For the first time, the conference used an online voting system to elicit votes from the entire campus community.

1st place tie: Teddy Roosevelt's East Asia Policy by Steven Dangel
Solar Power Technology & Clean Alternative Energy in China by Seth Seng

2nd place: Women in China's Sweatshops by Andrew Pollman

3rd place: The Emotional Effects of the One Child Policy on Women by Caroline Burke

Edward S. Rubin, the alumni professor of environmental engineering and science and professor of engineering and public policy and mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, will give a guest lecture on climate change strategies from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. on April 8, in room 117 of the Frable Building on the Penn State Greater Allegheny campus. His lecture is being delivered in honor of Earth Day, which will be observed this year on April 22. Rubin will discuss his research, which deals with technical, economic and policy issues related to energy and the environment, with a focus on reducing environmental impacts of electric power systems.

One major product of this research is the Integrated Environmental Control Model (IECM), a widely used tool for engineering-economic design and analysis of current and advanced power generation systems, including pulverized coal combustion, integrated coal gasification combined cycle, and natural gas combined cycle systems. Current emphasis is on the modeling and assessment of CO2 capture and sequestration options for climate change mitigation, and the potential of advanced renewable energy systems.

Rubin also serves on committees of the National Research Council studying climate change mitigation policies, energy research and development planning, and alternative transportation technologies. He was a coordinating lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. At Carnegie Mellon, Rubin was founding director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies and the Environmental Institute.

This presentation is co-sponsored by Greener Allegheny and Teaching International.

The Penn State Greater Allegheny theatre production classes, under the direction of Jay Breckenridge, professor of theatre arts, will present "Sweet Poison," a Japanese folk comedy in the Kyogen style, in the newly renovated Fitness and Cultural Center on campus.

Shows will be held at 7:30 p.m. on April 22 and 23, and there will be a matinee performance at 2 p.m. on April 24. All shows are free and open to the public.

The Penn State Greater Allegheny campus community can listen to and view the final class projects for the Teaching International Program at its spring semester research conference. From 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. on April 15, in the Robert and Elizabeth Ostermayer Room, students will present their research projects on the region selected by the Teaching International program for the 2009-10 academic years -- East Asia and the environment.

Another film in the Teaching International film series will be held from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on April 8, in the Robert and Elizabeth Ostermayer Room in the Student Community Center on the Penn State Greater Allegheny campus. "Marathon," released in 2005, is a South Korean movie based on the true story of Bae Hyeong-jin, a runner who happens to have autism.

The film popularized the South Korean term for autism which can be translated as "self-closed syndrome." The movie follows the story of a young man with autism, named Cho-Won, who finds release only in running.

Summerfield is director of the Women and Gender in Global Perspectives Program and associate professor of Human and Community Development at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Since receiving her doctorate in economics from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, she has written extensively on gender, development, and globalization addressing economic reforms in China, human security (income, property rights, and health), and migration.

Some of her recent publications include a co-edited special issue of Feminist Economics titled, “China, Gender, and the WTO,” which was also translated into Chinese and published in June 2009. Recent journal articles include, “A Gendered View of Reforming Health Care Access for Farmers in China” in China Agricultural Economic Review 2009; “Gender, Transnational Migration, and Human Security” in Development 2007; and “Gender and Rural Reforms in China: A Case Study of Population Control and Land Rights Policies in Northern Liaoning” in Feminist Economics 2009. One of Summerfield’s current projects examines women’s employment in science and technology in China.

The Teaching International program at Penn State Greater Allegheny adopted the theme of East Asia and the environment for the 2009-2010 academic years.  As the spring semester is near mid-term, the program is hosting a film to explore global warming and climate change.  Also, a field trip is planned to Washington, D.C.

According to the Web site, www.bullfrogfilms.com, “Climate change is already here. In another decade, the damage will be irreversible.” A film that explores the affects of climate change is titled, Weather Report, and will be available for the Greater Allegheny campus community to view Tuesday, March 16 from 12:15-1:15 in Frable 117. 

On the above Web site, the film is described as, “a sneak peek into the future. This year-long road trip takes us around the world, to places where global warming is having an immediate effect. We meet people for whom climate change already has life-and-death implications.  Weather Report brings us the powerful human stories of people in Kenya, India, Canada, the Arctic, China, and Montana where people's lives have already been dramatically altered by the global crisis that will soon affect us all.”

