{"114381":{"#nid":"114381","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Bowman Still Leads Study Abroads After 13 Years","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESome teachable moments can\u2019t be created in the classroom, and no one knows this better than Kirk Bowman.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFor example, I was leading a study abroad trip to Cuba, and it was during President Carter\u2019s visit to the country,\u201d said Bowman, director of undergraduate programs in the School of International Affairs. \u201cThe students listened to Carter deliver a speech to a large crowd and had the opportunity to interact with the Cubans around them during and after the speech. This is the sort of thing that can\u2019t happen in a classroom.\u201d \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn his 13 years at Georgia Tech, Bowman has led 15 study abroad groups to countries ranging from Spain to Cuba. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECurrently, he is director of the 2012 Valencia, Spain and Lisbon, Portugal Program in Biology and International Affairs.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI spent many years living in Latin America and feel strongly that you need to experience a culture to understand it,\u201d Bowman said. \u201cI think that all students should spend time abroad while at Tech, and if I think that way, I feel like I need to do it myself.\u201d \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBowman added that the students are generally well-behaved, so leading the trips is not a chore. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThey know we\u2019re not their chaperones,\u201d he said. \u201cPlus, students are easy to incentivize. If you make participation a part of their grades, they are more likely to be engaged and present.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERead on to learn more about Bowman and his time at Tech.\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat did you want to be when you were a child?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EA cowboy, then an oceanographer and then an attorney.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow did you arrive at Georgia Tech?\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI didn\u2019t earn my bachelor\u2019s degree until I was 32. I\u2019d gone through more than five careers, including a stint as an underwater photographer, and I didn\u2019t want my kids to have a dad who didn\u2019t graduate from college. So, I went to college. I became friends with a professor who convinced me to stay in academia and eventually came to Tech because I liked the idea of working in a School of International Affairs. Working in international affairs allows for more eclectic research agendas than I could take on in a School of Political Science. I\u2019ve been able to do educational and research programs that involve biology and international affairs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETell us a bit about your research.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOne of the reasons that spending six to eight weeks each summer with a study abroad program works for me is because my research is field work-driven. I study variations in political and economic development, primarily in countries in Latin America. For example, I\u2019ve looked at the relationship between the militarization of a country and its development.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat piece of technology could you not live without?\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E \u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003EPrescription sunglasses. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhich do you prefer and why: Facebook, Twitter or a world without either?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003EA world without either. These tools may help create relationships \u2014 but they are broad and shallow. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhere is your favorite spot on campus?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt\u2019s the Campanile. When you\u2019re there, Georgia Tech can feel like a regular college campus in the middle of nowhere, rather than in the middle of a city. \u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIf you could have dinner with one person, dead or alive, who would it be?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EPenelope Cruz; she\u2019s gorgeous. And I have enjoyed so many of her films over the years, especially those directed by Almod\u00f3var.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhere is your favorite place to have lunch, and what do you order?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EElliott Street Deli \u0026amp; Pub, and I order the Caprese sandwich.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETell us something about yourself that people might not know.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhen I lived in Las Vegas \u2014 and had a very different career \u2014 I had a chance to party with musical artists such as Alice Cooper. But it wasn\u2019t much of a party with him \u2014 he sipped a Diet Coke most of the time.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESome teachable moments can\u2019t be created in the classroom, and no one knows this better than Kirk Bowman.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Some teachable moments can\u2019t be created in the classroom, and no one knows this better than Kirk Bowman."}],"uid":"27445","created_gmt":"2012-03-05 16:02:08","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:11:48","author":"Amelia Pavlik","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-03-05T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2012-03-05T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"114371":{"id":"114371","type":"image","title":"Kirk Bowman","body":null,"created":"1449178226","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:30:26","changed":"1475894733","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:33","alt":"Kirk Bowman","file":{"fid":"194210","name":"bowman.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bowman_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bowman_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":277433,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/bowman_0.jpg?itok=qsNWrtk0"}}},"media_ids":["114371"],"groups":[{"id":"1259","name":"Whistle"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1747","name":"Kirk Bowman"},{"id":"167425","name":"School of International Affairs"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:amelia.pavlik@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EAmelia Pavlik\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-4142\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}