General reflections on my fellowship with the Open Society Institute in New York 
By Askarbek E. Mambetaliev, May 12, 2008
 
Introduction
Here is a summary of my activities as a first year foreign visiting scholar at an American University, as well as my future plans and ideas for the next terms of my fellowship with the Open Society Institute. The paper is intended to give a general information about my scholarship in the U.S., and share my experience with my friends and colleagues both in the Kyrgyz Republic and USA, as well as for visitors of my website at  http://cie.netfirms.com. 

About the Faculty Development Fellowship
The Faculty Development Fellowship is a program of Open Society Institute, which supports the scholars in Central Eurasia and Caucasus in their efforts for better education for their home countries. The program places the carefully selected academicians from Central Eurasia in American Universities, where they are given an opportunity to develop academic programs for their home institutions. (More information about the program can be found at http://www.soros.org)

My first semester at NYU
I devoted my first semester to auditing selected courses and seminars, reading and reviewing books, as well as to knowing closer New York University (NYU), where I have been placed, and New York City (NYC), where the University is located. 

I also invested my time for development of my research topic on International Education, and for exploration of various institutions and research Centers at NYU, Columbia University, and Princeton University, where I participated in more than 7 seminars, student activities, attended selected topics in the syllabi of 4 courses, read 5 books, built 5 bibliographic resources, took an online course on human development, met with tens of colleagues and students, learned how to use NYU library resources and research tools. So, this semester was very comprehensive and intensive. 

I learned a lot from the Professor Elizabeth Norman's dissertation seminar for doctoral students, which comprised of 9 students, two of them are non American - from South Korea and Brazil, 3 female and 6 male students. The professor kindly provided me an access to the blackboard, which is an online forum, where students submit their weekly assignments and are given instructions, as well as reading materials. The students’ research subjects included the following areas: “Acculturative process of international students”, “Partnership issues between public and private schools in Brazil”, “Critical Pedagogue of Paulo Freire”. 

The professor was very accurate in classroom and time management, so that each student’s work had an opportunity to be discussed by other peers, who provided feedback from different perspectives. She also showed her sincere interest about my country, and mutual respect to me as an equal colleague, which, according to Albert Wiggam, is a “mark of an educated man” (1930). Her classroom management style was also inclusive and participatory.    

I also attended the "Interviewing and Observation" seminar by professor Mitchell Stevens, which meets on Wednesday at 4-6 pm. The course is "a practicum in semi-structured interviewing and naturalistic observation", as it is described in the course syllabus. The course provides introduction into qualitative research methods, through involving students in fieldwork, where students do actual interviews. 

In the most NYU classes, which I attended, students were allowed to interrupt the professor and ask questions almost any time. When such interruptions occurred the professors were not nervous, but they immediately responded the question or directed it to the class, before going further in lecturing. Most of Russian and Kyrgyz professors wouldn’t allow such interruption. I do not want look this from a moral point of view but consider as a difference in cultures. 
 
I attended a faculty meeting of the department of humanities of Steinhardt School of Education, where thirteen faculty members participated in the discussions related to introduction of new courses and programs, hiring of TAs and the status of the department. The two programs were: "MA in Education and Social Policy", which consisted of 32 courses, totaling 38 points, and Master's Program - Sociology of Education, consisting 40 credits. I think this is a serious decision, since it requires more workload on the faculty and administration. 

In general, the salient differences between NYU and AKSU classrooms - the objects of cross criticism from both sides – can be noticed in academic cultures, pedagogy, and motivations of both students and teachers. 

I also heave read and reviewed the following books:
1. “The Marks of an Educated Man”,Albert Edward Wiggam
2. “Democracy and Education”, John Dewey, 
3. “Markets or Schools?”, Deron R.Boyles 
4. “The Practice of Social Research”, Babbie E
5. "Real Life Notes: Reflections and Strategies for Life After Graduation", Kenneth Jedding
6. A number of other articles and journals on Career Education 

Workshops on research tools
Beyond the lectures and seminars, the considerable portion of my time was invested to building a library of data bases on Language Policy, Philosophy of Education, International Education, Career Development Education, and Communication.

During the spring break, I participated in the workshops organized by NYU librarians on how to use Reference Management tools, particularly the RefWorks, which is to have your references online. It's available on campus and off campus. Although, I cannot use this program while I am at home in Kyrgyzstan, I could see the principles of effective reference management, which is getting increased enormously over time, creating a lot problems for scholars.  I recommend a free version of a reference management application called "Zotero" for my Kyrgyz colleagues, which is downloadable for free from http://library.nyu.edu/ (go to Research Assistance button on the top and click on tools). 

