Simmons GSLIS: Dispatches from the Field

Posted on behalf of Dean Michele Cloonan

March 14-15-15: New Zealand and Home on the “Double 15th”

I arrived in Aukland on Friday March 14th and went directly to my hotel where I showered and then walked to the main branch of the Aukland City Libraries. The director, Allison Dobbie, is a friend of a friend, and this was an opportunity to meet her and some of the other librarians. The library is a busy one, and, in keeping with current trends, there is a nice coffee shop. Next to the shop is a spacious periodicals reading area. The biggest treat for me was the wonderful special collections department. The current exhibit is “The Book as Art: Contemporary Artists and Fine press Books.” This was an opportunity to see the work of Australian and New Zealand artists. I also saw some of the library’s treasures: a French illuminated manuscript, a first folio Shakespeare, Blake’s poems on American and Europe, and other monuments of western literature. Additionally, there is also a local history and research center that houses important Maori documents.

I went to dinner with three of the librarians, one of whom is the new conservator. We enjoyed a wonderful meal of fish, and I sampled several local cheeses, and, of course, drank New Zealand wine.

On my first Saturday, the 15th, I went to the Aukland Museum which has the most extensive Maori collection in the world. I also attended a cultural event that featured Maori singing and dancing.

Over lunch at the museum I looked at the local paper. Imagine my surprise when I read on the front page that an escaped convict had highjacked a bus at the airport at the very moment I was boarding a super shuttle. It turned out that he took over a bus in the domestic terminal, but the Aukland Airport is small and there was no sign of any disturbance as we left.

Then it was back to the Airport after my 24-hour visit. Allison drove me via a beautiful landmark: a cone that was once an active volcano. From the top of the crater there was a gorgeous view of Aukland in all of its seaside splendor.

I am signing off from LAX where I am living through my second Saturday, March 15 as I wait for my flight to Boston, which is delayed 5 hours. It feels a bit like Groundhog day. In fact, it is Saint Patrick’s Day that is upon us. And of course for that, Boston is the place to be!

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Posted on behalf of Dean Michele Cloonan

Tuesday and Wednesday, March 11th and 12th: Can Do in Can Tho

We spent these two days evaluating the curriculum for this undergraduate program. This program is the first step towards modernizing LIS curriculum in Vietnam. The courses were mostly developed by faculty in Singapore and in New Zealand, but one of the organization courses was designed by our own Candy Schwartz.

I should say a few words about learning resource centers. Atlantic Philanthropies has funded several of these in Vietnam. The two I saw are part of the universities at Hue and Can Tho. They are new buildings with new collections and many computers for the students. One interesting feature: the computer terminals are long and rounded, but never circular. I asked about these arced designs. If students want to work together in close proximity, they sit inside the arc; for more privacy they sit on the other side.

Many of our alumni work in these beautiful new centers and their pride is visible. For a country that is still as poor as Vietnam is, these learning resource centers are very important. And they are used heavily.

Bob and I left for Ho Chi Minh City late Wednesday afternoon. I tried to take in every market, every river, and every other scene that I could. Tomorrow morning I begin my journey back to Boston via a circuitous route: HCMC to Hong Kong, Honk Kong to Aukland, New Zealand, Aukland to LA and LA to Boston. In Aukland I will visit a library and the Maori museum. I will write my final entry from the “Land of the Long White Cloud’—the Maori word for New Zealand—tomorrow.

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Posted on behalf of Dean Michele Cloonan

Wednesday, March 5th: Seoul to Ho Chi Minh City

I spent the day traveling to HCMC from Seoul, via Hong Kong. After checking into my hotel, I went out to dinner with two recent Simmons graduates who live in the city: Hoang Tuyet Anh and Truc Nguyen. They took me to a traditional Vietnamese restaurant in the old Hotel Rex. There was traditional music and dancing. It was great to see the two of them here, and to learn about their new jobs. This evening was a wonderful transition from Korea to Vietnam.

Thursday, March 6th

This was my first free day! I decided to go to the Fine Art Museum (Bao Tang My Thuat) and to walk to the Market and the Opera House. The Museum is in an early twentieth-century colonial mansion. The collections date from the classical period to contemporary art. Sadly, it is a very poor state of repair and it is not air-conditioned. Guards stand or sit around smoking. The windows are open. Small fans sit in the corners of some of the rooms. Everything is dusty. In short, it is a preservation nightmare. Worse yet, a number of the works of art have insect damage.

