University Resources
Cambodian Events Calendar
November 20th, 2009
NIU / TX State SE Asian Seminar: Round II
SE Asian Course develop continues through inter-university cooperation. Northern Illinois University sent Dr. James Collins, Dr. Eric Jones, and Julia Lamb for the second round of seminars on the diverse cultures and rich history of Southeast Asia.
November 3rd, 2009
Building a Molecular Biology Lab
in Phnom Penh
TX State Alumin and Former AB Vice President of Science and Technology Ken Wilson acquired donated equipment to build a molecular biology lab—only a corner of which is shown here—to support course work at the Royal University of Phnom Penh.
November 2009
Visiting Biology Scholar
A new biology scholar from Kandal Province, Cambodia has just arrived! Chenda "Da" Cheng will be working with the Biology Department as part of the Wilson Fellowship projects. So if you see this smiling Cambodian around campus, say "Hello!" You'll discover his English language skills are fantastic..
October 2009
SE Asia Course Development Seminar
October is World Series month in baseball and International Studies. On Friday 23rd October Dr. Jim Collins and Dr. Judy Ledgerwood from the Southeast Asian Studies Department at Northern Illinois University gave a multi-disciplinary seminar on the importance of the region and lecture about course development. The attendees, professors who are developing a Certificate in Southeast Asian Studies for Texas State, will also soon be traveling to the region.
September 2009
Certificate in Southeast Asian Studies
In its efforts to improve and develop interdisciplinary studies in the fast pace of globalization, the Center for International studies will offer a certificate in Soueast Asian Studies. Courses are being developed are: Women and Education in Southeast Asia by Dr. Ann Brooks, History of Southeast Asia Dr. Leah Renold, Strategic Communication in Southeast Asia bySandy Rao, Government and Politics of Modern Southeast Asia by Hyuan Jung Yun, Family & Consumer Science by Ani Yazedjian, Criminal Justice in Southeast Asia byJ.D. Jamieson, and Internship in Southeast Asia and study abroad program at Peking University in China by Dr. Dennis Dunn.
August 2009
DOE Grant received to develop Southeast Asian Studies.
The Center for International Studies at Texas State University-San Marcos has received a grant from the U.S. Department of Education to develop a certificate program in Southeast Asian Studies. The grant, for $88,000, will allow the Center to add seven new courses to the curriculum—in history, political science, mass communication, adult education and psychological services, criminal justice, family and consumer sciences, and Chinese language—as well as an internship program and a study abroad program. Chinese language courses will be offered beginning in Fall 2009, and the other courses will be available by Fall 2011.
July 2009
Wilson Endowment's Multiplier Effect
When sparks fly, the fire spreads. International Studies Graduate student Anthony Mrugacz returned for his third consequetive summer in the Kingdom of Cambodia. A past recepient of a Wilson Fellowship Award, he recently completed internships teaching at RUPP and a consulting assignment with the Road Traffic And Victim Information System (RATVIS) department at the NGO Handicap International in Phnom Penh.
June 2009
Dr. Leah Renold Visits Cambodia
Dr. Leah Renold, Assistant Professor of History, visited Cambodia as part of the Kenneth and Verena Wilson Endowment to develop a course called History of Southeast Asia. This course will focus on the history of modern Southeast Asia, including major cultural influence from India and China.
May 2007
Biolgy Students Instructing At The New RDI-Cambodia Labratory in Kandal Province
James "Buddy" Gaertner and Joseph Mendoza from the TX State Biology Department travelled in support of the Wislon Fellowship to insturct RUPP Biology students in advanced lab techniques. The new lab designed and built by the Ken Wilson at RDI-Cambodia in Kandal province fills a gap in the Cambodian education system. The goal is to develop valuable scientific skills in the future scientist in the Kingdom of Cambodia.
APRIL 2009
Mauk Pheakdei Ends Spring Semester At TX State
Mauk Pheakdei, a math instructor from the Royal University of Phnom Penh, was the host at a BBQ dinner in his honor. Dedicated to improving the educational system in Cambodia, he returns with additional knowledge about higher education by his participation in the Wilson Fellows Program. In addition, upon his return to Phnom Penh, he will soon be married, and has been accepted as a doctoral mathematics candidate in Bremen, Germany. An inspiring colleague and dear friend, everyone who worked with Pheakdei will truly miss his friendship.
January 2009
Mauk Pheakdei Arrives for Spring Semester
Mauk Pheakdei from the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP) has arrived for the Spring 2009 Semester. He will be working with Dr. Nathaniel Dean in the Department of Mathematics. If your Khmer (Cambodian language) skills are minimal, he says his friends just call him, "Peck".
December 2008
Education Ties Grow Between TX State and RUPP
Monirith Ly, from the Royal University of Phnom Penh, is currently attending TX State working on a Phd. in the Education Department.
November 2008
Teaming up with RDI-Cambodia
On November 3rd and 4th Dr. Michael L. Sampson gave a lectures series on his work at Resource Development International in Kandall Province, Cambodia. Here he is joined by two energetic TX State graduate students, Elizabeth Ebenreiter-Alderson and Renee Ness. Selected as award recipients as Wilson Fellows, Elizabeth and Renee will be cooperating on developing projects at Dr. Sampson's NGO.