In the other two workshops, organized by NYU librarians - Susan Jacobs and Jill Conte - I learned online research tips using Web of Science and Google Scholars. Particularly, we explored how a research topic can be used to support other research, tracking the history of a research idea, locating current research based on earlier research, how many times an item has been cited, who are the relevant top authors in the research field, related articles, etc.

Career development and Continuing Education Programs
The Wasserman Center for Career Development also organized a workshop on "How to get published", which is relevant to future scholars.  I participated in the workshop actively, because I am very familiar with ISBN, networking, self publishing, marketing, peer reviewing, and other issues, which were discussed in the workshop from different perspectives. "Your first buyers may be your communities, churches, listservs, facebook subscribers", said the presenter about marketing and the importance of networking. It's also worth to mention that publishing of the same book would cost much cheaper in Kyrgyzstan comparing to NYC, since ISBN in Kyrgyzstan costs about $20, while in NYC for the same book it is about $600. The other related issues, such as designing, editing, and printing as well would cost you much cheaper in Kyrgyzstan.    
 
I also participated in the seminar titled, “Formulating Your Career Plan”, which was organized by the School Continuing and Professional Education, NYU. The seminar was announced through University’s listserv, and attendance was free for registered students and faculty. The Career Counselors had 10 year of experience in this field, facilitated the seminar very interactively, constructing topics upon the participants’ knowledge basis. I observed her methods, and recorded her questions.

"I don’t know what to do with the rest of my life?", was the first question of the facilitator, and about 60% of the participants raised their hands. The participants’ age between 20-45. The second question was for those who have their goal priorities, but do not know how the get there. Then she asked to write the participants expectations from the workshop, followed by a short class discussion. 

“Your very first job in your life?” was the next question, which needed to be written in a piece of paper, followed by class discussions. The facilitator encouraged the responding person, by nodding, asking short questions, such as “Did you like it?”, “Ok”, clarifying, etc… She also was very attentive to any voice and sighs in the class, turning it into an instrument to initiate a comment from the student. When participants’ contributions were about to exhaust, she gave short lectures, or shared her life experience relevant to the topic. 

Another interesting method was teaching through an exercise. For example, she asked the students to write with their non dominant hand a sentence. “What did you feel?” she asked a question in some 2-3 minutes. The point of the exercise was to develop an understanding that a person has his/her own weak and strong skills on which he/she is well. The participants also wrote a short answer to the following questions, discussed with their peers and shared with the class: "What was your earlier dream about your future profession?", "What and who stopped you to make happen that dream?"      

The format of the workshop continued in this shape and covered such areas as networking (speak, share, taste, do: someone knows somebody who knows somebody), job shadowing (internships). "Go forward, and you will know what to do by your heart”, was the underlining message of her lecture.  

Conferences:

"Human Rights based Education"
Independent Commission on Public Schooling (http://www.icope.org") organized a conference at the Steinhardt School of Education, Culture and Humanities, entitled "Seduction of common sense". The ICOPE's mission is based on the motto "Education is a Human Right", which promotes the idea of building a new system of Public Education based on Human Rights. The presenter, who was a Japanese American, pointed that “While Asians and Whites achieve high standards in education, the other people of color such as the Latinos and the Blacks are are not doing well". 

"Exploring Equality and Equity"
This two day conference entitled “Exploring Equality and Equity”, was organized by doctoral students of the Steinhardt School of Education, Culture and Humanities in Professions, where doctoral students presented their dissertation topics related to the issues of immigration, culture and globalization.   

“Sharing Sacred Space: Religion and Conflict Resolution”
I found very interesting this conference, organized at the Columbia University by the Institute for Religion, Culture and Public Life, which discussed the role of “sacred sites” significant to more than one religion and how they could be used in conflict resolution. (More information at http://www.iserp.columbia.edu). 

“Sustainable Human Development – Regional Challenges and Responces”
Taking advantages of the NYU library’s fast internet, I participated in the online forum entitled, “Sustainable Human Development – Regional Challenges and Responses” (http://sunlearning.ceu.hu) , by Central European University in Budapest. As a result I am selected to receive a grant from the organizers of the workshop to participate in the second module in Budapest this summer.   