About half of the museum is devoted to 20th century art. Images of and references to war have appeared in Vietnamese art until quite recently. Such themes are a reminder that throughout Vietnam’s history the Chinese, Japanese, and French have dominated it. After Vietnam was split in two, with the Communists controlling the north, the Americans became involved in what became a nearly twenty-year conflict. Thus, Vietnam has only been unoccupied for a relatively short time. Its twentieth century artists evocatively tell Vietnam’s history.

After visiting the museum I spent the afternoon walking around the city. There is so much to take in: the colonial buildings as well as modern structures. The food markets with so many exotic fruits. Flower stalls. The hectic pace. Traditional clothing and modern dress. Bicycles, motorbikes, and cars all vying for space on the crowded streets. (It is amazing how many boxes and packages can fit on a cycle.) My favorite sighting: a woman passenger on a motorcycle holding a goldfish bowl filled with live fish while she leans against the driver.

Friday, March 7th: Away to Hue

Today I flew to Hue—which is about halfway between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. Graduation is taking place at the learning resource center on Sunday. Thus, it is the ideal place to hold the ceremony since the students come from all over the country. Hue, situated on the Perfume River, was once the capital. The Nguyen Dynasty lived there and the old imperial city is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This evening I met up with Pat Oyler and Bob Stueart who had just arrived from Thailand where they had taken the Vietnamese/Simmons students on a library field trip. Now everyone was gathering in Hue for the ceremony.

The eponymous Frenchman, Monsieur Morin, opened our hotel, the Saigon Morin, in 1901. It is a lovely building, but once inside you immediately notice that all the guests are westerners. (In some parts of the country, the Vietnamese stay in separate hotels!) Most of the tourists are Australian, British, French, or German. I feel as though I’m in a Graham Greene novel. Not “The Quiet American,” which took place in Saigon, and was about love and murder. No, I’m thinking more about a general sense of intrigue. What has happened behind these walls over the past 100 years? What could still happen?

Saturday, March 8th

I meet up with Simmons alumni who have come to Hue for the graduation of our most recent students. Some of them I had met in December 2004 when Pat Oyler organized a conference commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Simmons Vietnamese program. Two of the alumni from Hanoi, Bin and Lan, took Bob and me around town to see the Imperial palace, the crafts, and the markets. It rained gently all day. Somehow the overcast weather seemed to enhance the colors and textures.

In the evening I ate dinner at the hotel and signed diplomas.

Sunday, March 9th: The Big Event

The graduation festivities began at 9:30 am in a brand new auditorium in the learning resource center. Bob, Pat, and I all gave brief remarks as did someone from Atlantic Philanthropies, which funded these last two groups of students. The graduation speaker was Lois Mai Chan, who was the Lazerow lecturer at Simmons two or three years ago. There was also a student speaker. Following graduation was a luncheon.

These are the facts. But facts tell so little of any story. There were the families and friends who attended. The little four-year-old who ran to the front of the room to present her mommy with flowers. Hundreds of pictures taken by dozens of photographers. (We will post photos soon.) The palpable relief of those who had just finished the program. The sadness because many of the students, who bonded while in the program, may never see each other again. The touching remarks by the student speaker who mentioned challenges students had faced: learning English, leaving family and friends behind, living in Boston. Also: eating American food, getting over car sickness, and so on. . (Because most Vietnamese own bikes and motorcycles rather than cars, some of them get car sick or “T-sick” when they come to Boston.)

I felt incredible pride in these students—for their hard work in the program—in Pat Oyler, for fifteen years of dedication to Vietnam, and to our alumni. Many of them are now library leaders in Vietnam. One has only to spend a little time over here to see what a difference that GSLIS has made to librarianship in this country.

Monday, March 10th: from Hue to HCMC to Can Tho

Pat, Bob, and I along with all the students from Can Tho spent the day traveling. First we flew from Hue to HCMC, then we took a bus from HCMC to Can Tho, which is on the Mekong Delta. The journey is about 4 hours from HCMC, and the final stretch is a ferry ride. A bridge is under construction so car and ferry or boat are the only means of transportation.

