A high school teacher and doctoral student at North Dakota State University is returning to China 10 years after she made a presentation to a United Nations conference there.
Jody Barbie, who teaches psychology, sociology and philosophy at Fargo North, has been taking students to rain forests in the Amazon and Australia since 1998 as part of a hands-on learning program she calls International Action Research Projects.
This is the first time the program will visit China. Ten students from Fargo North, NDSU and Minnesota State University Moorhead will leave Aug. 1 for Beijing.
Barbie said the trip is somewhat of an anniversary trip for her. She was one of eight educators nationwide selected to present at the United Nations' World Conference on Women in 1995 in Beijing.
The China trip was originally scheduled for 2003, but the SARS outbreak forced it to be postponed, Barbie said.
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The students will start out in Beijing and meet farmers in the countryside on their way to Tibet.
About a dozen students from Fargo North and Moorhead also will travel to Australia or the Amazon this summer.
Barbie said she plans to research the effectiveness of the trips on learning for her dissertation.
The trips are entirely self-funded, so students must hold fundraisers, Barbie said. The last fundraiser is a rummage sale from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Sports Bubble, 2761 12th Ave. S., Fargo.
An MSUM instructor was one of 20 people named a 2005 Bush Leadership Fellow by the Bush Foundation in St. Paul. Yolanda Arauza, an instructor in the department of American multicultural studies, will use the fellowship to pursue a doctorate in history at NDSU.
Arauza said she hopes to recruit and enroll more Latino students from the Red River Valley area.
The Bush Foundation was established in 1953 by 3M executive Archibald Bush and his wife, Edyth. The fellowship program aims to help people in mid-career prepare for greater leadership roles and contributions to their communities.
NDSU will tackle more than a dozen construction and maintenance projects this summer, says Facilities Management Director Bruce Frantz.
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The $22 million renovation and addition to the Memorial Union is by far the largest project, spanning an estimated 27 months.
The university will replace the roofs of the library and Pavek Hall. At the heating plant, a new enclosure will be built around the coal handling area to better control dust.
On the west side of campus, the city of Fargo will build a recreational trail along the east side of 18th Street North between 12th and 19th avenues.
Other projects include landscaping, window and steam line replacements, a parking lot addition and new bus shelters near Old Main and at 17th Avenue and Albrecht Boulevard.
(Editor's note: This will be the last higher education notebook of the spring. The column will return in the fall.)
Readers can reach Forum reporter Mike Nowatzki at (701) 241-5528
