Beaudoin, Kunz named as Fulbright Scholars

Faculty will share their expertise with students in Croatia, Japan

University of Washington Tacoma faculty member Kathy Beaudoin, associate professor of education, will be on her way to Rijeka, Croatia, next month and Bill Kunz, associate professor in Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, will leave soon for Okinawa, Japan, as part of the Fulbright Scholars experience.

Kathy Beaudoin

Beaudoin received a Fulbright Scholar grant to teach education students at the University of Rijeka about her subject specialty, working with children who have emotional and behavioral disorders. She also plans some side trips and workshops to give presentations to teachers in neighboring towns.

Beaudoin's family, including her husband, Dan, and children, Guy, 11; Josie, 8; and Audrey, 5, will accompany her. They have rented a house in Rijeka and will home-school the kids. After Beaudoin finishes her Fulbright duties, they plan to hit the rails with Euro-passes and wander around the Continent for a few months.

"From everything we've heard and read about Croatia, it's beautiful," Beaudoin said. Rijeka is a port city at about the same latitude as northern California, so the weather should be mild. It's a very old city, she added, and only about two hours' drive from Venice. She said she's always been interested in that part of the world. "It's the opportunity of a lifetime," she said.

Making logistical arrangements for the trip was easier for Beaudoin than for many Fulbright scholars because she had an inside connection. UW Tacoma Chancellor Pat Spakes had traveled to Croatia previously, and Spakes introduced Beaudoin to people at the University of Rijeka. Beaudoin said that, among other arrangements, those contacts helped her find the rental house, which has a view of the Adriatic Sea. "They've done everything they could for me," she said. "It will be a better experience because of Pat's connections."

Beaudoin speaks a little of the Croatian language, which is called "Hrvatski," but she said that won't be a problem since most young students are fluent in English.

Part of the mission of the Fulbright program is to encourage the sharing of cultures and exchange of ideas. Beaudoin plans to take every opportunity to experience daily life in Croatia so she can relate it to others in the United States, and she will likewise be an ambassador for her own country. She'll be packing along souvenir gifts from home to share with new friends, including some Stretch Island fruit leather, Almond Roca and UW Husky gear.

Bill Kunz

Kunz will teach students at the University of the Ryukyus about U.S.-style media and its role in society. Located in Okinawa, which is within Japan's Ryukyus islands, the university is one of the largest and most prestigious in Japan.

"It's exciting," Kunz said. "I've always wanted to do this."

Kunz is also taking his family with him, including wife, Miyuki Taguchi, and 5-year-old twins Maya and Tomo. They're leaving in mid-September, and Kunz said his faculty-member sponsor at the university is helping them locate housing.

Maya and Tomo will begin kindergarten in Okinawa. They are bi-lingual, and their mother speaks only Japanese to them, so Kunz doesn't expect any language difficulties for the twins. "It's amazing, the ability that kids have for language acquisition. It's tough to learn as an adult, but hearing the kids switch back and forth between Japanese and English is amazing," he said.

Kunz said he's not sure what to expect from his Japanese university students, but is looking forward to the challenge. "The language ability of students varies," he noted. And Japanese classroom schedules are very different from their American counterparts. In the United States, students typically meet for about four hours of class time a week, but classes in Japan meet for just an hour and a half a week.

"I'm not sure, because of the language and culture difference, how it'll work. It'll take some adjusting," Kunz said. He's curious and eager to find out how Okinawa may differ from bigger cities, such as Tokyo and Kyoto, which are more formal and faster paced.

In early February, as soon as he finishes with the academic term in Japan, Kunz will return to the States. But he'll be leaving again two days later for British Columbia, Canada, where he's producing the curling portion of the NBC network's coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics.