The trade mission focused on the importance of deepening economic ties and fostering greater cooperation between the Prairie State and our nation’s neighbor to the south.

The delegation engaged with Mexican counterparts to discuss enhancing collaboration in key sectors such as agriculture and food processing, finance, and manufacturing, all of which are vital to growing the Illinois economy and creating jobs. A hub for international investment, Illinois is the top state in the Midwest for new business creation.

Freeman, along with leaders at the University of Illinois System and City Colleges of Chicago, joined the delegation as representatives from higher education. Illinois is a top 5 state for education and a top 10 state for STEM graduates and IT jobs. The state’s workforce development programs also train a pipeline of talent for critical emerging fields.

“With any company looking to relocate to Illinois—be it in manufacturing, technology, agriculture or other industries—workforce characteristics and development are always primary concerns,” Dr. Freeman said. “Companies want an educated workforce, education partners who are willing to work with them to customize training programs, and access to faculty at research institutions. It was important to have someone speak directly to the mission of the large number of educational institutions in Illinois.”

MOU with State of Mexico

At the beginning of the four-day trip, Gov. Pritzker signed an Addendum to the Illinois-Mexico Sister-State Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) alongside Mexico Governor Delfina Gómez Álvarez. The State of Mexico is located in the densely populated central region of the country. The agreement emphasizes the strong ties between the two entities with a focus on bilateral trade.

“We’ve had a really, really productive time here,” Pritzker said in a social media post at the trip’s end. “We’ve been able to talk about the greatness of the State of Illinois and the business opportunity that’s ahead for Mexican investors (and) Mexican companies, which we’re already in discussions with about coming to the state and creating jobs and building their factories and bringing their headquarters.”

Robust bilateral trade between Illinois and Mexico exceeded $32 billion in 2024, making Mexico Illinois’ second-largest export market. With a diverse array of exports, including chemicals, agricultural products and machinery, Illinois has solidified its role as a key trading partner for Mexico.

Additionally, Mexico is Illinois’ third-largest import market, with Illinois importing over $19 billion in goods, including beverages, transportation equipment and electronics. The growing number of Mexico-based companies in Illinois further illustrates the strong economic ties between the two regions.

‘Geography is destiny’

Freeman described the whirlwind trade mission, which had little down time, as both exhausting and exhilarating.

“It was really about representing Illinois and leveraging relationships,” Dr. Freeman said.

“Amidst these uncertain times, there are things that won’t change,” she added. “Geography is destiny. We will continue to share a border with Mexico, and it will be mutually beneficial for Mexico and Illinois to continue our longstanding positive and productive economic relationships. This subnational diplomacy effort really offers the opportunity to look each other in the eyes and remind each other about the value of our partnerships.”

Building relationships

Freeman said it also was important to make new personal connections—both with leaders in Mexico and in Illinois.

Noting there are 13,000 U.S. students studying abroad in Mexico and the country is “eager for more,” she was able to investigate and begin conversations about potential student and faculty exchange opportunities. From a recruitment perspective, the president worked to elevate NIU’s brand among other universities. She also made new contacts in the agriculture sector who are interested in the work of the Northern Illinois Center for Community Sustainability.

“Everything is in the very early stages, but we certainly made contacts that I think could be very useful,” the president said. “There will be lots of follow-up.”

The Illinois delegation included leaders from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA), Intersect Illinois, business leaders and economic development directors in Chicago’s collar counties.

Freeman talked at length with delegation members from the business community on topics such as creating internships and scholarships. One entrepreneur she spoke with voiced interest in hiring NIU students and is planning a visit to campus. Additionally, Freeman discussed workforce needs with Illinois economic development leaders and the needs of NIU students with Illinois lawmakers.

“People rarely are together in this type of setting,” President Freeman said. “So it was wonderful to talk about NIU students, their talents and their needs, and the great return on investment in NIU.”

