From East Asia to North America, Marissa Maurer, a public affairs officer with the U.S. Embassy in Mongolia, traveled across continents to visit Western’s Mongolian Studies program
She also works with the American library there, which provides information about the United States.
“Mongolians know a lot about the [United States],” Maurer said. “But not many Americans know about Mongolia.”
Maurer’s reason for visiting was in part due to the development and expansion of the Mongolian Studies program at Western, said Edward Vajda, a professor and director for the Center for East Asian Studies at Western.
Maurer said she was impressed by how many students were taking Mongolian culture and language classes.
“It shows Americans are becoming more international, and learning these little-known languages,” Maurer said. “The world is becoming a smaller place.”
During her visit, Maurer went to a class about nomads of Eurasia and a Mongolian language class. She also saw the Mongolian book collection at the Western Library.
Many students in the classes asked her about diplomacy work and joining the Foreign Service, she said.
Mongolian Studies gives students information about a quickly developing country that has a strong chance of becoming more involved internationally, Maurer said.
In 2009, Western received a two-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education to expand the international studies curriculum. Part of the grant requirements was expansion of the language program.
Mongolian and Russian were selected for enhancement in Western’s grant proposal, Vadja said.
Russian and Mongolian were chosen because they are not commonly studied languages, Vajda said. Because there are fewer opportunities to study those languages, the U.S. Department of Education found the proposal attractive, and Western received the grant, Vajda said.
Last year, a Mongolian language class was offered for credit for the first time at Western, Vajda said. Before then, Mongolian was taught at Western, but not regularly and not for credit.
Since then, the number of students in Mongolian language, history and culture classes has expanded.
The developments in the program attracted the attention of the United States Ambassador to Mongolia, Jonathan Addleton, who visited Western last year to see the program.
More recently, Maurer selected a Fulbright-sponsored Mongolian language teacher, Erdenetuya Erdenebaatar, who goes by Tuya. Tuya began teaching in September of this year, Vajda said.
Something that Maurer would like to see more of in the Mongolian Studies program is collaboration between students, professors and researchers here and in Mongolia, she said. For example, Mongolian researchers can conduct research at Western, depending on where they are needed.
Students can study at two universities in Mongolia, and Vajda wants to partner with a third.
One student started studying and teaching English classes at the National University of Mongolia on Sept. 1 of this year.
“There will be more opportunities for students to go abroad, more opportunities for students to come here,” Vajda said of potential developments in the program.
The push for education that incorporates more international studies into the curriculum is driven by students, Vajda said.
“What students want in relation to their education is changing,” Vajda said, adding that education has to have an international component because people are thinking more globally.
Even if students enrolled in Mongolian culture or language classes do not directly apply what they have learned, they have much to gain from the classes, Maurer said.
“Maybe they’ll use it or maybe they won’t,” Maurer said. “But either way it’s useful because they learned about a culture and a different way of looking at the world.”
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