Saint Martin’s to welcome Karelian student delegation
July, 25 2011
LACEY, WASHINGTON — Every other summer since 1990, students
from Karelian State Pedagogical University have traveled to
Duluth, Minnesota, to study English language and culture at the
College of St. Scholastica. This year, the students also will
spend a week at Saint Martin’s University, a fellow Benedictine
institution, where they will study Native American life and
culture.
Many at Saint Martin’s hope the students’
inaugural visit, July 28-Aug. 3, will forge the
beginning of a rich relationship with the Karelian
school, a highly respected teacher-training
institution in the Russian Federation.
Few Americans are familiar with the Republic of
Karelia, but it shares some parallels with
Washington state, including a geographic position in
the northwest corner of the federation and heavily
forested lands that have made Karelia a center for
the timber and forest products industries. The
republic shares a border with Finland and is neatly
wedged between the White and Baltic seas. The
pedagogical school is located in Petrozavodsk,
Karelia’s capitol.
Jamie Olson, Ph.D., assistant professor of
English at Saint Martin’s and one of the leaders of
the University’s English Language Camp, says he
thinks the next step will be shared participation by
Saint Martin’s students and St. Scholastica students
at the pedagogical school’s Russian Language Camp.
“Generally, Saint Martin’s has had many
connections with Asia, and that’s very positive, but
a connection with Russia is something new,“ he
explains. “We hope this relationship will lead to
faculty exchanges, study abroad programs and much
more.”
A St. Scholastica alumnus, Olson is fluent in
Russian and attended the Russian Language Camp twice
in Petrozavodsk during his undergraduate years.
Since joining the Saint Martin’s faculty in 2008, he
has organized a Russian film series and taught
Russian literature in translation. He and fellow
English Language Camp co-director Jeff Birkenstein,
Ph.D., also are members of a University committee
exploring more study abroad opportunities for Saint
Martin’s students.
“An undergraduate education isn’t quite complete
without some experience outside the United States,”
Olson says. “When students interact with people from
other cultures, it broadens their understanding of
the world, as well as their knowledge of who they
are and how they fit into that world.”
Visits such as that of the Karelian delegation
provide another avenue for cross-cultural experience
and for Saint Martin’s Benedictine values,
especially that of hospitality, he says.
The 14 Karelian students and their two faculty
members will visit Mount Rainier and the Squaxin
Island Museum, and will participate in a sightseeing
excursion to Seattle. In class, they will study
Native American fiction, poetry and culture. Guest
lecturer will be Native American rights activist
Billy Frank, Jr., who has chaired the Northwest
Indian Fisheries Commission for most of the past 30
years. He will speak about his activism and
leadership in the Native American community and on
environmental issues.
Olson says the students’ visit includes a
home-stay weekend with Washington families. They
will conclude their time in Lacey with a farewell
banquet on Wednesday, August 3, at 6 p.m. in Saint
Martin’s Norman Worthington Conference Center.
“The Karelian students are excited about the
opportunity to meet Americans and speak English with
native speakers,” he says. “They’ve all heard of
Seattle and are excited about that, as well.
‘Grunge’ still has a hold on Russian kids, and they
also enjoy baseball, rock ‘n’ roll and American
automobiles.”
Saint Martin’s University is an independent
four-year, coeducational university located on a
380-acre wooded campus in Lacey, Washington.
Established in 1895 by the Catholic Order of Saint
Benedict, the University is one of 14 Benedictine
colleges and universities in the United States and
Canada, and the only one west of the Rocky
Mountains. Saint Martin’s University prepares
students for successful lives through its 21 majors
and six graduate programs spanning the liberal arts,
business, education and engineering. Saint Martin’s
welcomes 1,250 students from many ethnic and
religious backgrounds to its main campus, and 650
more to its extension campuses located at Joint Base
Lewis-McChord, Everett College, Centralia College
and Tacoma Community College. Visit the Saint
Martin’s University website at
www.stmartin.edu.
For more information:
Jamie Olson, Ph.D.
Assistant professor, department of English
Saint Martin’s University
360-438-4302
jolson@stmartin.edu
Jeff Birkenstein, Ph.D.
Associate professor; chairman, department of English
Saint Martin’s University
360-486-8846
jbirkenstein@stmartin.edu
Jennifer Fellinger
Vice president of marketing and communications
Saint Martin’s University
360-438-4332
jfellinger@stmartin.edu