Professors at the State University at Long Beach, in the US state of California, are joining forces with colleagues at the Royal University of Phnom Penh to improve education in Cambodia.
The two universities opened a joint faculty development and research center Tuesday on the RUPP’s second campus, that it shares with the Royal Academy.
At first, the center will have seven computers, with more to be added later. Bradley Hawkins, of the Long Beach school’s department of religious studies, said the program will introduce innovations such as interactive CD-ROMs to teachers.
“There will also be some interchanges between the schools, with some US professors coming here and some Cambodian professors going there,” said Hawkins, an expert in the religious history of Southeast Asia.
The center was set up by Hawkins, Susan O’Connor of the Long Beach school’s department of Asian and Asian-American Studies, and RUPP’s Rector, Pit Chamnan.
The project is funded by a three-year $140,000 grant from the US State Department, aided by US Embassy personnel. Its goals are to increase RUPP’s Internet capacity, train its professors, and help in research and upgrading curriculum.
The universities have worked together on projects during the past five years. Long Beach has a population of about 50,000 Cambodian-Americans, the largest in the US.