DOWNLOAD MP3 AUDIO FILES OF EACH LECTURE:
October 2008
TX STATE GRADUATE STUDENTS
RECOGNIZED FOR THEIR EFFORTS
In July 2008, fiveTX State graduate students, majoring in International Studies, volunteered as election observers in Cambodia's National Parliamentary Elections. In appreciation of their efforts, COMFREL awarded each participant a "Certificate of Election Observation".
July 2008
International Studies Graduate Students team up with COMFREL as election observers
On Sunday, July 27th 2008 National Parlimentary Elections were held in the Kingdom of Cambodia.The Commitee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (COMFREL) was assisted by International Studies Graduate Students. Volunteering in Phnom Penh: Antoinette Curl, Bennida Chaisatsilp, Christopher Moon, Alyssa Peterson and in Siem Reap: Anthony Mrugacz.
Cambodian Election Day - Polling Stations in Siem Reap
June 2008
Mathematics Lecturer to visit Texas State
The Wilson Fellowship and Center for international Studies is proud to announce the January 2009 arrival of Mauk Pheakdei from the Royal University of Phnom Penh. As part of the Wilson Fellowship Program, Mauk Pheakdei, will work in association with the Mathematics Department.
MAY 2008
Visiting Scholar Departs
Mr Lim Vuthy, a visitng scholar from Cambodian Nursing Association / Technical School for Medical Care, attended Texas State University for the Spring semester. The Wilson Fellowship, not only sends graduate students to Cambodia, but also brings Cambodian scholars and educators here for mentoring.
February 2008
Four Texas State Graduate Students selected for Wilson Fellows Scholarships for 2008
The Center for International Studies is proud to announce the four candidates selected to receive Wilson Fellowship Scholarships for 2008. The talented four, Antoinette Curl, Bennida Chaisatsilp, Chris Moon,and Alyssa Peterson, are headed off to teach at the Royal University of Phnom Penh and volunteer work at Resource Development International-Cambodia.
December 2007
Dr.Hawkins and Texas State Social Work Students Study Abroad in Cambodia
November 2007
Javier Mere Prado: International Studies student to help Cambodian students by raising funds for scholarships
—These days, $125 will buy some bags of groceries or a few tanks of gasoline in the United States. It will also pay for a year of college in Cambodia, as a Texas State student recently discovered when he was on exchange in the Southeast Asian country. As a result of the exchange, Javier Mere Prado is raising the money to fund four years of college for 10 Cambodian students.
Javier, a graduate student in Texas State’s International Studies program, taught English and Western Culture at the Royal University of Phnom Penh as a participant in Texas State’s Wilson Asian Faculty/Student Exchange Program. The program sends Texas State students and faculty to Cambodia to provide expertise in areas of need. Cambodia is in the process of rebuilding its social and economic infrastructure after years of devastating war.
“One of my students asked me to correct his English in a letter to his grandparents, in which he asked for $125 to be able to continue for another year at the University,” Javier said. “Since his grandparents probably don’t read English, I think the student must have wanted to tell me his life story. In the letter, he said that his parents had died in the war and that the teachers in his home town had raised the money for his first year of college. He wanted his grandparents to ask the teachers for help again so that he could continue another year at college.”
Under the Wilson Exchange Program, students at the Royal University can apply for scholarships of $125, but the year’s scholarships had already been distributed when Javier looked into obtaining one for his student.
“It seemed like such a small amount of money—it’s what we spend going out to dinner in the U.S.,” Javier said. “I thought about giving the student the money out of my pocket, but decided it wouldn’t be appropriate.”
Javier knew, however, that he had to do something to help Cambodian students. “In class, we talked about new communication technologies such as text messaging and internet chatting. Few of the students had access to computers and some had never heard of internet chatting. The students were very limited in their resources. Every day, some new information about their poverty would astonish me,” he said.
As he was flying back to the U.S. at the end of the exchange, Javier decided to fund 10 additional college scholarships to be offered through the Wilson Exchange Program, beginning in Summer 2008. He plans to raise the money from friends and family. “Think of it,” he said. “Ten Cambodian students can attend a year of college for only $1,250.”
Javier, who will graduate in December 2007, plans to return to his native Queretaro in Mexico, to teach English at the university level and perhaps to pursue a diplomatic career. “I’m proud of being Mexican, and I want to do something for Mexico, as I’m doing for Cambodia,” he said.
October 5th, 2007
Life After the Khmer Rouge
Sister Luise Ahrens
Speaking event and discussion
11:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m. • Mitte Honors Coffee Forum, Lampasas 407
Luise Ahrens, a Maryknoll Sister who has lived in Cambodia for over 20 years, will be in the Mitte Honors Coffee Forum to speak with students and faculty about life in Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge and to encourage faculty and student exchanges to Cambodia. A light lunch will be served and all are invited to drop by as your schedule permits.
A film on "Stories of Hope: the Mekong Delta" will be shown continuously on both Thursday, October 4, and Friday, October 5 in the conference room near the coffee forum in Lampasas.
