Visiting Scholars
2015
Rizanna Rosemary Darwis
Rizanna Rosemary Darwis is a faculty member in the Communications Department at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at Syiah Kuala University. She completed her Master’s degree in Health Communication from the Media and Communication Department in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and the University of Sydney, Australia. Besides teaching, she is currently an active researcher for the Center of Tobacco Control Studies (CTCS) in Aceh Province and Indonesia Tobacco Research Alliances (ITRA) which are affiliated under the Tobacco Control Support Center (TCSC-IAKMI) and Indonesia Tobacco Control Network (ITCN). At Oberlin, Rizanna is taking Academic Writing in the American Classroom with Visiting Associate Professor of Rhetoric and Composition Nancy Boutilier, ESOL with Instructor Amy Moniot and Envrionmental Campaigns ENVS 307 with Visiting Assistant Professor, Darrick Evenson. She hopes to improve her academic writing skills as well as her teaching skills by observing professors and participating in classes at Oberlin.
Du Jun
Du Jun is an Associate Professor of English in the Foreign Language Department at Shanxi Agricultural University in Taigu, Shanxi, China. Through Oberlin Shansi and the Shanxi Scholarship Council of China he will spend one year in the U.S. Du has been teaching English for more than 13 years at SAU and received a Master’s in Applied Linguistics in English from Shanxi University in 2006. He became Vice Dean of the English Department in 2008. He also works in the Foreign Affairs Office that coordinates international and academic exchange programs, and organizes Shansi Fellows’ teaching and visas. During his time at Oberlin, he is taking classes in pedagogy and linguistics and hopes to conduct independent research in the fields of linguistics, and academic writing on ESOL. After his semester at Oberlin College, Du will spend the fall semester at Kansas State University.
Dr. Lily Jayaseeli Balasingh
Dr. Lily Jayaseeli Balasingh is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of History with specialization in Tourism at Lady Doak College in Madurai, Tamil Nadu India. She entered the doors of Lady Doak College in 1987 as Assistant Professor in the Department of History and subsequently pursued research. Her M.Phil dissertation was entitled History of the American Madura Mission (1835-1947) with special reference to women missionaries, and her Doctoral study was on The Natural Heritage Tourism of Tamil Nadu. For the past twenty seven years of teaching Lily has taught courses in American History, South East Asian Studies, Indian History and Culture, Tourism, and Art History but American history is the closest to her heart. She has co-edited the book Human Rights and Higher Education, and also prepared the curriculum for the Ecotourism course for the Tamil Nadu Open University in Chennai. She plans to pursue Post Doctoral studies on the Status of Minorities during the Colonial period in the Madras Presidency. At Oberlin, Lily is attending classes on language pedagogy and “American History: 1877 to Obama.” Lily believes her experience at Oberlin College will help her learn the different methods used to make classroom teaching more interesting and effective.
Ika Apriani Fata
This fall semester Oberlin Shansi welcomes Ika Apriani Fata as a Visiting Scholar from Indonesia. Ika is a lecturer in the Study Program of English Education, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education at the University of Syiah Kuala in Banda Aceh. She teaches English linguistics and English education to students who will become English teachers at the elementary and secondary level, and is currently on the editorial board of Studies in English Language and Education, a journal that is published by Syiah Kuala University. She also teaches Islamic and Indonesian cultural studies. At Oberlin, Ika has a very full schedule studying English teaching pedagogy and linguistics. She’s working with professors Kim Faber, Amy Moniot and Perry Sherose. Ika will also team up with Jennifer Fraser, Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology and Anthropology, to teach Saman, a traditional form of Acehnese dance, to expose Oberlin students to Acehnese culture. Ika is also working as a bridge between the Muslim and Jewish communities on campus. After attending Hillel’s ice cream open house at the beginning of fall semester, she has continued her tie with the Jewish students by attending Shabbat dinners every week. She feels honored by being asked to read from the Quran at these dinners. After her semester at Oberlin, Ika will go to Turkey as a visiting professor, and plans to integrate her experiences here into her teaching in Turkey.
Zhang Jie
Zhang Jie (English name, Hannah) is this year’s visiting instructor from Beijing Normal University (BNU). As part of the three-way agreement between Oberlin College, Shansi and BNU she is a visiting instructor in Chinese for the East Asian Studies Department this year under the guidance and mentoring of Chinese Language faculty members Qiusha Ma, Fang Liu and Kai Li. About Oberlin, Jie writes, “I’m really lucky to have this great opportunity to work and study here.” She received her Bachelors in Chinese language and literature from Qingdao University, in Shandong Province, and is currently pursuing her master’s degree in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics at Beijing Normal University. Jie, a native of Shanxi, is well-aware of the history of Oberlin Shansi in her home-province. She hopes that as a Chinese teacher here at Oberlin she can introduce more people to Chinese culture, while at the same time immersing herself in Oberlin’s multicultural atmosphere. It’s not uncommon to see Jie tutoring students in Shansi House on the weekends, or conducting additional dialogue classes for advanced Chinese language students in the evenings. Even though her teaching schedule is packed, she is squeezing in an Oberlin College TESOL Class for her own language improvement.