Pittsburg Goes to Heidelberg

From left to right: Dr. Alex Konopelko, Brandon Wolak, Melissa Churning, David Heins, Stephanie Powers, Allen Fluck, Stevynn Cutshall, Aaron Flood, Josh Silvers, Katie Whitbeck

Pittsburg State students of physics had a rare opportunity to visit the Max Plank Institutes of Astronomy and Nuclear Physics this summer on a trip led by Dr. Alex Konopelko.

Konopelko, who is an assistant professor of the physics, took nine students to Heidelberg, Germany, in August for a behind the scenes look the famous institutes. Dr. Konopelko applied for and received support for the program from DAAD —the German Academic Exchange Service—an organization akin to the Fulbright Program in the United States. DAAD awarded PSU a “Group Study Visit Grant” which covered virtually all the on-the-ground costs for a group of students to spend 10 days on the faculty –led academic program in Germany.

“Heidelberg University is one of the top-ranking institutions in the world of international science and scholarship,” says Konopelko. “With its six-hundred-year history, it is Germany's oldest seat of higher learning.”

The visit provied a wide variety of opportunities for advanced learning that perfectly complements the physics curriculum at PSU. The group of physics students traveling to Heidelberg in summer, 2011 took a Study Abroad course entitled Introduction to Modern Astrophysics. The goal of this course is to introduce students who have a serious interest in the physical sciences to the breadth of modern Astrophysics and prepare them for more advanced topical courses in the future.

“The Department of Physics and Astronomy of Heidelberg University was very kind to agreed to serve as a host for the group,” says Konopelko. “Stefan Wagner was willing to help this group with local arrangements.”

The group of physics students from PSU will visited the Max-Planck-Institute for Nuclear Physics (MPI-K), Heidelberg, which is leading a large-scale European project in Astrophysics, which is called CTA.

“Werner Hofmann, who is one of the directors of this institute and spokesperson for CTA, supervised the classes at the MPI-K. Professors Wagner and Hofmann lectured to our students.” Says Konopelko. “In addition, a number of other professors of Heidelberg University also gave lectures in the Modern Astrophysics course. Among them are Wolfgang Kraetschmer, who together with Donald Huffman from the University of Arizona developed the world famous Kraetschmer-Huffman procedure for the synthesis of fullerenes, and Oxford-educated John Kirk, who is one of the best theoretical astrophysicists in the world.”

In addition to the opportunities in physics, foreign travel also opened educational doors for our students.

“I had never really had Germany on my list of places I wanted to visit,” says Katie Whitbeck, who is a Communication major and an Earth and Space Science minor, “but I constantly checked the study abroad listings for a good, yet cheap, trip, and the Germany trip was perfect! It fit perfectly with what I was interested in.

“Before this trip, I had only gone to Canada, and I didn't know any of the other students, but we became a tight group quickly. I enjoyed every moment and adventure over there.”

“I got a better understanding of the German culture,” says Melissa Churning, who has a double major in French and Mechanical Technology. “The culture is much different than from ours. I learned to adapt to unusual surroundings. I also learned how to understand some of the German language by reading the street signs and food menus; I learned to adapt to living with strangers in a youth hostel.”

From : Universitas, the online newsletter from Pittsburg State University College of Arts and Sciences

Students wins scholarship to study in Canada

From the Pittsburg Morning Sun, 16 June 2011, by Nikki Patrick

PITTSBURG —

Canada is a close and good neighbor of the United States, but getting there turned out to be a complicated procedure for Mandy Folk, Pittsburg, a Pittsburg State University junior art education major.

However, she has triumphed, and will be spending the fall semester at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada.

She applied for and received a $5,000 Killam Fellowship, a national scholarship that fosters educational exchange between America and Canada.

“Canada contains such a rich history embedded deep within everyone who lives there,” Folk said. “There are many aspects of art history in Canada that intrigue me.”

She will focus her studies on the art work of the Haida Gwaii, a Native American tribe.

“They’re the people who do totem poles,” Folk said.

Read the whole story - http://www.morningsun.net/featured/x898067061/PATRICKS-PEOPLE-Pittsburg-State-student-Mandy-Folk-to-study-in-Canada

Study Abroad Numbers Rise

More Pittsburg State University students will be studying overseas this year, thanks to an increase in faculty willing to create partnerships with foreign universities and lead group programs abroad.

The Office of International Programs and Services and the Study Abroad Committee at PSU has approved more faculty-led study abroad programs than ever before, offering 12 different programs this year over just eight last year.

