BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

07/04/2005

Bound for Belarus

By SCOTT WHIPPLE, Staff Writer

Editor's Note: This is part 2 of the 'Cultural ambassador to Belarus' series that began Sunday in The Herald Press.

William E. Tracey Jr. was the first CCSU faculty member to visit and teach in Belarus. During the summer of 1998 he traveled to Minsk for the purpose of teaching faculty development workshops to 20 Belarusian professors. Topics of his workshops were: using case studies in business classes; active learning activities; implementing computer business simulation and incorporation of active research activities in a business class.

In addition to teaching the professional development workshops he was invited to develop a curriculum for a new MBA program. He found workshop participants eager to learn new teaching methods, although not all were enamored of this "Western-style teaching."

There were two philosophies among the participants -- one group was eager to adopt new strategies and techniques -- the other was critical and sometimes combative.

"I actually enjoyed this dichotomy," Tracey says. "We were participating in an activity where students estimated how much time typical managers/administrators in different levels of management (i.e., CEO's, police chiefs, factory general managers, and school principals) spend on different tasks; i.e., telephone calls, scheduled appointments/meetings, management by walking around (MBWA). The activity is concluded by discussing the amounts of time a manager spends (in percentages) of her/his day and by turning that into a discussion (hopefully lively!) of student assumptions, management tasks and the reality of the workplace."

Tracey says that during the discussion two students became agitated and began yelling at him in Russian. The interpreter told him they were accusing him of being a "fraud." They argued that Tracey's percentages as reported on the blackboard did not add up to a perfect 100 percent. He explained this was ok because the figures were estimates (within 1 percent) to expedite the activity and facilitate discussion. However, they told him there was no room for "estimates" in the Belarusian classroom, that all "economic theory" must be exact, and that mathematical science was one of the "purest." says Tracey:

"With the help of my progressive students I was able to get into a discussion about how management and most of business was not an 'exact' science, but still had valid research that contributes to learning activities like the one we were doing. After class, I went online and found the paper used to develop the activity. We discussed it the next day. All the students agreed the study was interesting and used valid methodology although it was 'not like' what Belarusians did in their research."

Tracey adds that teaching in Belarus is "challenging."However being flexible, "doing your homework" and not being threatened by challenges and opinions other than yours, is crucial.

"I also found myself challenging my students to develop new materials (cases and activities) that reflect the business culture in Belarus," he says. "They seemed to welcome the opportunity to create new materials and opportunities to facilitate the teaching of business."

After being alone in Minsk for two weeks (Tracey doesn't speak Russian) he was happy to have 10 of his CCSU colleagues join him.

"I'll never forget how excited they were to visit the 'former Soviet Union' (we were all Cold War children) and learn about a new country," he says. "Everyone wanted to try local restaurants and visit cultural attractions."

A standard joke was "I didn't travel this far to eat at McDonald's." However, after two evenings of dining in some of the better Minsk restaurants the group wanted to go to McDonald's.

"The food in Belarus is fine," Tracey says," if you like pork, fish eggs and pancakes."

Tracey points out that McDonald's is an attraction -- not only for its worldwide consistency -- but because it has the cleanest restrooms in Russia.

"Public toilets if found are best left unfound," he says.

Unfortunately, his visiting colleagues enjoyed the traditions of ballet, opera, symphony, the trip to the Blue Lakes, Mir and the Russian sauna less than he did. Since that trip to Minsk, most ask him why he wants to go back.

"I'm proud of the many Belarusian friends who invited me to their homes for dinner," he says. "They live in modest apartments, but pride in their home and hospitality are enormous."

Tracey has lectured on International Business as a visitor to the Belarusian State Economic University.

The greatest difficulty in giving lectures is the language barrier. He requires a translator, and has worked with interpreters in Belarus, Sicily and China.

"When being interpreted you need to progress slowly and ask lots of questions," he says. "I find questions from students the best indicator of how my content is getting through."

Last year, Tracey gave another guest lecture at the European Humanities University to a group of 30 undergraduates. They all spoke English and he lectured without translation. After speaking on the topic of business development, he opened to the group for questions.

"I try to stay away from Belarusian politics but the students get right to the point," he says. "'Do you realize what it is like here?' asked one student. I could only answer 'Not really, I have my impression but I am an American.' The students persisted. (So) I congratulated them on being bright, multilingual and seemingly more in tune with local and global politics than most of my American students. After the lecture and questions the vice rector thanked me for my positive comments and making the students feel good about themselves."

Tracey says a lack of business case studies in Belarus exists.

A search for English language materials on Belarus produced only one publication.

He hopes to increase the availability of materials in English, particularly, case studies featuring post Soviet entrepreneurship.

The impact of this project on his career should be significant. Working and living in Belarus as a Fulbright participant enables him to observe cultural, business, educational and political systems little understood in the West.

Although he has visited Belarus several times and has made friends there, his new goal is to return to CCSU and contribute his experience to the International Business degree program and International Management classes.

"My teaching will be richer with new examples," he says. "I hope to expand the CCSU international field studies offerings by developing a course to Belarus and neighboring countries."

Tracey will also look for an opportunity to develop additional projects for CCSU.Past grants in Belarus provided funding for travel, teaching and research opportunities for the School of Business faculty. Now he wants to include faculty from other campus schools and students.

Christopher Galligan, acting dean of Central's School of Business, says Tracey's visit to Belarus "confirms the school's commitment to establishing a global presence.

"The relationship he's developing enhances the reputation of the school, and contributes real-world content to our international business curriculum."

Scott Whipple can be reached at swhipple@newbritainherald.com or by calling (860) 225-4601, Ext. 224.

Source:

http://www.newbritainherald.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14801778&BRD=1641&PAG=461&dept_id=10110&rfi=6


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