FDU students traveled the world this summer taking graduate and undergraduate courses in Brazil, Central and Eastern Europe, China, England, Italy and Japan.

Brazil

On August 19, escorted by Gerard Farias, management and executive director, Institute for Sustainable Enterprise (Flor); Joel Harmon, management (Flor); and Hsu O’Keefe, business (Flor), the MBA in management for executives K4 Cohort visited four cities during their two weeks in Brazil.

While in Curitiba and with the support of ISAE/FGV (Instituto Superior de Administração e Economia da Fundação Getulio Vargas) University, the students attended classes in Brazilian Tributes and Taxation Systems, Brazil and the IT Society, Small Business in Brazil, International Trade Agreements and Environmental Business. Supporting their classroom sessions, students visited Exxon-Mobil and local company All Logistica.

Following their visit to Curitiba students traveled to the rainforest city of Manaus, where they attended lectures on development and sustainability in the Amazon region and Manaus and took a full-day tour of the Amazon River.

The students then traveled to Brasilia, the capital city of Brazil, where they met with various dignitaries including Congresswoman Maria Jose da Conceicao Maninha; Fernando Rocha, executive secretary of the Foreign Affairs National Congress Commission; Secretary Rodrigo de Azeredo Santos, sub-chief of the Commercial Promotion Operations Division; and Foreign Relations Ministry representatives.

Prior to returning students had a two-day stay in Sao Paulo where they met with Christopher McMullen, U.S. consul in Sao Paulo.

Central and Eastern Europe

On June 3, the MBA in management for executives program Cohort J4 headed for Central and Eastern Europe for a two-week international experience escorted by Daniel Twomey, management and director, Center for Human Resource Management Studies (Flor); and Pete Caliguari, administrative director, executive programs (Metro). Their travels took them to Warsaw, Poland; Prague, Czech Republic; and Budapest, Hungary, where they obtained a strong educational, business and cultural experience.

In Warsaw, students attended seminars at Warsaw University and the School of Commerce and Law, where they heard lectures on Poland and the European Union as well as an economic overview of the country. Students also visited Citibank and received an extensive overview of the firm from David Kay, chief operating officer of Citibank, Poland.

From Warsaw, the students traveled to Prague, where they attended classes at the Charles University Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education to learn about the Czech economy and the impact of the financial and investment environment on the Czech market. These classes were supplemented by visits to a local foundry and Skanska Construction Company. While in Prague, the students also visited the World War II Jewish Ghetto and the former concentration camp in Terezin.

The cohort’s final destination was Budapest, Hungry, where the students attended lectures on the economic status of Hungary as well as doing business in the region. Classes were held at Central European University. Afternoons were spent visiting multinational organizations such as Hewlett-Packard and Accenture and local manufacturing company Raba Automotive. In addition, the students visited the local offices of the European Union for a presentation on the role of the European Commission in Hungary.

Left photo: Global Business Planning students visited the Lama Temple (Yonghegong – Palace of Eternal Harmony), a 17th-century Tibetan Buddhist Temple, in Beijing, China. They are, from left, Rudy Valli, Marc Herwick, Monica Portal, Rachel Mathare, Sandrine Barthelmy, Roland Becker and Maria Inclan. Right photo: Enjoying one of the many parks in Warsaw, Poland, are, from left, Cynthia Edlow, Bijay Pattanaik, Peter Caliguari, administrative director, executive programs, Silberman College (Metro); Daniel Twomey, management and director, Center for Human Resource Management Studies (Flor); Matthew Schatteman; Dexter Williams; Jonathan Hirsh; Dhaval Patel; and Darlene Thompson.

China

A group of 12 students, taking the capstone Global Business Planning course in the global MBA program, visited China for two weeks in June on a business trip. Students visited Beijing and Shanghai and developed a strong appreciation for the growth that has characterized the Chinese economy over the past few years. They attended a variety of seminars on international business, visiting business and other economic organizations, as well as developing a cultural appreciation for the country.

In Beijing, students attended lectures at the University of International Business and Economics and visited the Hyundai automobile manufacturing plant, the Yangjin Beer Company and the Tianjin Economic Development zone. Cultural stops included visits to Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall and the Peking Opera. In Shanghai, they attended a lecture at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics and visited the Pudong Industrial Zone where they gained a strong appreciation for the factors underpinning the growth of the Chinese economy. In addition, the students also visited Yu Gardens, the Jade Buddha Temple and the Shanghai Silk Musuem.

This trip was offered in conjunction with the capstone course, which requires students to form teams and work on projects for specific companies that are based in the United States or Europe and interested in the Chinese market. Four companies — a high-end real estate company, a financial services company, a technology company and a high-end cosmetics and personal care company — were selected to participate in this project, three of them based in New Jersey and one from Europe. After the students returned from their business trip, they spent the next six weeks developing a feasibility analysis for their respective client company and advised them on a marketing strategy to enter the Chinese market. The students were accompanied by Evangelos Djimopoulos, economics and chair, economics/finance/international business (Metro), and James Almeida, entrepreneurial studies and associate dean, Silberman College (Flor/Metro). Almeida, who was also the instructor for the course, mentored each student team on developing their project for their respective client companies. According to Almeida, this experience gave students the opportunity to not only develop a strong appreciation for the impressive growth that has characterized the Chinese economy over the past decade, but also enabled them to apply some of this learning to create a product with real-world applicability for their client company.

England — Wroxton College

Corporate Communication

The MA in corporate and organizational communication’s course, International Corporate Communication and Culture, offered students the opportunity to study international and global implications of corporate communication in a British setting. Based at Wroxton College, students were able to learn from and interact with speakers drawn from British and European corporations, media outlets, public relations and marketing firms, government agencies and industrial groups.