This year’s excursions include study opportunities (some as long as four weeks) to Spain, Bolivia, Greece, Italy, England, Scotland, Paraguay, Korea, Kazakhstan, Peru, France, Germany, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.

These programs, led by faculty from all corners of campus, are in addition to the individual study abroad opportunities students find.

For Dr. Craig Fuchs, head of the Honors College, leading his second program abroad is admittedly a lot of work, but a valuable experience for his students. “I’ve traveled abroad a number of times and felt the impact of those experiences on my life,” he said. “As a faculty member, it makes you want to share that with your students.”

Study Spanish in Costa Rica

From December 26th, 2010-January 15th, 2011, eleven students from various backgrounds embraced the opportunity to study abroad in Costa Rica.

Led by Modern Languages Spanish Instructor Brett Smith, the students attended a private Spanish language school, and lived with host families to learn the Spanish language and culture.


During their stay, in addition to making trips to the rain forest, cloud forest, volcanoes, museums, the beach, and so much more, the students took classes from El Instituto Para Estudiantes Extranjeros Monday through Friday from 8:00-12:00.





After class students had time to explore the culture and spend time with their host families. Students experienced birthday parties with their families, learned about cultural differences, and enjoyed celebrating the New Year through the eyes of a different culture.



This is just one more example of how Pittsburg State University is opening up doors of opportunities for students to learn outside the confines of the university and experience language and globalization in real life settings.

Social Work Abroad

Nikki Patrick did a wonderful article on Patty Magee and the study abroad program that took PSU Social Work students to the Dominican Republic over spring break. The program will be repeated this year. From the article:

“We went to Jaibon, a small rural community, and there we were with about 200 other U.S. and Canadian students,” Magee said. “We slept in tents and the meals were primarily beans and rice.”

The Centro para la Ninez includes an on-site school that conducts class for nearly 500 children in the community. Magee and the PSU students conducted workshops for the students in crafts, the English language and reading.”

“They’ve found that if you can introduce English to the kids in school there are a lot more job opportunities for them,” Magee said. “Reading was usually the favorite group. Some of those children had never seen a book before.”

She explained that the orphanage is not exactly the same as such facilities in the United States.

“Here, we assume that if a child is in an orphanage, his or her parents are dead,” Magee said. “In the Dominican Republic, many of the children in the orphanages do have living parents, but they can’t afford to keep them.”

One of the projects the PSU group worked on was a stone wall at the orphanage.

“They wanted a wall for security,” Magee said. “My son, Nicholas, who went with me, had just completed a masonry program, so we started a wall.”

To read the full story click here.

Semester in Finland

Kylie Klenke has been in Jyvaskyla, Finland this semester.
She has her own blog - www.finnishkylie.blogspot.com. Here is an excerpt.

Remember, PSU has exchanges in Finland, where you can pay PSU tuition and study abroad - many classes are taught in English.

Friendship Family Fun

Today, October 10, I went to visit my Friendship family again. It was a very nice meeting and I got to eat a meal with them. This is the first time I think they realized I wasn’t from a big city, and they asked me to bring pictures of where I’m from the next time I see them, so I’m very excited about that. I need to ask my Dad to send me pictures of my home! While I was there I learned quite a bit about hunting and gun laws here. It is much stricter here than in the States, yet Finland has the largest gun to person ration in the world. I find that interesting. Quail season is just ending, so I finally got to meet Matti (the father) today. He was really nice and showed me pictures of the birds he killed. Also, they told me about elk season. It’s very normal to have elks run out in the road during the hunting season. I told them about how that happens with deer in my country. Then they started talking about how 15 people go out at once with dogs to hunt deer. That made me wonder what kind of super-elk they have here in Finland. Then they started describing the ‘elk’ and I realized that they were really talking about MOOSE! THEY HUNT AND EAT MOOSE HERE!!!! I was so shocked upon hearing it. It’s amazing and I can’t wait to try it, but I was not expecting it. And it made me realize why they said that ‘elk’ running out in the road is so bad. Think about your car running into a moose. I wonder which object will win. :S

*Let It snow, Let It Snow*

Today, October 12, we got our first snowfall here. The teachers all say it was abnormally early for snow, so I’m now starting to believe that it might actually be a colder winter than ever before, like all the experts are apparently saying. It was so beautiful though, because all the fall yellows, oranges, and reds were still on the trees and bushes, so you could see the colours showing through under the white, especially when it began melting.

PSU pre-med Study Abroad

Every summer PSU pre-med students volunteer in clinics abroad.
Read about Belize, 2010, here.