UAB Seniors To Study International Business China

Five University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) seniors majoring in management are headed to China May 27-June 28 for a month of study and cultural enrichment. K.C. Pang, UAB School of Business instructor and trip organizer, hopes the journey is the first of an ongoing exchange of training and networking among UAB, Birmingham and Anshan, China.

May 19, 2006

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Five University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) seniors majoring in management are headed to China May 27-June 28 for a month of study and cultural enrichment. K.C. Pang, UAB School of Business instructor and trip organizer, hopes the journey is the first of an ongoing exchange of training and networking among UAB, Birmingham and Anshan, China.

The students will spend time with the foreign affairs office within the mayor’s office in Anshan, a city in the Liaoning Province, to learn about how China conducts international business. The five UAB participants also will study with students at Anshan Normal University, where Pang was invited to teach in the department of finance and economics. UAB students will team with Anshan students to form mock joint venture companies, representing international partnerships.

“I want them to be almost like a coach to the Chinese students in doing class projects.” In order to best learn about the culture in China, the UAB students will enjoy sports, recreation and dining with the Anshan students.

Seniors participating in the trip are: Leigh Burton, 22, from Dothan; Wesley J. Hagood, 24, from Hoover; Blake Margison, 25, from Champaign, Ill.; Charles M. Murrell Jr., 25, from Vestavia Hills; and Kathy Pham, 23, from Los Angeles.

While in Anshan, Pang will conduct workshops for business executives and professionals to introduce them to UAB and to encourage business executives to attend programs and pursue degrees at UAB.

Promoting cultural exchange through his involvement in the Birmingham Sister Cities Commission, Pang will represent Birmingham Mayor Bernard Kincaid at the Anshan Tourism Festival, said Scotty Colson, assistant to the mayor and director of the Sister Cities Commission. The commission facilitates an exchange of culture, education and business between Birmingham and the rest of the world. The festival features some of the biggest music acts in China and showcases the major tourist sites in the city.

In addition to visiting Anshan, the UAB students will go sightseeing in Beijing, where they also will spend time with editors of a newspaper.

When they return home, participants will share what they learned with international business classes. “It is important for the students to go because they are the future leaders of our country,” Pang said.