The Swedish Are Coming Back!
September 23, 2011
A delegation of five students and three faculty members from Tullängsskolan, a technical college in Örebro, Sweden, will be visiting Santa Fe College from today through Oct. 3.
The visitors will give a college-wide presentation in which they will discuss Sweden and also provide their impressions of SF and the United States at 2 p.m. Monday, Oct. 3 in the lobby of the Fine Arts Hall. Refreshments will be served.
Visit's purpose
The purpose of the visit is to strengthen and broaden the relationship between SF and Tullängsskolan. Over the past few years, Dr. Naima Brown, a professor of sociology at SF, has used Skype to connect her 8 a.m.Social Problems class with the Technical Communications class of Nigel Smith-MacGowan, the faculty leader from Tullängsskolan. On the upcoming visit, the international Skype project will be expanded to connect more SF classes with Tullängsskolan classes. Dr. Vilma Fuentes, a professor of political science at SF, is excited about the opportunity to use Skype to connect her International Relations course with that of Magnus Riseby of Tullängsskolan. All of these Skype-using faculty members agree that helping students learn about a culture in another part of the world is an important part of internationalizing the curriculum.
Shadowing faculty and students
In addition to increasing the number of Skype-based connections between the schools, the visit will also provide the opportunity for the visitors to engage in one-on-one cultural exchanges with members of the Santa Fe community. Doug Diekow, chair of the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, has arranged for all faculty members from Tullängsskolan to shadow three different faculty members from SF, and for each Tullängsskolan student to shadow three SF students during the visit.
Malin Edenskar of Tullängsskolan will shadow SF Professors Denise Guerin, Heidi Lannon, and Fil Smolenski. Returning Visitor Magnus Riseby will shadow SF Professors David Manning, Alan Beck, and Vilma Fuentes. And Group Leader Nigel Smith-Macgown will shadow and collaborate with Dr. Naima Brown and Tom Mason while on campus.
SF students that will be shadowed include Amin Ahmadzedah, Stephen Carlisle, Julian Childers, Kay Crawford, Frank (Matt) Davis, Aryn Fitzpatrick, Crystal Garner, Cassandra Hayne, Tyrone Johnson, Jonathan Rosado, Kori Santos, Emily Stanzione, Ara Tolar, Yvonne Whitehead, and Tyler Williams.
Study Abroad program planned for Sweden, Summer 2012
Another SF-Tullängsskolan relationship that will be bolstered by the visit involves the Study Abroad program. Brown and Doug Diekow are leading a study-abroad program to Sweden next summer. Students that are considering this study-abroad program will have the chance to interact with the Tullängsskolan group that will host SF in Sweden. The study abroad program in Sweden will begin at Tullängsskolan in Örebro and end in the capital city of Stockholm.
"Their visit provides a tremendous opportunity for pre-study abroad interaction!" said Brown.
Sightseeing planned
While here, the Swedes will also take advantage of the very best that Santa Fe has to offer. They will meet with President Jackson Sasser, tour the campus with a Student Ambassador, sit in on various classes, attend the Fall Student Involvement Fair, see the animals at the SF Zoo, and even view the Led Zepplin show at the Kika Silva Pla Planetarium. But their taste of American culture does not end with SF. While in the States, the group will also visit the University of Florida, tour the city of Gainesville, explore St. Augustine, visit NASA, and catch some rays at Cocoa Beach.
