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When SUNY Potsdam psychology professor Bill Herman got the call from the U.S. Department of State to serve in Southeast Asia, it brought back a lot of memories.
“It was the summer of 1970 and I was finishing my bachelor’s degree at Michigan State University,” recalled Herman. “I drew a vulnerable draft lottery number and was soon drafted as the Vietnam War raged on. I had heard the horror stories of jungle warfare from recently returned Vietnam veterans. Luckily, I was assigned to a unit near Giessen, Germany.”
Fast forward 40 years to the summer of 2010, when Uncle Sam again called on Herman to serve—this time in a more welcome role as a Fulbright Specialist in Bangkok, Thailand, this past January.
“My recent Fulbright experience was to be in a different time and place in Southeast Asia, but it also wasn’t a time for r-and-r,” Herman said.
The focus of his two-week visit was to offer professional development and consultation services for the College of Education at Pranakhon Rajabhat University in Bangkok. His specific duties included leading a seminar and helping Thai graduate students and professors improve their English skills to publish articles in various academic journals.
Herman knew he would need a little help in preparing to teach the Thai people the nuances of the English language. He also knew the best person to help him out.
His son.
“My son, Bryan, had training and experience teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) in Russia and he helped me prepare my seminar materials,” Herman said. “He became my highly valued assistant.”
Bryan Herman is a former UUP member at Potsdam who is currently a doctoral student in Russian history and a teaching assistant at UAlbany. His ESL experience proved so valuable, he was invited to accompany his father as a guest of the university.
The seminar for Thai scholars was designed to offer an overview of philosophical, disciplinary, and various approaches to research, as well as ESL issues related to professional writing.
“In order to promote learning at deeper conceptual levels, we tried to show our Thai participants how in many ways scholars are ‘word merchants’ in that they ‘sell’ ideas, theories, research findings, and the whole idea of the scientific method,” Herman said.
The duo used a portion of the 1932 Buster Keaton/Jimmy Durante comedy “Speak Easily” to illustrate the subtle differences in the English language, and how speaking a language doesn’t necessarily mean a person can properly communicate his meaning.
“The title is Keaton’s misunderstanding of the slang word for an illegal bar,” Herman said. “The non-verbal slapstick comedy promotes understanding even with a limited knowledge of English.”
The father/son team then read the Thai participants’ research proposals and reports, and offered critiques on how to make their English more widely understood.
Reaching out
The Hermans presented a paper on their Thailand experiences at the Association for Psychological Science (APS) Convention in Washington, D.C., in May.
“What we have learned from our Thai colleagues could be useful for those who teach scholarly research writing to native-English speakers and to non-native English speakers alike,” Herman said.
Teaching abroad is nothing new for the older Herman. Since 1989, he has served as a Senior Fulbright Scholar in Russia, taught summer graduate educational leadership courses in Taiwan, and taught a graduate seminar in motivation at the University of Potsdam in Germany.
“My international education experiences have led to new insights into different cultures, as well as new perspectives on my own culture,” Herman said. “I have learned something new about myself on each trip.
“I am pleased and proud that these types of experiences are supported by SUNY Potsdam and across the SUNY system.”
— Karen L. Mattison |
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