Why are we here? Can Tho university recently established an undergraduate LIS program. Bob and Pat worked on the original proposal. We are now evaluating the courses that were developed primarily by faculty in Asia. One of our alums is running the program and we are doing this to help her. Bob and I are leaving on Wednesday. Lois joins us on Tuesday and will stay on with Pat to hold a DDC workshop.

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Posted on behalf of Dean Michele Cloonan

I am away from Simmons on a multi-city voyage that includes a conference, a collaboration with a university in Korea, a GSLIS graduation in Vietnam, and a program evaluation with Professor Pat Oyler and Dean Emeritus Robert Stueart. Everything in this cornucopia is related to GSLIS, as you are about to read.

February 27-29, 2008: I attend the I-conference.

My first stop was Los Angeles where I attended the now annual I-conference—this year held at UCLA. I was on a panel called “I-Schools & Archival Studies.” Richard Cox and Ron Larsen from Pittsburgh presented a position paper on the usefulness of archival thinking to information scientists, and Anne Gilliland from UCLA and I responded to their presentation.

It is no surprise that Anne and I supported their premise, but each of us added additional ideas. And both of us were somewhat critical of archival programs that are stand-alone specializations where the students have little or no exposure to information science curricula. I believe that a well-balanced program should include the “L” and the “A” as well as the “I,” which is what we are striving for at Simmons.

We could do even better at integrating these sub-disciplines, and I will continue to think about how we can do that at GSLIS. The field of information studies is at the nexus of information and users. The different ways in which archivists, librarians, and information scientists think about this nexus is worth examining more deeply as we continually evaluate our curricula.

February 29- March 5, 2008: From LA to Seoul

From sunny and comfortable LA, to Seoul, where I again faced winter. (The weather in Seoul is similar to Boston, but with less snow.)

I spent three days in Seoul at Yonsei University considering ways in which our two programs can collaborate. Protestant missionaries founded Yonsei, the oldest university in Korea, in 1885. The library and information science opened in 1957. It is the best program in the country. Our faculties and programs complement each other. Thus we are looking at ways in which students from each of our campuses could takes courses on each other’s campuses. We hope that our faculty will also find ways to collaborate.

Professor Jee Yeon Lee, chair of the department, was a wonderful hostess. I stayed at one of the guesthouses on campus. She and the faculty took me to fabulous restaurants, including an old Buddhist place with teas and vegetable dishes I had never tasted. Buddhist art adorned the entry rooms. Vegetarian cooking in Korea was a revelation to me. Those familiar only with kimchi, or Korean BBQ, should try the vegetarian restaurants when in Korea.

A trip to Seoul wouldn’t be complete without seeing at least one Simmons alum. Professor Hae-young Rieh graduated from our DA program about a decade ago. She took me to a wonderful restaurant with many tasty vegetarian soups. Joining us was Professor Yi-Mun Park, a poet and philosopher who used to teach at Simmons. Professor Park is famous in Korea, and his poetry is regularly published in the U.S., France, and, of course, Korea. Nearly 80, he teaches a couple of courses a year at Yonsei. He had very warm memories to share about Simmons. And I have many greetings to pass on to CAS faculty when I return to campus.

There were light snow sprinkles throughout my visit, though these never lasted long: each day brought sunshine as well. I quipped to my host that the old line about Boston works well in Seoul: “If you don’t like the weather wait five minutes and it will change.”

Now on to Vietnam, where I am in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) as I write this. Stay tuned: I’m off now to visit another Simmons alum.

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We finished teaching on Thanksgiving, but wrapping things up at ACOR, spending Friday at the Dead Sea, and traveling home, have kept me away from any keyboards.

The last class was lively and mutually informative. I discussed theories about leadership as well as how to teach leadership in LIS management courses. Harvey and I had the Iraqis work further on their curricula. We set up the groups so that each one had representatives from the LIS programs in Mosul, Basra, and Baghdad. The timing was appropriate: in Iraqi universities programs revise their curricula every four years. The LIS programs are half way through their cycles. We showed them curricula from various parts of the world. The two they found most useful were from Simmons--because we offer so many courses--and the University of Kuwait, which is a new program.

