Extending Trinity’s reach

Support from the MasterCard and Luce foundations further strengthens the College’s existing efforts in Africa and Asia. Trinity’s burgeoning research, activities, and programs on the two continents include, but are by no means limited to:

Africa

Trinity-in-Cape Town

This semester-long program, established a decade ago, is the College’s own global site in Africa. Focusing on community development, the program attracts approximately 20 students each year.

Student Organizations

African Development Coalition

According to Frank Melvin Rathbone Scholar and organization president Madeleine Shukurani ’14, the group has worked on development projects in Africa since 2007, including building a primary school in Guinea, a computer lab in Sierra Leone, and a maternity ward in Tanzania and renovating a school in Cameroon. This past summer, the group traveled to Uganda to work with refugees in camps.

Engineers Without Borders

This group, headed by Mark Yanagisawa ’14 and advised by Assistant Professor of Engineering Emilie Dressaire, is currently focused on building projects in Tanzania.

Faculty research

Assistant Professor of History and International Studies Seth Markle is completing a book on African Americans who settled in Tanzania since the 1960s. Paul E. Raether Distinguished Professor of Urban International Studies Garth Myers conducts research on African urban geography and urban planning in Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania, and Zambia.

Alumni Connections

The U.S. ambassador to the African Union is Michael Battle ’73.

Asia

Faculty research

Asian studies faculty involved in a wide variety of research in the region include:

  • Charles A. Dana Research Associate Professor of History Jeffrey Bayliss

Paul E. Raether Distinguished Professor of Global Urban Studies and Sociology Xiangming Chen

  • Scott M. Johnson ’97 Distinguished Professor of Religion Ellison Findly
  • Senior Lecturer in Environmental Science Jonathan Gourley
  • Associate Professor of History Michael Lestz ’68
  • Associate Professor of Anthropology Beth Notar
  • Assistant Professor of Language and Culture Studies and International Studies Yipeng Shen
  • Principal Lecturer in Language and Culture Studies and International Studies Rieko

Wagoner

  • Professor of Economics and International Studies James Wen.

These faculty members’ research reflects their diverse disciplinary interests in and expertise on China, Japan, Taiwan, Cambodia, and Laos. Also involved in the Luce initiative are other faculty whose research focuses on environmental and sustainable development outside of Asia. These include:

  • Assistant Professor of Engineering Lin Cheng
  • Associate Professor of Physics and Environmental Science Christoph Geiss
  • Paul E. Raether Distinguished Professor of Urban International Studies Garth Myers.

Study Abroad

As part of Trinity’s River Cities of Asia program in summer 2013, Sakile Broomes ’16, Salima Etoka ’15, Daniel Luke ’14, and Mona Deng ’16 analyze water samples from the Mekong River in Vientiane, the capital city of Laos. Professor of Biology Joan Morrison is behind Deng. Photo by Xiangming Chen

As part of Trinity’s River Cities of Asia program in summer 2013, Sakile Broomes ’16, Salima Etoka ’15, Daniel Luke ’14, and Mona Deng ’16 analyze water samples from the Mekong River in Vientiane, the capital city of Laos. Professor of Biology Joan Morrison is behind Deng.
Photo by Xiangming Chen

River Cities of Asia

This field investigation engages students with the historical, environmental, and sociocultural issues and challenges facing the cities along the Yangtze River in China and the Mekong River from China to Southeast Asia. The program has been led by Chen, Lestz, Professor of Biology Joan Morrison, and Notar.

Cambodia-in-Context

This field investigation engages students with the Khmer people and Cambodia’s culture through a multifaceted examination of the Angkorian era and leading intellectual figures of the Khmer world. The program has been led by Professor of Fine Arts Pablo Delano, Professor of History and International Studies Dario Euraque, and Lestz.

Trinity-in-Shanghai

Trinity College launched this program at Fudan University in Shanghai in fall 2012, with 12 students participating.

Summer Program at Fudan

For the past two summers, Trinity has sent four students to an intensive program at Fudan University on scholarships provided by Fudan.

Faculty Exchanges with Fudan and Tongji

Starting in summer 2013, Trinity and Fudan University began to send faculty to teach at each other’s institution, supported by different sources from both sides. Mary Lewis, Trinity visiting associate professor of fine arts, taught a summer course at Fudan in July-August 2013, and Lestz is scheduled to teach at Fudan in spring 2014. A visiting professor from Fudan is expected to teach at Trinity during the 2014-15 academic year. In addition, a Luce visiting professor from Tongji University in Shanghai is scheduled to teach at Trinity in spring 2014.

Technos Program in Japan

The College has participated in the Technos International Week Japan Tour since 2003, by invitation from Technos College in Japan. One faculty member or administrator and two students are selected to travel to Tokyo for two weeks to participate in this annual event. The program is coordinated by Wagoner, with administrative support from the Center for Urban and Global Studies (CUGS).

Tanaka Student Research Grant

Trinity awards an average of two grants to students for summer research in Asia. This program is coordinated by Bayliss and Wagoner, with administrative support from CUGS.