Teaching International also planned a day trip to the National Geographic Museum in Washington, D.C. to see the Terra Cotta Warriors Exhibit.  A charter bus will depart campus at 6:15 a.m., Saturday, March 20, and returns late evening.  Cost to students for this trip is only $5, but they must register ahead to get a ticket.  Register in person with Nancy Egan in Frable 201.  There are a limited number of tickets available.

Bae is an assistant professor of East Asian history at Penn State Behrend.  She was born in Tokyo, Japan, and moved to the United States with her family when she was six years old.  She received her doctorate in history from Stanford University and is currently writing a book on Japanese magazines for girls and women in the early 20th century.

Her latest publication is entitled "Girl Meets Boy Meets Girl:  Heterosocial Relations, Wholesome Youth, and Democracy in Postwar Japan," in the September 2008 issue of the Asian Studies Review.

Teaching East Asia at Penn State Greater Allegheny ended the fall 2009 semester with a field trip  to The National Geographic Museum in Washington, D.C.

The exhibition, "Terra Cotta Warriors: Guardians of China’s First Emperor," featured treasures from China's first emporer, Qin Shihuandgdi and the tomb complex including 15 life-size figures, weapons, armor, coins and more. Students and faculty on the trip also visited the Smithsonian's Freer Gallery, which has an extensive Asian art collection (see photo on right).

Each year, Penn State Greater Allegheny's Teaching International program adopts a country or region of the world as a common theme to inspire teaching and scholarship. Along with East Asia, the emphasis for 2009-10 is on the environment.

Each year, Penn State Greater Allegheny adopts a country or region of the world as a common theme to inspire teaching and scholarship. The campus-wide international emphasis for 2009-10 is on East Asia and the environment.

Students presented the results of their East Asia research projects to the Greater Allegheny campus community on Thursday, November 19. The projects were from a variety of disciplines, including art, business, communications, social sciences, and science, and were to relate to this year's emphasis on East Asia and the environment. Comments from those who attended indicated that the projects had helped to raise awareness of the region and theme.
  
Winners were named in three catagories: art, posters, and Powerpoint presentations.

Art
Winner: Eric Keefe for "The World is Only So Big...Choose Planned Parenting"
Honorable Mention: Jemar Bather for "Air Pollution"

Poster
Winner: Larry Nelson, Judy Bruney, Tyler Warrick, Gloria Schrott for "A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Gender Roles in Film"
Honorable Mention: Casey Owen, Megan Ward, Patrick Woehler for "Marketing Coke in Japan"

Powerpoint
Winner: Adrian Ceresa for "Prostitution in China"
Honroable Mention: Minji Kim for "Why Do East Asians Leave Their Own Country?"

To be considered in the competition, a project had to be submitted prior to the conference. Such submissions were judged by faculty and staff members Tahirah Abdullah, Sara Ahrens, Siobhan Brooks, Linda Curinga, Victoria Garwood, Anthony Holtz, TIm Johnson, and Sam Zabec.

The second in a series of East Asian painting classes was held on November 3. Instructor Elaine Bergstrom demonstrated techniques for painting chrysanthemums.

The series is sponsored by the campus Teaching International program, which is focused this year on East Asia. The first class covered orchids, and two classes are planned for the spring semester.

This year's theme is “Global Food Crisis: Opportunities, Responsibilities and Solutions.”

According to www.worldfooddayusa.org, the 2009 World Food Day Teleconference "will consider the impact of the financial crisis on those living in poverty, the responsibilities of the rest of the world and the solutions that are emerging. Three experts from different backgrounds working on these issues will exchange views on the 26th annual teleconference. Max Finberg, newly appointed Director of the USDA Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships; Rep. Jim McGovern, serving his seventh term as representative from
Massachusetts; and Joy Phumaphi, of Botswana, Vice President and Head of the Human Development Network at the World Bank will be the special guests."

Attend any hour or all three. For more information visit the website: www.worldfooddayusa.org 

Events planned include speakers, films, hands-on art experiences, and field trips (East Asia calendar).

For more information, contact any member of the Teaching International executive committee.