The two-week seminar included U.S. and European approaches to communication, doing business with the European Union, breaking through culture shock and marketing the arts. Trips to Oxford, London and Stratford-upon-Avon were included. Gary Radford, communication and director, corporate/organizational communication (Flor), accompanied the group. For information on next year’s course go to http://www.fdu.edu/corpcomm .

Left photo: Gary Radford, right, communication and director, corporate and organizational communication (Flor), and students look on as Susan Lleweyn, fellow in clinical psychology, Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford, points out a particular site at the college. Right photo: Robert Vodde, center front row, director, criminal justice (Metro), and the criminal justice group are shown in front of Old Bailey, London’s highest criminal court, where at the time the contingent was there, the terrorists involved in the Underground bombings were on trial.

Criminal Justice

Back by popular demand, the School of Criminal Justice once again offered a two-week course at Wroxton College titled Global Terrorism. This timely course explored the history, causes, motives and effects of terrorism from an international perspective. It explored strategies and countermeasures employed by government and the private sector aimed at preventing and mitigating terrorism, along with examining the role and influence of the media in the fight against terrorism. The course featured guest lecturers from the London Metropolitan Police, Scotland Yard, the Special Branch Investigative Unit, British intelligence services, the British media and a representative from the Islamic community.

The course combined classroom lectures, field experiences and field visits to the historical cities of Banbury, Bath, Bourton-on-the-Water, Oxford, London, Stonehenge and Stratford-upon-Avon. Robert Vodde, director, criminal justice (Metro), accompanied the group.

Next year’s course will feature Comparative Criminal Justice Systems, a study that examines and compares the U.S. and U.K. systems of justice.

Health Science Management

On July 16, escorted by Braimoh Oseghale, economics/finance (Metro), the health science management executive MBA Cohort H8 traveled to Wroxton College for their overseas seminar. While at Wroxton the students attended a series of focused health-system related lectures including: “Comparative European Health-care Systems,” “The Organization and Management of Health Systems,” “The National Health System: Planning and Finance,” “The UK: Patients Rights and Legalities,” “Health Care in the European Environment,” “Health Care and the Role of the State: Trans-Atlantic Comparisons,” “Long-term Care: Problems and Solutions” and “Hospital Administration.”

The students reinforced their classroom experience by visiting two health-care facilities, The Manor Hospital (private) and Horton Hospital (National Health System).

Supporting the cultural side of the international experience were visits to London and Oxford as well as the opportunity to travel to Stratford-upon-Avon to attend the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar.”

Italy

The six College at Florham and Metropolitan Campus students who participated in the College at Florham’s department of modern languages and literature’s cultural trip to Italy in August were first introduced (classes were held every morning and assignments given out) to the artistic wonders of Rome and Florence and then to the natural beauty of cliffs and sea of Cinque Terre, five towns nestled along the northwest coast of Italy. This fall, the blended undergraduate course Contemporary Italy continues at the College at Florham through online activities and class meetings. Course Instructor Angelo Spina, Italian (Metro), directed the program. Josephine Spina, Italian (Flor), accompanied the group.

Left photo: At Via dell’Amore in Riomaggiore (Cinque Terre), Italy, are, from left, Angelo Spina; Italian (Metro); Josephine Spina, Italian (Flor); Giselle Gargiulo; Sabino Sellitto; Christina Sarrafian; Mynda D’Andrea; Christina Charuk; and Lacey Hancher. Right photo: During a Seibu Lions baseball game in Kami-Yamaguchi, Japan, outside of Tokyo, Fairleigh Dickinson University was flashed on the scoreboard, and the FDU group was shown. In the center with hands above his head in a blue jacket is Peter Woolley, political science and director, PublicMind (Flor); to his right in the black T-shirt is Brian Swanzey, director, Wroxton Study-abroad (Flor); and with her hand outstretched in front of Woolley’s chest is Yumiko Bacon, modern languages (Flor).

Japan

Twenty-two FDU students traveled to Japan and toured the country for two weeks to study its history and culture.

Peter Woolley, political science and director, PublicMind (Flor), led the trip along with Fumiko Bacon, modern languages (Flor), who teaches language and culture. An expert on Japanese politics, Woolley is also the author of Geography and Japan’s Strategic Choices, published last year by Potomac Books.

Students traveled throughout the country, visiting temples, museums and natural destinations. They went to the Peace Park in Hiroshima, explored several days in the ancient capital of Kyoto, went to Mount Fuji, ferried to a Shinto wedding on the island of Miyajima, toured the sacred buildings of Nar and explored the modern capital city of Tokyo. Many of the attractions they visited have been designated World Heritage sites by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The trip served as the travel component for two undergraduate courses: Contemporary Japan and Japanese Politics. Contemporary Japan focuses on cultural, artistic and historical aspects of Japanese life. The course also explains and expands on the increasing role Japan is acquiring in the West. Japanese Politics examines the ways that Japanese political development has been similar to and different from Western development, and also emphasizes the role geography has played in Japanese political development.

While the students focused on the history and culture of Japan, this included visiting the first museum dedicated to “Japanime” — Japanese animation — and attending a professional baseball game. The Seibu Lions and Hanshin Tigers officially welcomed the Fairleigh Dickinson University students on the scoreboard in the fourth inning (see photo above).

Also on the trip was Kim Ky, a senior who grew up in Japan and speaks the language fluently, and Brian Swanzey, director, Wroxton Study-abroad (Flor). This promises to be a recurring voyage for FDU students.

September 2006

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Flor =
College at Florham, Madison, N.J.

Metro =
Metropolitan Campus, Teaneck, N.J.

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