]]> https://niutoday.info/2024/09/17/university-libraries-receives-grant-for-a-preservation-project-on-indonesian-oral-traditions/ Tue, 17 Sep 2024 12:30:40 +0000 https://niutoday.info/?p=181981 ]]> Hao Phan, Southeast Asia Curator at NIU’s University Libraries, has been awarded a $19,500 grant by UCLA’s Modern Endangered Archives Program for a preservation project focused on Indonesian oral traditions. The project, titled “Surveying the Recordings of the Oral Traditions Association, Indonesia,” aims to carry out a comprehensive survey of the audiovisual recordings created by researchers affiliated with the Oral Traditions Association/ Asosiasi Tradisi Lisan (ATL) in Indonesia.

Established in 1993, ATL is a non-governmental organization accredited by UNESCO, dedicated to the preservation and study of Indonesia’s rich oral traditions. Over the past three decades, ATL has provided training and supported research in this field, resulting in the assembly of a significant collection of approximately 1,000 audiovisual recordings. The recordings include folktales, songs, traditional theater performances, rituals, dialects, and interviews from different regions of Indonesia, one of the world’s most culturally diverse nations, composed of 18,000 islands and inhabited by 279 million people.

The recordings are valuable not only as records of Indonesian culture but also as primary research materials for scholars of Indonesian Studies, which is part of the Southeast Asian Studies program at NIU.  The recordings are currently at risk, stored in outdated or near-obsolete formats such as cassette tapes, VHS, VCDs, CDs, and DVDs, across 30 provinces in Indonesia. They are housed in ATL’s offices that lack proper climate control and preservation measures, leaving them vulnerable to deterioration. Additionally, they are not accompanied by bibliographic information for proper organization and access. This planning project seeks to survey these recordings, with the goal of preparing them for digitization in a subsequent grant. The project will run from November 2024 to June 2025.

After all, more than 2,000 temples and shrines dot the landscape of Bagan, the ancient royal capital of Myanmar. It was here in 1988, amid the country’s political unrest, that a nearly 1,000-year-old statue of a rare standing Buddha went missing, snatched from a remote temple cave.

So begins the saga of its return, a story that spans nearly a quarter century.

The priceless sculpture would travel from Myanmar (also known as Burma) to Bangkok, then to San Francisco, New York and DeKalb. It would be saved from the auction block, draw the involvement of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and become the subject of a precedent-setting lawsuit.

And thanks to some super sleuthing by a now retired Northern Illinois University professor, the legal expertise of an NIU alumnus and the persistence of a current NIU professor, the stolen statue finally made its way home just recently.

“This is a remarkable story,” says Christopher McCord, dean of NIU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

At its core are Richard Cooler, professor emeritus of art history and founder and former director of the Center for Burma Studies, and Catherine Raymond, the center’s current director.

McCord calls them heroes.

“During a period of great tension between the U.S. and Myanmar governments, NIU faculty members went out of their way to preserve Myanmar’s cultural heritage and fight against the trade in stolen antiquities. They then worked to ensure that the statue was cared for and safely returned to the country in a way that would preserve its historic and religious value.”

‘Turning the Wheel of The Law’

The sandstone sculpture, with traces of stucco and red paint, is just 22-inches tall.

“Only 11 images of this iconographic type are known and all were created for the Burmese King Kyanzittha, who reigned from 1084 to 1112,” Cooler says. “They depict a Buddha who, while standing, gestures with both hands in front of his chest. This gesture symbolizes the Buddha’s first and most important sermon, known as ‘Turning the Wheel of The Law,’ in which he shared his discovery of the path to Nirvana.”

When the historical Buddha, Gautama, is depicted preaching his First Sermon, he is always shown seated. Cooler says that because this image is standing, it could also be a representation of King Kyanzittha telling his people that he will “open the gates to heaven and let all enter,” as he had stated at his coronation. Or, the image could represent the king delivering his first sermon after his rebirth as a Future Buddha.

“I have concluded from an extensive survey of the sculptural program in each of Kyanzittha’s temples that these images are deliberately ambiguous as to whether they depict a Buddha or the king, or both simultaneously,” Cooler says. “It is known that ancient kings presented themselves verbally to their people in this ambiguous way as a means of justifying their divine right to rule. These 11 images are the first examples in Myanmar of this political concept being depicted in sculpture.”

