John Christian ’87, president and chief executive officer of CAPA International Education and CAPA have pledged nearly $200,000 over three years to foster international education at SUNY Oswego.

“Through this extremely generous gift, John Christian and CAPA pass on to future students the transformative cultural experience he enjoyed through his education at Oswego. We are profoundly grateful,” said President Deborah F. Stanley.

Christian shared his own story including humble roots in Troy and a life-changing experience at Oswego.

“Study abroad doesn’t just have an impact, but can truly transform lives,” Christian said. His experiences both as a study abroad student and his work with Oswego’s International Education Program under Dr. José Ramon Pérez would inform his life’s work.

Christian praised

Oswego’s global engagement and dedication to making it a prominent part of the academic experience. “I’ve been in this field for 23 years and I’ve worked with a multitude of institutions that are looking to do similar things,” he said. “The global thinker is on all of our agendas, the global doer is the Oswego agenda.”

A gift of $100,000 over three years will support the Presidents’ International Initiatives, creating opportunities for Oswego students, faculty and staff to infuse a global dimension into the teaching, learning and service mission of the college.

A separate gift will fund the José Ramon Pérez International Scholarship, to provide full need-based scholarships for Oswego studentsto CAPA’s London Program and Beijing semester program for three years.

Invariably, they would laugh, and that was just what he wanted. “A burst of laughter is like an unexpected quiz, “ he says. “It shows they understand.”

Dr. Demidowicz

For Demidowicz, humor was the first of four ingredients essential in every class, followed by mastery of the subject matter, awakening students’ confidence and potential, and planting the seed of continuing with the language.

He believes the classroom is a two-way street. “You inspire the students, impart the knowledge, but they also have to inspire you,” he says. “Mutual respect is key.”

He earned his bachelor’s degree from Seton Hall University and a master’s from Middlebury College, where he studied abroad in Madrid. He earned a doctorate at University of Madrid followed by four years at the University of Paris.

Demidowicz joined the Oswego faculty in 1965 and taught for 32 years, retiring in 1997. And while the classroom was the center of his life, he served on a host of committees, including the departmental curriculum committee, where he developed Spanish 340-341, “Masterpieces of Spanish Literature.” A delegate to Faculty Assembly, he also served as chair of the Spanish department.

A highlight of his career was directing Oswego’s study-abroad program at Madrid, which he did for 10 summers. “It was a tremendous experience,” he says. “You saw the students in a whole different environment.”

Two unforgettable moments marked his teaching career. In April 1994, a group of students surprised him, presenting him with a plaque in appreciation of his teaching. Several years later, upon his retirement, a group would fete him at a party in the International Center, singing a song in Spanish. “It was a tender moment,” he says.

Retirement has allowed time to pursue his scholarly interests. In 2007 he presented a paper on the Spanish writer Conde de las Navas — the subject of his dissertation —
at the renowned Ateneo Library in Madrid. He was invited by the writer’s great-grandson. He also has published two articles in the literary journal, Isidora.

His pursuit of his passion for Spanish led to another important part of his life. He met his wife, Maria, in Madrid, and the two were married 50 years ago this year.

He cherishes his family, Maria and their son, Robert. The centerpiece of his life in retirement is their grandson, Eric, an avid golfer who spends his summers in Oswego with John and Maria.

The couple loves to travel and a highlight was a 2010 trip to Germany, Austria and Hungary, a cultural and religious pilgrimage which included the Passion Play at Oberammergau. They also travel to the Shaw Festival
at Niagara-on-the-Lake each summer.

Wherever their travels take them, they always return to Oswego and their home across the street from the college that was central to John’s career. “This was my life and it was a good life. There was laughter and tears, but I don’t regret anything,” he says.

Jerry Oberst ’77, front left, associate director of admissions at Oswego, poses with more than three dozen first-year South Korean college students among the 53 eligible accepted, contingent on success this year, for admission to Oswego for their final three years of undergraduate study. Oswego was also represented by Peace Li of the Office of International Education and Programs.

