ASDP/ARC PROFILE

UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL ARKANSAS

Institution Name:
University of Central Arkansas
201 Donaghey Ave.
Conway, AR 72035

Contact:
Professor Jim Deitrick
UCA Box 5171
Conway, AR 72035
Email: deitrick@uca.edu

Brief Institutional Description: The University of Central Arkansas, serving 10,000 full-time students, offers an array of undergraduate master's level programs, as well as select doctoral degrees. Founded as the Arkansas normal school, it continues to train a significant percentage of the state's school teachers.

Asia/International Stage of Development: The Asian Studies minor was approved in 1997 as one of three global studies programs (the others are Latin American Studies and African/African American Studies). The minor, administered by the Humanities and World Cultures Institute, is composed of courses in History, Art History, Philosophy and Religious Studies, Language (Japanese) and Literature (in translation only). New courses are being developed in Geography and Political Science.

Recent/Planned Activities: In Fall 2002, UCA sponsored a six-week Indian Culture Festival that included lectures in art history, literature, and film; a traveling exhibitions of medieval Indian sculpture; a film series; a recital of classical Indian dance; and a concert by sitarist Anoushka Shankar. In February 2003 UCA hosted a regional ASDP workshop titled "Teaching China" that was attended by over 70 faculty.

Core Faculty/Courses: Dr. Jeff Allender (Geography of Asia); Dr. Eugene Corcoran (Asian Civilization; Modern Japan; Modern China); Dr. James Deitrick (Asian Religions; Buddhism in America); Dr. Raymond-Jean Frontain (Asian Literature in Translation; Asian Drama; Japanese Novel).

Additional Faculty Resources/Areas of Interest: Dr. Dawn Jakubowski (World Philosophy); Dr. Peter Mehl (Asian Religions); Dr. Bonnie Melchior (Comparative Linguistics); Dr. Reinaldo Morales (Non-Western Art History); Dr. Gary Wekkin (Asian Government).

Study Abroad Programs: An exchange agreement was signed in spring 2004 with the University of Mysore that, among its provisions, allows on an annual basis a UCA faculty member to stay with a group of students on the Mysore campus as part of a five-week program in Indian culture. The first undergraduate program is scheduled for summer 2005, and will be followed by a graduate program for high school teachers in summer 2006.

Grants - Recent: None. In Development: Funding sources are being researched to fund the travel of fifteen high school teachers every other year to Mysore, India.