Cooler himself first encountered the sandstone statue in its original temple location during the mid-1970s, while conducting research in Myanmar. But it was in the mid-1990s that the iconic image became the focus of his personal quest.

Wheels of justice grind slowly

After the statue was stolen from Myanmar by an unknown individual, it wound up in Bangkok and was sold to an art dealer in San Francisco. In 1991, it was listed for sale by Sotheby’s, the famous auction house in New York.

Based on an anonymous tip, however, the FBI impounded the statue prior to the sale to conduct an investigation. After three years of research, authorities were unable to advance the criminal case, and it ended without prosecution. But the Unites States initiated a civil suit to determine the Buddha’s rightful owner.

It was then, Cooler recalls, that he was contacted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York, requesting help in establishing the sculpture’s provenance.

“I recognized this was an extraordinarily important image for understanding the development of Burmese art and kingship, and that it rightfully belonged to the Burmese people,” Cooler says.

Catherine Raymond and Richard Cooler

A ‘break’ in the case

Cooler checked his library and located several photographs of the statue, taken when it was displayed in the temple cave. The photographs showed that the sculpture had been reassembled after being broken through at the shins, probably during a 19th-century earthquake. Whoever snatched the statue left its base behind.

Not coincidentally, the statue mounted for sale at Sotheby’s was missing its feet.

Cooler requested and received permission to pursue the case on behalf of the Myanmar government and was joined in this endeavor by his former NIU graduate student, attorney Jack Daulton, a specialist in art and entertainment law. Daulton pursued the legal case, while Cooler traveled to Burma in search of the lower part of the statue.

Amazingly, he found just that. After the 1988 theft of the sculpture and other images at the temple cave in Bagan, Burmese archaeologists had moved remaining artifacts to a storehouse for safekeeping.

Soon after Cooler’s find, the art dealer who had purchased the statue and put it up for auction relinquished any ownership claim. A U.S. District Court judge ruled Myanmar was the rightful owner.

Daulton wrote at the time that he believed it was the first case in which Myanmar had pursued the return of cultural property in U.S. courts. “In fact, I believe this case represents the first instance in which a Southeast Asian nation has litigated a cultural property claim in the United States,” he wrote.

Legal expenses had been covered by Daulton and Cooler, and as a gesture of appreciation, the government of Myanmar agreed to allow NIU to exhibit the Buddha statue.

Diplomatic hurdles

Burmese Ambassador in Paris HE U Kyaw Zwar Minn

But the story doesn’t end there.

Before his retirement, Cooler made several attempts to return the Buddha image. But the task wasn’t so easy.

Diplomatic relations between Myanmar and the United States were strained, with the American government having removed its ambassador in the wake of the controversial 1990 elections. Cooler needed to ensure the antiquity would land in the hands of the proper authorities.

“The statue wasn’t returned because relations between the U.S. and Burma were too frayed during that period, and I retired in 2001,” Cooler says.

In 2002, Catherine Raymond  succeeded Cooler as Burma Studies center director at NIU. In 2006, she initiated discussions in her native France, which maintained diplomatic relations with Myanmar, concerning alternative ways to return the image.

After years of repeated proposals to the Burmese Embassy in Paris, she contacted the new Myanmar ambassador to France in 2011, and ambassador U Kyaw Zwar Minn championed the cause. He saw to it that funds were provided for the sculpture’s return.

“Working with the ambassador and his U.S. emissary, we made arrangements to ship the statue to the Myanmar embassy in Paris and from there to the National Museum in Yangon, Myanmar,” Raymond says. “It arrived in late 2012.”

A warm reception

As it happens, Raymond and NIU’s McCord were members of an Institute for International Education (IIE) delegation representing 10 U.S. universities that visited Myanmar in February. The delegation sought to learn more about the state of higher education in the country and to explore potential partnerships.

