International Studies Alumni Making a Global Impact
Hilary Anne Frost-Kumpf helping create global studies major at Illinois-Springfield
by Christy Logan
Near a local compound, just up the coast from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, performers congregate to rhythmic sounds coming from an outdoor theatre stage. Many of the artists are children from the community, being taught ngoma, an indigenous style of drumming and traditional dance popular in Tanzania. Local women hone their crafts and learn entrepreneurial skills at a center for design and preservation of art, and looking on is an Ohio native recovering from sleep-deprivation following a nearly 8,600-mile journey to the African continent.
Hilary Anne Frost-Kumpf
“There could be no possible mental preparation for the realities of the trip,” said Hilary Anne Frost-Kumpf, who spent nine weeks in Tanzania, to study arts and arts management as part of a Stanley Award for Graduate Research Abroad. Frost-Kumpf is a May 2007 graduate of the Master of Arts in interdisciplinary studies with an emphasis in international studies at the University of Iowa and professor at the University of Illinois-Springfield (UIS).
Going back to school to get a second master’s degree after earning a doctorate and working for nearly a decade as a professor is not a typical education path, but that’s exactly what Frost-Kumpf did. Already an associate professor in the Department of Public Administration at UIS, Frost-Kumpf took an educational leave in 2005 to pursue her fourth post-secondary degree at the UI.
“There are very few master’s level degree programs in international studies in the United States,” Frost-Kumpf said of the highly interdisciplinary program at the UI. “Most of these programs have a business or political science focus, but that was not my primary interest. My proposal was to study the arts and arts management issues in Africa. It was the flexibility of the curriculum, together with the number of UI faculty with interests and contacts that made the program attractive to me.”
Already armed with a master’s degree in public administration from The Ohio State University, as well as a doctorate from Penn State, Frost-Kumpf said she simply followed her trend of attending large public institutions mainly among Big Ten Schools which she credits with having “an appreciation of depth, diversity, and accessibility of resources.”
“Hilary decided to ‘re-invent herself’ by going to Iowa and getting another M.A.,” said Stephen Schwark, professor of political science at UIS and colleague of Frost-Kumpf’s.
Bridging her experiences in arts management and consulting with academia, Frost-Kumpf devised the first guidance course providing standards for research expectations to senior international studies majors at the UI, which culminated into the currently titled colloquium, “Research and Final Project Preparation.”
“It was a tremendous help to have someone of her caliber,” said Martha Greer, UI international studies coordinator. “Dr. Frost-Kumpf made significant contributions to the University of Iowa campus in her short time with us. We will continue to benefit from her contributions to our undergraduate program.”
During her time at the UI, Frost-Kumpf was awarded the Stanley Award, which supported her trip to Bagamoyo and Dar es Salaam.
“It was time for me to learn more about the rest of the world,” Frost-Kumpf said of her research trip. “I wanted to take some of the questions I had focused on in the United States, for example the roles of the arts in community development, and ask those questions in a non-U.S. setting.”
L.M. Purnell
Frost-Kumpf at the Office of the Tanzania Cultural Trust Fund
Just across a narrow road from the compound owned by Godwin Kaduma, former director of the Tanzanian Ministry of Culture, the main theatre of Bagamoyo College of the Arts organized rehearsals and performances of African and Swedish theatre artists in residence at the college, Frost-Kumpf said of her intricate look into the lives of the East African artists.
“With Mr. Kaduma’s status as a much revered leader or Mzee – ‘honored elder’ in the country’s native language of Kiswahili – I was able to make contact with many people I needed to interview for my research.”
After completing her master’s degree at Iowa, Frost-Kumpf returned to UIS, where she teaches two sections of an undergraduate course in cultural geography.
“Her syllabi are jewels that provide students with extremely clear guidelines in terms of what is expected of them. She cares about students and their success, and is committed to making students from central Illinois understand that there is a big world out there,” Schwark said.
Frost-Kumpf is also assisting in the development of introductory and capstone courses as well as a recruitment campaign to attract students to a new global studies major expected for approval by the Illinois State Board of Higher Education to debut in the fall of 2009.
“Global awareness is now an expected outcome of the education of all undergraduate students at the University of Illinois-Springfield,” she said of students’ need to become well versed in knowledge of the world.
In the meantime, Frost-Kumpf has plans to return to Tanzania and other African countries to research cultural geographic themes to share with her students, she said, as well as taking advantage of the University of Illinois’ study abroad contacts in both Japan and the United Kingdom for further travel experiences.
“I am very grateful for the support I received from faculty at the University of Iowa,” she said of her experiences as a student in the international studies program. “Their impact will definitely be long-lasting.”