Experience in China Enhances Teaching Repertoire of Kettering University Professor

FLINT, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Kettering University students are not the only ones who benefit from experiential learning. Dr. Ezekiel Gebissa, professor in the Department of Liberal Studies, recently spent an academic term in China as an Oswald International Fellow.

Gebissa wanted to research and learn more about China because the country is such a rapidly growing world power. He felt it was important to know more about the country's culture, economy and history to impart that knowledge to his students.

“That's what being there has done for me – now I can speak with concrete examples in the classroom,” Gebissa said. “It has increased my appreciation for what the Chinese have done for themselves, but also increased my understanding of the almost inexorable shift of power and prosperity to Southeast Asia and what that could mean for the world in the future.”

In addition to lecturing on sustainable development and leadership at the Dalian University of Technology in Liaoning province in northeastern China, Gebissa visited China's eastern seaboard and looked at the country's rapidly growing economy and how this rapid change and growth has impacted the population.

Gebissa believes that it is of vital importance for all students to gain a better understanding of China. He said that understanding China's rise as a world power can allow leaders to better manage some of the anxieties that have occurred in the past when the world's balance of power has shifted.

To read more on Gebissa's experiences in China, visit: http://www.kettering.edu/visitors/storydetail.jsp?storynum=3172

Gebissa was a Fulbright Scholar in 2003. In November 2010, he was added to the prestigious Fulbright Specialists Roster. This designation places him on a list of experts in different fields. Universities all over the world can request specialists from those topic areas to visit and share that expertise. Gebissa will stay on the specialists list for five years. Although he doesn't have definitive plans to visit other universities yet, he's excited for the opportunity to continue to gain more firsthand knowledge by immersing himself in other cultures.

“The experience has enormously helped me to have a perspective about the rise of China,” Gebissa said. “It has given me a repertoire of examples that I can draw on for a number of years.”

About Kettering University

Kettering University is a nationally-ranked STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and Business university and a national leader in combining a rigorous academic environment with rich opportunities for experiential learning and cooperative education and a focus on the learning experience of the individual student. Kettering students develop globally competitive skills and knowledge, along with the soft skills needed to apply both successfully in real-life situations. Some of Kettering's fastest growing academic majors are Bioinformatics, Chemical Engineering and BioChemistry. For more information, visit www.kettering.edu.