a magazine. 

The current joke in the group is that we will need a re-entry program to help us adjust to normal life. It is sort of nice being handed a flute of champagne when you enter dinner, not having to worry about where to go next, and having all of your details wrapped by with an overly competent guide. It is also refreshing to be constantly intellectually stimulated with no requirement for immediate output.

I do think at this point I am starting to get a bit tired, a bit homesick, and feeling like it all runs together. For this reason I am glad to have kept up the blog. I know the time will pass faster and faster and the returns on this investment of time will be lifelong. I want to make the most of it. We have 2 more weeks ahead.

Week One Done

Today was all about getting hands-on with some of the great cultural history the University of Birmingham has to offer...technology, geology, art & architecture.

We had the chance to play with multi-touch tables (think gigantic iPad like screens) in the Cultural Heritage and Learning Hub. Dr. Richard Clay described how these fun technologies will transform the way museum visitors interact with exhibits. We saw how a sort of chronological lens can be placed over a map to sift through archives to pull up and geo-locate artifacts in that time period. The former urban planning student in me got excited about how this could transform the field. They are even using Xbox-like cameras to scan people and have exhibits predict what the user might like by guessing their age. Dr. Clay described what it might be like for students of the future, as the use their mobile devices to interface with real-world materials, the classroom technologies, and even their counterparts abroad. We left imagining what it might be like if our own universities could virtually borrow a museum collection from the University of Birmingham to use on our own smart tables. 

In our small group discussions afterward we realized that the UK and the US define cultural engagement in completely different ways. Whereas the US is focused almost entirely on people, the UK is much more concerned with places and things. They are keen to preserve their art, architecture, literature and other types of museum-worthy artifacts for the benefit of future generations. They are also determined to engage the general community.This is inclusive of age (even small children) and socioeconomic background. 

After lunch we had the chance to tour Winterbourne House and Botanic Garden. I've never toured a historic home I didn't like so I was really excited about this. My interest peaked when I saw that the home was built by the "pioneer of town planning". Inside the floorplan was so unlike any other home I have visited. Each room was carefully designed to have a garden view and was positioned in the back. Running across the entire front of the home was a large wide hallway. The natural light was incredible. I can't help but think he designed it "like a planner", carefully considering the vistas :-)

In the afternoon we made two more museum visits. The first was to the Lapworth Museum of Geology.  I never knew fossils were so much fun. Honestly! They have so many specimens they are bursting at the seams. Lapworth was most certainly a hoarder. We saw everything from a T-Rex head to a fossilized bug worth nearly $38,000. They even had fossils that had been dug up in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Upstairs were old geological maps of all sorts. The most interesting was a top secret wartime map of the beaches of Normandy and a letter detailing what type of soil conditions they might find. I could have spent hours there. 

The final museum visit was the Barber Institute of Fine Arts. It is not a huge collection but it is packed full of all the big names...Degas, Rubens, Rodin, Van Dyck, Turner, Rembrandt (on loan)...It was the perfect pre-cursor to our afternoon tea and scones. I also really loved meeting the new Director, Nicola Kalinsky, and hearing her talk a bit informally about how they decide on new acquisitions.

Although I am really exhausted, I decided I had to take advantage of our free evening. We all took taxis downtown and split off in our separate ways. I bought Helen 2 adorable outfits for fall and stopped off at Wagamama's for yaki soba & gyoza take-a-way. Mission accomplished.