465 | This sunday I met Prof. Dr. Cathy Hsu from Hongkong, Sjoerd Gehrels as the project manager of Stenden Rangsit University Bangkok, and two students of Stenden University of Applied Sciences in Leeuwarden.

Cathy is a member of the Advisory Board of our Stenden Rangsit University in Thailand. She joined the School of Hotel and Tourism Management of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in July 2001. Previously, she was a professor at Kansas State University. Earlier this sunday she conferred with Klaas Wybo van der Hoek, Executive Board Stenden Hogeschool, and Dr. Marc Antonius Jacobs, Dean of the Stenden International Hospitality Management School of Higher Education, Leeuwarden.

Sjoerd and I discussed with our guest the two types of Ph.D-programs at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, where Cathy is working as Associate Director of Academic Affairs.

Master student of International Service Management, Mandy Wen, who took care for Prof. Dr. Hsu during her visit in the Netherlands, got valuable informations about the education system in Hong Kong; Bachelor student of Tourism Management, Stefanie Henneberg, informed about the further developments of our Stenden Rangsit University in Thailand, because she was there for 5 months following the Grand Tour® of Stenden and she would like to assist our fast growing university there in the future.

It was a nice, inspiring and intercultural meeting!

From left to right: Sjoerd Gehrels (Stenden Leeuwarden / Stenden Rangsit University Bangkok); Prof. Dr. Cathy Hsu (Associate Director of Academic Affairs, Hong Kong Polytechnic University); Prof. Dr. Martin Gertler (Director of Academic Affairs, Stenden University of Applied Sciences, Leeuwarden); Stefanie Henneberg (Bachelor student Tourism Management, Leeuwarden); Mandy Wen (Master student International Service Management, Leeuwarden).

442 | Jan Nabers, the newly appointed director for International Affairs at Stenden University of Applied Sciences, has had an affinity with international issues for a long time.

»My challenge is the creation of opportunities for young people to accumulate international experience.«

In order to better understand the drawn-out and deeply rooted conflict between the Jewish and Palestinian/Arab inhabitants, Jan Nabers travelled in 1989 to the international living and working community Nes Ammim, in northern Israel. He ended up staying there for two and a half years.

»I wanted to find out why Israelis, Palestinians, and Arabs did not succeed to live in peace and harmony with each other. I still do not understand it, but I have an increasingly better grasp of why I do not understand it.«

Nabers is convinced that the hope of future generations living in peace with each other will never extinguish.

»It is easy to do nothing. With our church, we support the Hand-in-Hand schools, bilingual and multicultural schools with an equal number of students from Jewish and Arab origin. These schools are intended to expand mutual understanding for each other. I think we should wholeheartedly support such initiatives. It concerns young people.«

In Nes Ammim, he tackled a variety of issues. »Over there, I worked in the greenhouses tending to roses and in accounting, and I opened a little store at the swimming pool. Just imagine it and it was done. I think that one of the reasons that I am working here now, is related to my stay over there. As a young adult, you are immersed in an entirely different environment and culture. You get involved with each other. This is a learning experience, which benefits your character development. This is actually similar to the Grand Tour of Stenden. At beginning of April, I was in South Africa, visiting the Educational Institute for Service Studies (EISS). On the Wildlife campus in Alicedale, fifteen individuals participated for ten weeks in the Wildlife semester. They must rely on and help each other, and they learn a great deal from this experience. A terrific experience! If you want to achieve a world in which people have sympathy for each other, you must create opportunities for young people to meet each other and to learn about each other’s cultures.«

Integration

The international character of Stenden appealed to him. What is his first impression? »It is fantastic to see what international contacts there are, with Leeuwarden as well as with Emmen. I would be delighted to link my experience to that.«

He assumed his new position in the middle of March. He is very positive after his first visit to EISS in Port Alfred and Alicedale. »The students are working hard. Yet, they are enjoying it tremendously. There is an ambiance of integration between the South African students, the students from other African countries, and the International Grand Tour students. They care about each other and everyone gets along with everyone else.«

If it would be up to Nabers, many more students would get to experience the Grand Tour. »We have more than ten thousand students! There are only a few hundred annually who get to go on the Grand Tour. With the current programmes, it could be many more.«

Structure

One of his first focal points is the development and implementation of a strategic policy intended to structure the internationalisation. »We will closely review the number of countries with which we are in contact, and the reasons and intended objectives thereof. We will focus on a number of countries. China is one of those countries. However, at this moment, we barely use the many placement opportunities that present themselves, while there is a considerable demand for our students and they are very welcome. Apparently, our students are currently not very interested in China. Many more could go over there. Two of our students who I talked to, Pepijn Klerkx and Lizzy Suijkerbuijk, both have already been offered an interesting job over there. We should see to it that more students get in touch with Chinese culture. In this fashion, we can develop our relationships in China.«

423 | It’s really television, online! This channel shows documentaries about students of the Stenden University of Applied Sciences, Leeuwarden, while they are following some study modules at the Stenden Rangsit University in Bangkok, Thailand, and at the EISS University in Port Alfred, South Africa.

These videos are »on air«, permanently. New episodes will be added as soon as possible.

You can embed this channel into your own website and your Facebook and MySpace profiles, too.

411 | Unsere niederländische Stenden University of Applied Sciences hat Niederlassungen in Qatar, Südafrika und Thailand. Um den internationalen Austausch zu beleben, bietet die Hochschule ihren Studenten die Möglichkeit, Teile des Studiums an einer ihrer internationalen Niederlassungen zu absolvieren.

Mein Kollege Andreas Beusker hat mit der Videokamera im Gepäck die Stenden Rangsit University in Bangkok, Thailand, besucht.

In knapp 6 Minuten lässt er in Teil 1 seiner Dokumentation die Studenten aus ihrem Alltag und aus ihren unterschiedlichen Studien- und Praxisgebieten berichten.

Teil 2 über die Grand Tour® in Port Alfred, Südafrika, wird folgen.

Diese beiden »Stippvisiten« wurden am Stand der Grand Tour® beim Tag der Offenen Tür der Stenden Hogeschool in Leeuwarden erstmals gezeigt und fanden reges Interesse.

In Vorbereitung ist eine Gesamtdokumentation des spannenden Konzepts der Grand Tour®. Dazu wird es ergänzend eine Folge über die Geschichte dieser Tradition in der früheren Universitätswelt und eine Folge über ein weiteres Ziel für die Stenden-Studierenden, nämlich die Niederlassung in Doha (Qatar), geben.