This May, President William N. LaForge will return to Perm State University in Russia for the second time as a Fulbright Fellow.Delta State University President William N. LaForge will continue his teaching role at Perm State University this summer as a visiting Fulbright Fellow.
Beginning in May, LaForge will lead a specialized course on public policy, business-government relations and business lobbying in the U.S. The topics directly align with LaForge’s successful careers in Washington, D.C. as a lawyer and professor.
The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.
His course will host Perm State undergraduate and graduate students majoring in law, business, municipal management and government relations. Professors and students from other majors will also be invited to the course — with a goal of involving a wide range of students and professionals from interdisciplinary fields.
“I am looking forward to my return visit to Perm State,” said LaForge. “I always find the students and faculty very challenging and very open to Western thought, especially with our legal system and the way business interacts with government.”
The president began his relationship with Perm State as a visiting professor in 2008 through the Center for International Legal Studies and returned in 2011 as a Fulbright Fellow.
“At the larger level, it’s important for the United States to engage in educational and cultural exchanges with universities around the world,” added LaForge. “That goal is at the center of the Fulbright program. Bringing it to our university level, this sort of collaboration further enhances the exchange relationship we have developed for faculty and students.”
The upcoming visit also aligns with Delta State’s partnership with Perm State in The U.S.-Russia Peer-to-Peer Dialogue Program “Rivers of Music — Rivers of Culture.” Thanks to a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Department of State in 2014, the two universities are collaborating on projects, hosting virtual classrooms, and providing exchanges and internships at both institutions.
Utilizing music as the universal language, both groups are part of the long-term project focusing on exploring the cultures, histories and heritages of the two countries.
Svetlana Polyakova and Elena Gritsenko are leading the program at Perm State and have maintained a relationship with LaForge since he first taught at their institution. Through the grant, the duo brought a group of Russian students and instructors to Delta State in October of 2014 to attend the university’s inaugural International Conference on the Blues.
During the conference, Polyakova and Gritsenko discussed how blues music is being used to raise cross-cultural awareness between the American and Russians students enrolled in the course.
“Our students have learned a lot about the grassroots, U.S. heritage and the real life in the USA,” said Polyakova. “The learning is not coming from the glamorous Hollywood blockbusters or politically distorting media flow — it’s coming from real exchanges. This is what makes our project so unique, by developing true and open relationships.”
In May, a group of DMI students, and Delta State faculty and staff will visit Perm State to partake in a similar exchange — The Permski Krai Immersion Experience. The group will travel to Perm during its festival season, and DMI students and faculty will also lead a mini DMI summer camp experience for Perm students.
“This grant and the opportunities for our students and faculty are great examples of how we can foster excellent academic exchanges with foreign university partners,” said LaForge. “It will allow students at both universities — 7,000 miles apart — to participate in common theme programming. This is a wonderful program that supports our international exchange program goals.”
Follow all developments of this international partnership at www.deltastate.edu.
