SCIE ASIA COUNCIL MINUTES AT MACON COLLEGE
DECEMBER 6, 2002

Asia Council Chair Tom Keene called to the meeting to order at 12:02pm.

Present were: Tom Keene, David Jones, Christopher Jespersen, Bob Wilder, Neal McCrillis, Dan Paracka, Clifton Pannell, Susan Leisure, Baogang Guo, Thomas Howard, Sheila Phillips, David Starling, George Vargis, Thomas Graham, Bob Welborn, Eric Kendrick, and Bill Mugleston

Minutes: Neal McCrillis moved to adopt the minutes. Sheila Phillips seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

SCIE Update: Susan Leisure provided the SCIE update. She provided a breakdown by country of study abroad. She also indicated that other information is available.

Mission Statement: Neal McCrillis moved to adopt the mission statement provided by Tom Keene. Clifton Pannell seconded, and it passed unanimously.

By-laws: Sheila Phillips moved to adopt; Clifton Pannell seconded, and the by-laws were approved.

Asia Council Chair: Tom Keene mentioned that nominations were needed for the next Asia Council Chair. He indicated that those nominations would be posted by March 1, 2003, in time for consideration at the March 28th meeting.

Budget: Tom Keene discussed the philosophy behind the budget and how the current amounts had been arrived at. Discussion followed.

India Program: Tom Keene discussed the merits of the program. Bob Welborn asked about how payments were to be made. Students participating will have to register at Kennesaw State as transient students. The program needs 10-11 students as a minimum.

Dlynn Armstrong-Williams asked about the size of the Thailand program. That number is 15 students maximum.

Tom Keene told the group that Shibu Anand is interested in teaching at a USG institution for the fall 2003 semester.

China Program: Dan Paracka gave details on this program. He indicated that it was for 6 weeks, included tuition, and was tied to teaching English in China. He and Tom Keene gave a brief overview of the program’s benefits.

Wilson Huang explained the details for his proposed program to Yangzhou. He is asking for Asia Council money to help with payment for site visits. The director’s costs would have to come from the home institution. Discussion ensued. Sheila Phillips asked what courses would be taught? Others raised the need for the program to have a strong focus and rigorous content. The program will need to have a strong identity and coherence. David Jones indicated that he did not think finding faculty to participate would be a problem. Neal McCrillis mentioned that politics could be the focus. A committee of Tom Keene, Wilson Huang, David Starling, and Baogang Guo would look into the proposal more carefully and bring it back before the Asia Council.

Japan Program: Dwight Call arrived to report on the Japan Program. It will be only two weeks in duration because of high costs. One week will be spent in Tokyo, with the rest of the time in Kyoto, Hiroshima, and a trip to Mt. Fuji. The Hawai’i portion of the trip proved too expensive to include. Additional discussion ensued.

On a related item, Susan Leisure reported that two faculty will be allowed to audit the on-line Japanese language course.

Brief items: Neal McCrillis reported on a Middle East seminar at Emory University. It will be an introduction to the Middle East scheduled for October 24-25. Total length will be 1.5 days using Emory and Georgia State University.

A seminar on Turkey was mentioned, and it was decided that something would have to be done in conjunction with the European Council.

Announcements: The annual meeting of the Association for Asian Studies, Southeast Regional conference will be held January 17-19, 2003, on Jekyll Island. In June there will be a Japan Studies conference. Asian Studies Development Program materials on the Korea Foundation are available. And the Oglethorpe University Art Museum will feature an exhibit on Asian art all next year.

The meeting adjourned at 2:01pm.

Secretary: Christopher Jespersen.