Left to right: Tang Wei, who taught at Augustana from 1990-1991; Lisa Eck ’88; Emily Stanevicious ’16; Janet Ahlstrom ’66 Moline; Dr. Norm Moline ’64; Zhang Luli, professor at the Nationalities University in Wuhan, whose son attended Augustana; He Hong Yi, professor at the Nationalities University; and Xiang Zong Ping (Eudora), professor at Huazhong, who taught at Augustana in 2006-07
Augustana, Huazhong celebrate 36-year (and still going) teacher exchange program
Huazhong (Central China) Normal University in Wuhan recently hosted a celebration of the 36th anniversary of the signing of its teacher exchange agreement with Augustana College. Professor Emeritus of Geography Dr. Norm Moline ’64, who attended the 1988 agreement signing with Professor John “Jack” Hullett and an alumni group, attended the anniversary celebration.
According to Dr. Moline, at that early time of China’s “opening up,” this kind of agreement was quite uncommon. It came after six years of student and alumni visits to that university, beginning in 1982. Huazhong was a university of 20,000 students; now it is almost 40,000.
Dr. Norm Moline presents a certificate of appreciation from Augustana President Andrea Talentino to Ren Youzhou, vice president of Huazhong University.
“From the beginning, the size discrepancy between our schools has made no difference,” Dr. Moline said. Huazhong, like many Chinese universities, wanted its students to become more fluent in English. Under the agreement, Augustana would recommend recent graduates to go to Wuhan to teach English as a second language. They were joining recent graduates from Yale University. Augustana graduates quickly earned the reputation of being talented teachers and accessible to Chinese students in classes and informal settings, Dr. Moline said.
In addition to recent graduates, Augustana professors Dr. Marsha Smith and Harry Stelling taught at Huazhong for a full year. Huazhong, in return, sent professors or administrators to Augustana for a year, serving as assistant teachers to Dr. Jen-mei Ma in the Chinese program.
During the program’s 36-year history, 85 Augustana graduates taught at Huazhong, including Mykaylo Kelly ’20, who is currently teaching at the university. Seventeen teachers from Huazhong have taught at Augustana during that time.
“Students at both universities have gained much from these exchange teachers,” Dr. Moline said. “Since Yale moved its connections to another university several decades ago, ours is the longest of Huazhong’s several exchange connections. In the context of the Chinese tradition of treasuring long-term relationships, the anniversary event was most celebrative.”
The Augustana delegation at the formal banquet included Dr. Moline and his wife, Janet Ahlstrom ’66 Moline; Lisa Eck ’88 (the first Augustana graduate to teach at Huazhong in 1988); Emily Stanevicious ’16 (who taught there for three years); and Mykaylo Kelly. Huazhong's Vice President Ren Youzhou hosted the banquet.