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul held ceremonies in February for 200 first-year students potentially destined to study for three more years at seven SUNY colleges. Of those, 53 students have been admitted, contingent on success this year, to spend their final three years at Oswego, starting in spring 2013.

“Partnerships such as this one, designed to facilitate degree-seeking transfer students from outside the United States on 1-plus-3 (years) and 2-plus-2 programs, are gaining traction,” said Joshua McKeown, director of international education and programs. “We have multiple agreements, starting with China and Korea, and the HUFS program is the first to bear fruit in such a substantial way.”

Jerry Oberst ’77, associate director of admissions, represented SUNY Oswego at ceremonies in Seoul to kick off the series of agreements between Hankuk and SUNY colleges.

SUNY last June announced plans to increase international enrollment by 14,000 students over the next five years, to approximately 32,000 across all 64 campuses.

Haudenosaunee Singers and Dancers of the Onondaga Nation perform a traditional dance at International Day this spring in the Campus Center. The event, sponsored by the Office of International Education and Programs, featured food, faculty and student participation and study abroad information.

As they prepared to return this summer, they had a chance to share their stories with representatives of the international partnership that is supporting a Brazilian research experience for them and 13 other SUNY students this year and another 15 next year.

Officials from Sovereign Bank/Banco Santander, the State University of New York system and Brazil’s State of Alagoas visited SUNY Oswego in May to preview the work that 15 SUNY students will do this summer at Oswego’s global laboratories in Brazil under the first phase of a $160,000 Santander-funded project.

Officials from Sovereign Bank/Banco Santander, the State University of
New York system and Brazil’s State of Alagoas visited SUNY Oswego in May and heard Bellinger’s and Buckner’s presentations. Banco Santander awarded $160,000 to SUNY to support student participation in ongoing research at Brazilian sites in Oswego’s new network of global laboratories.

“We strongly believe that future leaders will be global leaders,” said Eduardo Garrido, director of the Santander Universities program at Sovereign Bank, a U.S. subsidiary of Spain-based Banco Santander. “This has to be fostered.”

Emerging scientists

Buckner gave an illustrated presentation of her work in Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands with Cleane Medeiros of Oswego’s biological sciences faculty. She participated in a survey of reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates, gathering data that will help protect the habitat.

“I’ve had dreams of being a scientist forever,” the senior zoology major said. This summer she returned in search of ideas for her doctoral research. A McNair Scholar at Oswego as well as a participant in the college’s Honors Program, Buckner has been accepted to pursue a doctorate at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Bellinger reported on his work last summer studying the period luminosity relationship of Cepheid stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud, working with Shashi Kanbur, Oswego’s faculty fellow and a member of the physics faculty. “You can’t see the Magellanic Cloud from the northern hemisphere yet it holds all the data that I’m researching,” Bellinger said.

This summer the junior double major in computer science and applied mathematics worked on computational quantum physics at the Federal University of Alagoas in Maceio.

‘Tight-knit collaboration’

SUNY Oswego President Deborah F. Stanley last year traveled to the Brazilian state of Alagoas, the fast-developing northeastern region of Brazil, to sign three agreements that established some of the first global laboratories in Oswego’s planned world-spanning network, including agreements with the federal university and the state of Alagoas.

In turn, Eduardo Setton, secretary for science, technology and innovation for the state of Alagoas, came to Oswego and heard Buckner’s and Bellinger’s presentations. Setton spoke of the tech park in Maceio and the opportunities for international collaboration there through such agreements as SUNY Oswego has established.

Kanbur described Oswego’s network of global laboratories, which he is helping to develop, as “absolutely unique,” and Bellinger added that his experience supports that claim: “My friends at private universities have expressed envy that we have such fantastic opportunities at our public university.”

