The China Chronicles: Zicklin Prof Goes East

Zicklin School faculty member Jaime Flomenbaum recently returned from two months living and teaching in China. He sat down with Zicklin News to tell us all about it.

Zicklin News: Why did you go to China?

Jaime Flomenbaum: The chair of my department (the Paul H. Chook Department of Information Systems and Statistics) invited me to teach a course at the Southwest University of Finance and Economics (SWUFE) in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province in southwestern China. Baruch College has a joint BBA 3+1 program with SWUFE, in which accounting undergraduates spend their first three years at SWUFE before most of them transfer to Baruch for their senior year. Students who fulfill the degree requirements of both institutions earn dual bachelor’s degrees from SWUFE and Baruch College.

ZN: What did you teach?

JF: I taught an introductory course in computer information systems, CIS 2200. It’s basically CIS for non-CIS students.

ZN: How many students did you have?

JF: I taught two sections with about 60 to 80 students in each class. It was a pretty heavy workload for me because it was a semester-long course condensed into seven weeks.

ZN: What were some differences between the students at SWUFE and the students here?

JF: Almost no one is late to class there! At SWUFE, students live on campus and study full time, so they just walk from their dorms to the classroom. At Baruch and Zicklin, most of the students are commuters and also work part-time jobs, so they have more difficulty not being late. Other than that, people are people—some are very extroverted and want to connect with you and find out about life in the U.S., while others are more shy and quiet.

One of Chengdu’s biggest attractions is the Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.

ZN: Tell us about the city you were in, Chengdu.

JF: Chengdu is a city of about 22 million people and is home to the world-famous Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. It’s a lovely city, very dynamic and vibrant, and the people are extremely welcoming. The quality of life in Chengdu is insane—people live well, they go out for dinner, they spend time in the parks, where you’ll see families having picnics and people putting on music and dance shows, doing choreographed dances and other collective activities. Also, the food is amazing. They eat better than anyone else in the world.

ZN: Tell us more about that.

Jaime (center, with crown) celebrates his birthday with SWUFE students and faculty.

JF: The food is very fresh with high-quality ingredients. SWUFE has more than 100 food vendors who will cook to order right in front of you. As I mentioned, Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan province so the food is very spicy. I love spicy food, but this goes to another level. They’re famous for hotpot—my students took me out for hotpot at the beginning and the end of the session, and the SWUFE staff took me out for hotpot to celebrate my birthday.

ZN: Sounds delish. Where there any downsides to your time in China?

JF: The language! Outside of SWUFE, no one speaks English. So the food is amazing but it’s difficult to know what you’re getting because certain names don’t translate well, like “Ants Climbing a Tree,” which is a stir-fry of glass noodles and minced pork. Although, come to think of it, American dishes also have names that don’t translate well, like “pigs in a blanket” or “surf and turf.”

ZN: Is there anything else you’d like to add?

JF: Yes. My students were freshmen, so I’m looking forward to seeing most, if not all, of them in three years when they take advantage of the opportunity to come to Baruch and Zicklin for their senior year of college.

Categories: Faculty, News, Student News