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ByBeth Kalisiak

An hour and a half north of London, in Canterbury, Steve Alvin, history instructor, is teaching an American history survey course at Canterbury Christ Church College, or C4, as it is referred to by the locals of that area.

Alvin left on Labor Day and will return just before Christmas. He is sponsored by the Illinois Consortium of International Studies and Programs, ICISP.

While abroad Alvin has two main responsibilities: "One, to be a den mother for Illinois students who go through ICISP who are studying in Canterbury coming from the approximately

40 different community colleges in Illinois. Two, is teaching a class, the first part of American

History Survey."

Alvin is looking forward to learning new methods of teaching and applying them to his classes at IVCC.

"The ideas of what I can learn and bring back to use here," is his main objective. "The big

difference in England's education system is they sign up for an entire year. Most of the time there are no tests, only a final exam and a paper, where here there are weekly tests or tests every four weeks. That can be more of a challenge for American students."

Alvin also opted to live in England because of the country's history, the language, to better understand and relate to students who participate in this exchange program, and become a better promoter of it.

His interest in England is not only professional but personal. He likes the history of the country. One of his goals is to visit Wales and its many castles.

"They (castles) are more concentrated there than in any other part of England."

He also wants the experience of living in a foreign country.

"So, this gives me the opportunity to explore and visit places I've only read about. It has a fascinating history and most of the sources are in English as opposed to Dutch, German, or

French."

Side trips will be offered to many places including Paris, Edinburgh, Stonehenge, Dover, and many trips to London.

Alvin said he has a limit to his traveling opportunities due to work, however. "I'm there to teach, not to travel."

This will be Alvin's third time in Europe, but first time teaching. He has not been there since 1988 when he did research for his dissertation in the Netherlands.

"I liked it a lot," he said.

Like any good scholar he has done some studying on his home for the semester.

"It's a historical city, the Archbishop of Canterbury is there."

Funding for this experience is coming from different sources: the college in Canterbury supplies his apartment, ICISP provides transportation money, and he receives his regular salary from IVCC. The Canterbury college owns the apartment complex, about a three minute walk off campus.

Alvin, who is the contact person for ICISP at IVCC, said the process for instructors who want to participate in the program starts with the Canterbury College deciding what disciplines they want instructors from. Canterbury sends that list to the ICISP people who forward the list to the contact person at IVCC and other colleges that participate.

Alvin then notifies IVCC faculty who need to apply and get approval from their division chair and academic affairs. Interviews by C4 and ICISP personnel are the final step.

Alvin's classes have been taken over by art-time IVCC staff members and a recently hired

history and political science instructor, Amanda Bigelow.