My Presentations
I developed the following presentations: 

1. An online power point presentation for Professor Elizabeth Norman’s undergraduate students about Kyrgyzstan, which describes the Kyrgyz  culture, politics, history, education system and includes pictures and videos at http://www.geocities.com/kyrgyzeducation/aboutkg.htm. 

2. A lecture on “Higher Education Reform in the Kyrgyz Republic”, I  presented in the annual conference for OSI-FDF fellows. The presentation can be found at   http://geocities.com/kyrgyzeducation/higher_education.ppt

3. Photo and video presentations about HEI in the USA (A link is provided at http://cie.netfirms.com)

My working papers
1. Working paper 1: “Higher Education Reform in the Kyrgyz Republic” (In English). I have presented the main points of this article at the OSI annual conference in the Kansas University. This article needs to be peer reviewed by my mentor(s) and published. 

2. Working paper 2: “The problems of national language policy in the Kyrgyz Republic”. The draft needs to be peer reviewed by a faculty member and published by September 2009 in English and by October 2009 in Russian and Kyrgyz languages. 

3. Working paper 3: “The anthropological problems of (mis)understanding and (mis)interpretation of ancient traditions: The case of bride kidnapping”.  

My PhD research 
“How (might) International Education Programs develop leadership (communication and administrative) skills of Central Eurasian exchange students?” I want to investigate the impact of International Academic Program on the region and give recommendations to sponsoring agencies for improvement of their educational policies. This research I plan to develop during the next terms of my fellowship.  

My ongoing projects
1. This summer I will work on the development of a think tank body under the Center for Civic and International Education at the home university. The purpose of the project is to develop a board of scholars to lead the Higher Education reform in the country. International partners are very welcomed. 

2. There is a need in my home University for development of a student rating form similar to the one of the NYU (example http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/governance/faculty_reports.php?report=3), which, I think, would encourage intra- and interdepartmental competitions. 

3. Further develop a website in English for my home University at www.geocities.com/kyrgyzeducation. Since, this is an urgent need of my University, I will continue collecting, writing and translating into English the information about academic interests and ongoing research activities of my home University.

4. In the next semester, I want to work on development of undergraduate and graduate level programs for my home University, which is the urgent need of my university.  Particularly, I am interested in the development of seminars on how to develop communication, conflict management, and leadership skills; and a course or a series of dissertation workshops for Kyrgyz students;
 
5. Develop a joint research project in partnership with an American faculty and present at the next OSI annual conference. 

Invitations, proposals and requests
1. The Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) expressed an interest to support the development of a research project at the Civic and International Education Center at my home University, which I welcome and hope for fruitful partnership. 

2. I have been invited to the conference for International Scholars in Boston, where I will present Higher Education system of Kyrgyzstan. The conference will take place on April, 2009 and organized by the program for Friendship for Overseas, College and University Students (FOCUS).   

3. The chair of the Social Anthropology department of my home university wants to expand her programs on educational and political anthropology. I can help her with developing syllabi and education materials next year. 
 
4. The Program Coordinator of the Center for Career Development at the Arabaev University wants to know more about the similar services for students. I have explored and participated in several seminars organized by Wasserman Center for Career Development and the School of Continuing and Professional Education, which could be well adopted for my home university after next semester. I posted an advertisement about summer internship opportunities through the Wasserman Career Development Center and received several applications, which unfortunately I couldn't manage to process this year. Therefore, I will continue working on it next year.   

5. I am requested to develop a research on the urgent question for Kyrgyzstan, “How upcoming privatization process of HEIs in the Kyrgyz Republic will affect or promote academic change at my University”.  

Conclusion
My this semester was very intensive in terms of knowing closer NYU in particular, and knowing the City in general. I learned closer the academic culture of the department, where I have been affiliated, and teaching methods in different seminars. I also invested my time to library research, including how to use research tools and library resources. I have also read a considerable number of literatures related to my research subjects. Some of my findings I presented in the annual conference for OSI scholars in Kansas. For the next semester, I am planning to publish at least 3 articles related to my research topic, develop a program on political anthropology, educational policy and philosophy, and doctoral seminar to be taught at my home university. I also have arranged number of activities at home university on developing a think tank board at the Center for Civic and International Education for this year, and welcome ideas.

References
Wiggam, A. E. (1930). The marks of an educated man. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill company.