UNF Sociology Professor Appointed as Fulbright Scholar to Hong Kong

Joanna Norris, Assistant Director

Department of Media Relations and Events

(904) 620-2102

Dr. David Jaffee, professor of sociology and assistant vice president for Undergraduate Studies at the University of North Florida, has been appointed as a Fulbright Scholar and Visiting Professor at the City University of Hong Kong for a 10-month term starting in August.

The Ponte Vedra resident will be working with faculty and administrators at City University of Hong Kong to develop general education courses, curriculum and teaching/learning strategies as well as programming for first-year students. He also plans on conducting research on Hong Kong’s port economy, the world’s second largest port, during his stay in the country.

Jaffee says his teaching grant in Hong Kong is an honor and should be an incredible learning adventure. “This is a unique opportunity to work with faculty, administrators and students in a very different institutional environment to advance the cause of liberal arts education.”

The Fulbright Hong Kong General Education Program is a major initiative in support of the development of broad-based general education in the liberal arts in Hong Kong’s universities as they prepare to introduce four-year undergraduate degree programs in 2012.

Jaffee is among a handful of American experts that will be collaborating with local Hong Kong faculty to design, develop and refine an interdisciplinary, student-centered curriculum, focusing on broad themes of Western and Asian civilizations.

He has been a faculty member at UNF since spring 2000, serving in a variety of capacities at the University, including founding director for the Office of Faculty Enhancement/Center for Instructional and Research Technology as well as associate and acting dean for the College of Arts and Sciences. Prior to coming to UNF, he was an associate professor of Sociology at State University of New York at New Paltz.

Jaffee is currently involved in a research project on Jaxport as a port economy and the implications of the port economy on labor market dynamics, organizational strategies, environmental conditions, logistics and supply chain management and regional economic development. Additionally, he is working on a book project applying organizational tensions identified in “Organization Theory: Tension and Change” to analyze current issues and trends in institutions of higher education.

He is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Sociological Association; Southern Sociological Society; Association of American Colleges and Universities; Association for the Study of Higher Education; and the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics.

Jaffee earned his doctorate in sociology from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and his master’s degree in political science from Washington University-St. Louis. He received his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Florida.

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