Spotlights

In 2003, Pattie Yu went to China after a second heart surgery to trace her father’s humble roots. Sitting on two-by-fours in a dirt-floor house in Hangzhou, “I felt incredibly grateful and grounded. And there, we paid homage to my grandparents,” says public relations expert Pattie Yu (’81 MA, Communication).

Though the Sea Beach of Andhra Pradesh is more than 4 hours from Hyderabad, India, the city is known for its pearls thanks to the Nizam and Qutb Shahi rulers’ great fondness for these rare jewels. Today, this metropolis of more than 8 million, is home to Google’s India headquarters and the Golconda Fort, one of India’s many architectural wonders.

Spring is a great time to visit Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei Province, China. All kinds of cherry blossoms bloom all over the city -– the Japanese Cherry, the Weeping Cherry, the Yunnan Morning Cherry and more.

Dr. Saranaz Barforoush was born in Tehran, Iran in 1982 to a family of educators and dedicated liberals. The country just survived a revolution that ousted a Western-leaning leader, a group of Iranian students had just taken 52 Americans hostage, and the country was suddenly at war with Iraq.

The year is 1980. Two young men are walking to Sribuangern, a remote village in the northwestern mountainous corner of Thailand. The surrounding green rice paddies are evidence of an agrarian, and as yet, moneyless economy. One of the men is Nick Arrindell (’83 PhD, Education), a doctoral student in international education and the other is his interpreter.

By Debbi Mack ('02 MS, Library Science)

There is a massive, commanding rock on the southwestern shores of Cyprus, rising majestically from the Mediterranean Sea’s blue waters. It is said to be Aphrodite’s rock--where she was born, and according to Homer’s Odyssey, where she sought refuge after the affair with Ares.