When the working groups reported their results, we could see how the workshops which we have organized over the past three years have influenced their thinking. Since 2004, when we had the initial planning meeting in Amman, we have been bringing them new textbooks. The textbooks, in combination with the workshops we have taught, have helped to bring them up to date. They are excited about continuing to be able to add new courses to what they already offer.

These workshops have also been an excellent forum in which the Iraqis can get together with each other. Colleagues at different universities in Baghdad don't see one another because of the continuing violence there. And of course it is also nearly impossible for people to travel across Iraq to see one another.

As always, I said goodbye to the Iraqis with much trepidation. One of the participants has received death threats, others continue to worry about their day-to-day safety. In Baghdad, safety continues to be an issue, as well as electricity. It has been nearly four years since the Americans invaded Iraq and yet electricity is still only available a few hours a day. Text messaging has become a more effective way for Iraqis to communicate than e-mail.

Once again I wonder whether we will be able to fund any further workshops. I can only say, "enshallah."

Posted by Michele Cloonan at 08:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wednesday, November 21st

Greetings from Jor-raq-us, my nickname for our "republic" within ACOR. Harvey, Meaghan, and nearly all of the Iraqis are in Petra today. Unlike summertime, this is a quiet time of year at ACOR.

The rain is falling crisply and loudly against the stone surfaces of ACOR. Now the drops are knocking loudly against my window. It is a good day to be inside working.

ACOR feels like a home away from home. There is a new director and assistant director, but all the other staff members are still here: Cathy, the manager, the short cook and his two tall sons, the librarians. Harvey, Meaghan, the Iraqis, and I are all here, with adjacent rooms and suites so the setting is intimate. The ACOR fellows are in the library and computer room all night so scholarly energy fills the air.

Last summer there were 30 Iraqis, 8 faculty, and Carla. The Iraqis stayed in dorms and we stayed in a hotel across town. Since men and women in the UAE aren't allowed to stay in the same dorms, we (the faculty) had to stay in a hotel in order to get our work done. This year with 2 faculty, Meaghan, and only 10 Iraqis, it has been much more festive and collegial. The teaching is going well; Harvey and I are a good team. However, this is the first year that we don't have a translator. Most of the participants understand English well, but every so often I hear someone utter David's name. David Hirsch is a translator without equal.

In the past I have taught preservation and collection development there. There are special challenges to teaching management, however. So many elements of management are influenced by cultural practices, religious beliefs, and so on. I am trying my best to draw in as much as I can from other cultures.

An added challenge is that we are trying to teach the Iraqis new ways of teaching management to their students. Harvey already told you about the challenges we had trying to apply the case study method to curriculum development. We had a more successful session using two case studies from Library Journal.

But it's not all work. In the evenings we go shopping. The Middle East is hands-down the most vivacious and entertaing place to shop. Every store holds new items to admire. It's not just about bargaining. People love to show you their wares. Sometimes they give you coffee or tea. And they always provide entertainment.

As far as I can tell (without speaking Arabic), after three years of shopping in Jordan (2004, 2005, 2007), I would say that the Iraqis are some of the best negotiators around. They certainly know how to wear the Jordanians down. Meaghan and I are the lucky beneficiaries of the Iraqis' shopping skills.

Last night we had a pizza party at ACOR. David Hirsch's friend Rajai and his daughter Jude joined us, as they did for my 50th birthday bash here in 2005. Because we were a mixed group, the Iraqis didn't dance. Therefore, Harvey, Meaghan, and I kindly provided all the entertainment.

Harvey stole the show, though. After we played an hour of Lebanese music he turned on the Bee Gees. To the beat of the Saturday Night Fever sound track, Harvey jumped on one of the dining rooms tables (which is now sagging) then boogied onto the floor. Ten phone cameras went off in unison. We will either become celebrities our we'll have to go underground. (Now you know how I coined "Jor-raq-us.")

Tomorrow, Thanksgiving, is our last day of teaching. Back on July 4th, 2005, the ACOR cook prepared hot dogs, hamburgers, and watermelon. Can't wait to see what he serves up tomorrow. We will be sure to let you know.

In the meantime, a very Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.

Michele

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