Josh McKeown, Oswego’s director of international education and programs, agreed. “We have built something special,” he said. “Our students can so seamlessly enter into a research program in another country because of the close relationship of our international faculty with researchers abroad.”

Oswego’s agreements in Alagoas are among nine the college has with universities and states in Brazil. “That’s really a tight-knit collaboration. I’m proud of Oswego for forging these alliances with such an important country,” said Sally Crimmins Villela, SUNY’s assistant vice chancellor for global affairs.

President Stanley noted that Oswego is deepening the relationship as it sends more students to the country to participate in hands-on research while gaining understanding of another culture, and she said she hopes to bring students from Brazil to Oswego. “Banco Santander’s support is helping our global laboratories come into full blossom,” she said.

The campus community has counted itself among the many making those efforts, but in January a group of Oswego professors and students took on another necessity — mental health.

Oswego Assistant Professor Barbara Streets, left, stands with African Music Specialist Khalid Saleem of SUNY Brockport in Petit Goâve, Haiti.

“These people are very resilient, they still work every day,” Britanee Eckhard M ’10 said. “They really don’t sit around and cry or talk about it.”

The SUNY Oswego group offered coping strategies for those dealing with anxiety, loss and grief through a series of workshops in the country where an earthquake devastated the capital of Port-au-Prince, killed an estimated 220,000 people, injured 300,000 more and left more than a million homeless.

“It was a place and a time for the entire community to get together and talk,” said Eckhard, who participated in workshops aimed at children. “They were able to voice what they felt.”

The trip was the culmination of “Ethnocultural Aspects of Trauma: Focus on Haiti,” a redeveloped upper-division and graduate-level psychology and counseling and psychological services course.

“It was the best experience of my life,” said Rodney Jeannis ’11, a Haitian-American who lost relatives in the natural disaster. It was his first trip to the country. “Through the media, you only see the negatives. It was really great to see the positives.”

In far back, from left, Rodney Jeannis ’11, Assistant Professor Barbara Streets, Amanda LeBeau ’10, Samantha Shaw ’11 and Kiara Tull ’12 give a presentation on relaxation and meditation in Petit Goâve, Haiti.

In addition to the country’s natural beauty, Haiti embodies a warm and friendly culture that embraces community and welcomes visitors, he said.

Course professors Barbara Streets, Karen Wolford and Roger Brooks first traveled to Petit Goâve to assess the situation. Joshua McKeown, director of International Education and Programs, said the pre-trip was crucial: The college would be sending students to Haiti knowing that the State Department and Centers for Disease Control have advised no unnecessary travel.

“This brings a whole new level of complexity” to study abroad programs, McKeown said. “The situation is very fluid there.”

Yet all involved with the course and the effort believed the trip would tie curriculum with travel in a way that would be invaluable to students and their professors.

“Many students no longer want to just go and study in a foreign place — they want to do something,” said McKeown, who oversaw four short-term study-abroad opportunities over winter break.

“We’ve had the right people helping us,” said Streets, whose ties with the Association of Black Psychologists and other professional organizations helped her connect with Guerda Nicolas at the University of Miami. “I think a lot of credit, respect and admiration should be given to Dr. Nicolas for her assistance. What’s unique about her is her social justice and work ethic-service to Haitian Americans, the Haitian community in Miami and the nation of Haiti.”

Nicolas, a Haitian-American scholar and department chair at Miami, has helped Streets, Wolford and Brooks develop the course curriculum, understand better the Haitian worldview and create ties with community programs.

“Our mantra was not to change people,” Jeannis explained. “Our mantra was to understand their culture and see what we could do.”

The people were very willing to learn, he said, and so were Oswego’s ambassadors.

“I think in the beginning, it was a chance to learn about a culture outside of my own,” Eckhard said. Like so many others who were moved, she also felt the need to help.

“In the end you realize, you’re the one who learns the most,” she said. “I think I learned more than I taught them.” l

— Shane M. Liebler and Jeff Rea ’71