LCC Getting an International Flavor

Want to know a little something about Borneo? How about Monaco, or Qatar, or Russia? There’s a good chance if you’re a student at Lenoir Community College you’ll have a professor able to tell you about those places from personal experiences.

As Lenoir County has experienced first hand the effects of a globalized economy, LCC has embraced a faculty well equipped to prepare students for an intertwined world where most national boundaries are marked with welcome signs and corporations have lost much of their national identity.

The college now boasts approximately 30 faculty members with experience in foreign travel and at least 59 nations are represented by their travels, including every continent on the planet except Antarctica.

“This international exposure of faculty goes hand in hand with the revitalization of a Global Education Committee on the campus” said Bobby Van Brunt who chairs the committee. “What the committee is trying to achieve is meaningful global awareness for every student on the campus, whether it is a curriculum student pursuing a degree or a basic skills student working for a GED. Naturally, those objectives get a huge boost when faculty members themselves can inject their own personal experiences from overseas travel. Those experiences coupled with our foreign born faculty give LCC a very cosmopolitan classroom environment but more importantly gives students an opportunity to learn first hand many of the issues that are in the news today.”

One of the more well-traveled faculty, Walter Martin who is program head of the Global Logistics program and has traveled to 11 foreign nations in three different continents, agrees. He says his travels have “greatly enhanced my ability to express to students the differences culturally, socially, politically, professionally, and militarily, in comparison to the United States and their local home towns. I can provide personal real world experiences to illustrate how the above factors play into social choices, marketing strategies, business relations, opportunities, challenges, and to help them understand how it affects them and the U.S. economy. I have seen and experienced the impact of propaganda and how it is utilized to paint a portrait of our country, albeit good or bad.”

Martin does not have honors for most overseas travel however. George Davis who teaches Physics has visited 20 countries and has lived in Spain and Portugal. Carolyn Crossland who is the music instructor at LCC has visited 18 nations as diverse as Finland and Italy and performed in many of those countries. Crossland says her travel has made her more knowledgeable about her subjects and at the same time more enthusiastic in class presentations.

So if you or your student wants to experience a little Portugal, Greece, or Kenya right here in Kinston, LCC is a good place to start.

Faculty who bring an international flair to the classroom at Lenoir Community College include, left to right, Ian Stevens, Dr. Richard Chen, Dr. Cecilia Bianchi-Hall, and Butch Martin.