During the visit, Raymond received a “Certificate of Honour” from the Myanmar Ministry of Culture during a ceremony at the National Museum, covered by various news media. Raymond was surprised to see the top of the statue and its base were reunited.

“I obviously was very familiar with the top two thirds of the statue, but I suddenly became worried over whether the two pieces would be a perfect match,” she said. “The statue wasn’t reassembled, but we could see the top and base did fit together. I was touched by the ceremony, because it was evident how much the Burmese really care about this antiquity.”

Raymond is working with the National Museum on an exhibit that will tell the story of the statue’s journey and reunion.

U Ko Ko Hlaing, chief political adviser to President Thein Sein, joins NIU’s Chris McCord, Catherine Raymond and Amy Levin

“The return of the statue, coinciding with the start of our visit and a thawing of U.S.-Myanmar relations, couldn’t have come at a better moment,” McCord adds.

“Both the U.S. and Myanmar governments were absolutely thrilled, and Catherine Raymond was justly singled out for recognition and thanks at every place the U.S. delegation visited subsequently. Her return of the statue significantly raised the prestige and visibility of NIU in a country that is just beginning to engage with the United States.”

The effort hasn’t gone unnoticed in international education circles, either.

“Professors who love their field have a way of prevailing,” IIE President and CEO Allan E. Goodman wrote in a recent column published in University World News Global Edition. 

“Dr. Raymond’s university has the only center for Burma studies in the U.S., and it has been operating since the 1980s,” Goodman said. “She is one of a handful of scholars who studied Burma during all the difficult years and is now part of opening its educational space. Sometimes, it seems, a career in international education involves as much diplomacy as it does research.”

“We are launching a pilot project this fall that will help qualified NIU students earn an additional credential by transferring NIU credits needed for an associate degree back to Waubonsee,” NIU Vice Provost Anne Birberick said. “This opportunity brings an excellent benefit to students.”

Regional and national data make clear that the associate degree is a valuable commodity.

Employees with associate degrees typically earn an average of $7,200 per year more than employees with no post-secondary credentials – almost $600,000 more in salary over a lifetime.

“A number of NIU students were close to completing an associate degree when they transferred,” said Deborah Lovingood, Waubonsee Community College executive vice president for Educational Affairs and chief learning officer. “This agreement will allow those students to complete the associate degrees at the same time they are earning the baccalaureate. A seamless transfer process that goes both ways serves everyone and demonstrates the interdependence of our institutions.”

Lovingood commented that students often do not know what personal, health or economic factors might interfere with the completion of their bachelor’s degree studies at NIU.

“For that reason, completion of an associate degree is an excellent investment,” she said.

Anne Kaplan and Anne Birberick

In this case, the investment is not financial.

Once qualified NIU transfer students from Waubonsee are identified, the students will have an opportunity to authorize NIU to send data about their NIU courses and grades to Waubonsee. Staff from Waubonsee will advise the NIU students on their progress toward an associate degree.

Once students have met the Waubonsee requirements with a combination of courses from the two institutions, they will become eligible for a diploma. The data exchange and award of a Waubonsee diploma will be done free of charge to participating NIU students.

“Academic credentials count,” said Anne Kaplan, NIU vice president for Outreach, Engagement, and Information Technologies. “When our region can document a high level of well-educated employees, we can attract business and investment. This project will increase the number of diplomas earned, which benefits the region and both our institutions.”

NIU Registrar Jerry Montag said the process to be piloted this fall will make reverse-transfer and earning associate degrees as simple and transparent as possible for NIU students. Montag incorporated a similar and successful process at his previous institution and will collaborate with his counterpart at Waubonsee to lead the pilot project.

NIU intends to expand the reverse-transfer pilot project to other community colleges as soon as the process is working smoothly, Birberick said.

“NIU enrolls a high number of transfer students from many community colleges. We know that many of our community college partners are very interested in helping students from their colleges earn associate degrees. Everyone is focused on what is good for the students,” she said. “This looks like a win-win-win proposition.”

The reverse-transfer pilot project resulted from an agreement signed by NIU President John Peters and Waubonsee Community College President Christine Sobek this August.