This event is sponsored by the Common Experience, the College of Liberal Arts, the Center for International Studies, and the Mitte Honors Program. For more information, contact Diann McCabe at 245-2266.
September 19th, 2007
Ann Brooks awarded Fulbright to Cambodia
By Marc Speir 
University News Service
Cambodia is a nation struggling with the pain of the past and the possibilities of the future. Ravaged by the governing Khmer Rouge in the late 1970s and stricken by poverty, the Southeast Asian country is finally entering a new era of hope. Foreign aid and interest in Cambodia are on the rise, with renewed interest in helping an inexperienced, but stable regime realize its potential.
Among those interested in Cambodia is Ann Brooks, a professor in the adult, professional and community education program at Texas State University-San Marcos. The adult education specialist was recently honored with a Fulbright Award to act as researcher and lecturer at the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP), located in the nation’s capital.
The Fulbright Award is a highly competitive international educational exchange program sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
The Royal University of Phnom Penh provides all secondary school teacher training for the entire nation of Cambodia, a country that contains an enormous youth culture and requires the leadership and planning of educational administrators.
Brooks was first intrigued by Cambodia while working in Japan and in her following years as a teacher in China during the 1980s. “The universities (in China) were just beginning to function again after their destruction during the Cultural Revolution,” Brooks said. “From that experience I became interested in the post-conflict reconstruction of higher education.” In a similar manner, Cambodia is rebuilding its higher education system after the prolonged conflict and disruption of the Khmer Rouge and its fall, causing numerous factions to battle for control of the country until an emerging Hun Sen government stabilized the nation in the late 1990s.
The exhaustive conflicts and persecution of educated individuals through the years caused a decline in educational resources. Compared to nations like Thailand, Vietnam and China, Cambodia has a long way to go in providing educational opportunities. “Cambodia is rebuilding,” Brooks said. “The nation currently has a shortage of faculty at all levels of their educational system.”
Brooks will research post-conflict reconstruction of higher education and review the current master’s of education curriculum at the Royal University of Phnom Penh in education administration, educational planning and management, and educational technology. Through setting up an educational framework, Brooks plans to strengthen research opportunities for RUPP faculty and students and help prepare for a RUPP-University of Minnesota project in international education, leadership and administration.
She will also deliver a one-week training workshop on research methods to study action and evaluation research in education and work with RUPP faculty to design a research framework in education for student theses and faculty research for 2008-2010. “I’ve also been asked to teach one or two courses in an area for which there is a shortage of in-country resources, as in curriculum (offerings) to master’s students,” Brooks said. “I’ll be able to coach the Cambodian faculty to handle the courses when I’m gone.” Brooks will begin her fellowship at the Royal University of Phnom Penh next spring.
July 27th 2007
Wilson Fellowship RUPP Scholarship Award Ceremony
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
July 27th 2007
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
February 14th 2007
Cambodian diplomat to speak at Texas State
Cambodia’s Deputy Chief of Mission to the United States Meng Eang Nay will participate in a panel discussion on Cambodia, Wednesday, Feb. 14, at 3 p.m. on the 7th floor of Alkek Library. The panel discussion, whose participants will also include Texas State’s Distinguished International Studies Professors, is sponsored by the Center for International Studies. It is free and open to the public.
The panel discussion is part of a year-long focus at Texas State on the Kingdom of Cambodia, a country in need of high-quality modern services in areas ranging from education and healthcare to urban planning and clean water. In 2006, Texas State alumnus Kenneth Wilson and his wife Verena, who wanted to do something to help the people of Cambodia and Southeast Asia, established the Wilson Asian Faculty/Student Exchange program in Texas State’s Center for International Studies, in the College of Liberal Arts. Last fall, Texas State faculty traveled to Cambodia to determine the ways in which Texas State faculty and students can be of most assistance in meeting the country’s needs. For example, faculty in the College of Liberal Arts may apply their expertise to modernizing educational systems, urban planning, public administration, and health psychology, while faculty from other colleges can assist in improving public health through the improvement of healthcare delivery and water quality. Deputy Chief Nay’s visit to the Texas State campus is under the auspices of the Wilson Exchange Program.
Mr. Nay’s position as Deputy Chief of Mission to the U.S. is similar to that of a deputy ambassador. Mr. Nay assumed his position in 2005, having served previously as the director of the International Organizations Department at the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as counselor in the Cambodian Permanent Mission to the United Nations. Mr. Nay holds a master's degree in international law from Moscow University in the Russian Federation. Last year, he helped to launch the Peace Corps’ first program in Cambodia, a rapidly-growing country interested in volunteers who can teach English and support local instructors.
"English is essential," said Nay. "It's important for people to find jobs, particularly in the private sector." He hopes that the Peace Corps volunteers will also increase awareness of HIV/AIDS and provide help in other areas of need, such as agricultural infrastructure development, he said.
Cambodia was listed as one of 12 "hunger hot spots" where the situation was "extremely alarming" in the 2006 Global Hunger Index of the International Food Policy Research Institute. The United Nations' World Food Program appealed for $10 million last year to distribute food to about 1.1 million Cambodians in need.
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