AWC Professor receives Fulbright-Hays Award
May 17, 2018Monica Ketchum to travel abroad through summer curriculum development program
Yuma, AZ (May 17, 2018) – An Arizona Western College professor will be traveling to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in June, thanks to a Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad grant.
Professor of History Monica Ketchum was awarded a prestigious opportunity to participate in a month-long curriculum building project with 11 other educators from rural Arizona and New Mexico. Most of the costs for the program will be covered.
The project, Central Asia: Crossroads of Civilizations, was designed by University of Arizona and New Mexico Highlands University to be academic, experiential, and practical. Educators will get to study how Central Asia bridges Middle Eastern and Russian cultures. The group will develop lessons to integrate area studies and language exposure into many segments of their curriculum for humanities and social science courses.
Ketchum’s curriculum proposal draws from her background in comparative world history and connection to the U.S. borderlands.
“I plan to look at the region from the perspective of borderlands as a space of cultural and linguistic fluidity. Like our own region, Central Asia is multicultural and multilingual,” she explained.
Ketchum has developed curriculum in the past comparing the Aral Sea, which straddles Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, with the nearby Salton Sea.
“Lake desiccation, public health, and environmental concerns are common themes,” she noted.
“I try to find ways to help students to relate to other parts of the world so that inability to experience distant lands is not a barrier to learning and understanding.”
Project participants will learn about the literature, history, geography, culture, music, languages, politics, art, and architecture of Central Asia from various experts. Teachers will also receive 40 hours of language instruction – 30 in Russian, 10 in Kazakh while studying at Nazarbayev University in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Travel, visits to museum and cultural sites, talks by regional scholars, and interaction with local people will give participants experiences and insights that they can bring back to their classrooms – along with photos and cultural artifacts purchased as part of the project.
Ketchum shared that she was surprised and honored to be chosen for the program.
“My academic background is in Latin American and British/British Empire history. I have never studied Russian or any language that uses the Cyrillic alphabet, so I thought that might limit my chances. I’m excited to have been selected and look forward to the experience.”
Prior to departure, participants have been completing Russian language classes online and studying the history and culture of Central Asia, focusing on Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Besides the history, Ketchum has enjoyed gaining insights into the culture through literature and poetry.
Ketchum earned her bachelor’s and master’s degree in History from California State University, Long Beach. She started teaching part-time for AWC in 2009 and has been working full-time for the college since 2012. She also teaches part-time for both Imperial Valley College and San Diego State University-Imperial Valley Campus.
Contact:
Monica Ketchum
Professor of History
Arizona Western College
monica.ketchum@azwestern.edu
(928) 344-7646