Dalton State College Associate Professor of Political Science Baogang Guo was recently named the inaugural recipient of the C. Tracy Harrington Award for Inter-Institutional Collaboration in International Education.

The award, which is sponsored by the University System of Georgia (USG), honors an individual, program, partnership, consortium or institution that has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to collaboration activities between two or more USG institutions in international education.

“The selection committee was particularly impressed with Dr. Guo’s persistence and commitment to develop and implement successfully the USG Asia Council-approved ‘Summer Study in China: General Studies Program,’” said Richard Sutton, Director of International Programs and Senior Advisor for Academic Affairs for the USG.

Guo, a native of Zhengzhou in the People’s Republic of China, began planning for the Summer Study in China program in 2003 after he had spent a summer semester teaching at the Summer Study in Paris program.

“I liked the way the program in France was organized, and I began to wonder if a similar program could be developed for summer study in China,” says Guo, who is a DSC representative in the USG Asia Council.

Over the next few years, Guo and Dr. Wilson Huang of Valdosta State University began developing a blueprint for a Summer Study in China program.
“At first, a lot of people told us that the program would not make, that there was not a market for it, and that many people have a fear of China,” recalls Guo.

“But we began recruiting, and in the summer of 2005, we took a group of 21 students to study abroad. This past summer, we had 27 students, and we expect to take more than 30 students in 2007.”

The Summer Study in China is now the largest program sponsored by the USG Asia Council, according to USG officials.

Guo, who began teaching at Dalton State in 2000, earned a PhD in Comparative Politics, International Relations and American Politics from Brandeis University and his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Zhengzhou University. He is currently the Associate Editor of The Journal of Chinese Political Science and President-elect for the Association of Chinese Political Studies.

According to Richard Sutton, the USG committee that selected Dr. Guo to receive the C. Tracy Harrington Award was impressed not only by his development of the Summer Study in China program, but also by a project that he envisioned for an upcoming faculty development seminar to China and South Korea slated for the summer of 2007.

“This seminar will enable faculty to gain a deeper understanding about the history, culture, and current changes that are taking place in these two countries,” Sutton said. “Those who participate will learn strategies to internationalize their curriculum and teaching practices once they return to campus.”