Feedback November 2002 (Vol 43 No 4)

INTERNATIONALA DIFFERENT TEACHING EXPERIENCEGregory Pitts, Bradley Universitygpitts@hilltop.bradley.eduThe students are eager. They arrive on time for class, take seats in the front of the room,and typically stand at attention when I enter the room. After the lecture, a classspokesperson is likely to stand and spend a few minutes expressing their appreciation forthat day’s lecture. Where am I, dreaming? No, to encounter students like these youprobably need to spend some time teaching in Africa or Eastern Europe. I’ve encounteredthese students in both locations over a period of eight years, during which time I’vetaught workshops for media practitioners and university students on five separateoccasions, including spending six months as a Fulbrighter in Zambia, and shorter stays inNigeria, Bulgaria and Ukraine.If you tell me, “My university has a study abroad program in London or Paris, I canspend a semester abroad there.” Trust me, it’s not the same type of opportunity. Londonand Paris are beautiful cities—I’ve traveled to both—but you’ll still be teaching your samestudents, only in a different location. And you won’t find the cultural opportunities thatare unique to Africa or Eastern Europe. You’ll get a better perspective on the worldthrough a Fulbright experience. You won’t be completely on your own through Fulbrightbut you will likely be relatively independent of a typical U.S. support system.Why would anyone want to spend time in one of these places? Besides the students inyour classes for whom you may become a lifelong mentor, you’ll meet broadcasters whomore closely resemble U.S. broadcast entrepreneurs from the earliest days of radio andtelevision. They are building their stations from the ground up and not only face thechallenge of finding good employees and running a profitable business but they must alsoeducate business owners who have little knowledge of advertising.Consider some of my encounters. I talked to a private radio station owner fromKampala, Uganda, and recommended that he attend the NAB convention in Las Vegas tolocate some equipment that he needed. I even furnished some vendor names. Sevenmonths later, after I attended my last BEA session, I happened to meet the owner on theescalator in the Las Vegas Convention Center. Radio Ichengelo (in the Bemba language ofZambia, Ichengelo means “light”) is licensed to the Catholic Church in Zambia butmuch of the station’s programming is secular. I heard a public service announcement(PSA) for AIDS education, a jingle that was literally inspired by a PSA series they receivedin a donation of old tapes, while completing a workshop at Radio Ichengelo. RadioGlarus in Bourgas, Bulgaria, is a true local radio station patterned after local broadcastingin the U.S. in the 1960s and 1970s. The station has local owners, who actually handleday-to-day operations, program for the community, air block programming to serve awider listening audience and have a strong commitment to local news. Liberal ArtsUniversity in Luske, Ukraine, was founded four years ago as a privately run and tuitiondependent journalism training center. About 80 students are enrolled in the four-yearprogram. Other students are studying economics and management.BEA—Educating tomorrow’s electronic media professionals 5