Department of German and Russian Studies
German and Russian Studies @ the MU logo University of Missouri
451 Strickland Hall | Columbia, MO 65211-4170
email: grs@missouri.edu | phone: 573-882-4328 | fax: 573-884-8456
Faculty | Volz

Michael Volz

Michael Volz

 

The Great Wall
The Great Wall

 

 

 

Resident Instruction Instructor and Coordinator of Chinese
Education: MA, East Asian Studies, Stanford University
MA, Second Languages and Cultures, University of Minnesota
Office: 435C Strickland Hall
Phone: 573-882-5457
Email: volzm@missouri.edu

My dual interests in Chinese language and culture and the pedagogy of language instruction were galvanized by the two years I spent as an English language instructor at a college in Sichuan Province in China in the early 1990’s. After earning an MA in Second Languages and Cultures from the University of Minnesota, I taught ESL in the U.S. for 8 years, during which time I also made frequent trips to China, both as a teacher, and as the director of an English language camp in China.

I earned an MA in East Asian Studies at Stanford, with a focus on Chinese Language, and moved to Missouri in the Fall of 2005, where I served for a year as the coordinator of the International Teaching Assistant Program at MU, before beginning as Chinese Program Coordinator and instructor in the Fall of 2006. Since that time we have managed to expand the program by adding a 4th semester of Chinese to the course catalog, and students have the option of studying a 5th semester as part of a topics class. I have also initiated a study abroad program to Deyang, China that will begin in the summer of 2008. I expect to lead a group of 10-15 students in this unique program which stresses giving students opportunities to interact with Chinese people (including a home stay), and to practice Chinese in everyday situations.

Research

I am generally interested in U.S.- Chinese cross-cultural interactions at both the personal and organizational level. My most recent research has focused on how the religious and humanitarian activity of American Christians in China is limited (or not), by Chinese governmental institutions.

Teaching

  • Chinese Civilization (Chinese 2310)
  • Elementary Chinese (Chinese 1100)
  • Chinese Film and Society (Chinese 3380)