The U.S. Department of State has chosen Portland State University alumnus William Pittman, (MA, Literature, 2001), for the English Language Fellow Program sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. A senior lecturer at the University of Maryland – College Park, he will be leaving to teach at the State University of Malang in Indonesia, this fall.
Pittman is a teacher of English for non-native speakers with a career that spans more than three decades and five countries. In addition to the U.S. and soon Indonesia, since 1988, Pittman has worked in universities in Thailand, Turkey, Japan, and China. He will be teaching undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students, as well as conducting teacher training seminars in eastern Java.
"I'm proud to represent Portland State this way because my most influential teacher, Tony Wolk, of the English Dept. is with me in every classroom. As a public diplomat I couldn't do any better than Tony to represent the best of America," he said. “He has influenced many. That's my goal too.”
For ten months, from September 2022 to June 2023 he will be in Malang, in eastern Java, a city of just under 1 million people. “The mountains are to the east and west, the beaches to the south, Surabaya to the north, and Bali nearby. That's where I'll be!” he says.
“I'm most excited that I'm still fulfilling the dream I had when I was a kid. I remember in second grade, the kids gathered around a globe and spun it and randomly jabbed their fingers at some spot where they said they would live some day. I never did that - I didn't want to deceive myself. I wanted to see everywhere, and I didn't need a spinning globe to tell me I could do it. I also like teaching!”
The English Language Fellow Program is administered by the Center for Intercultural Education and Development at Georgetown University. It works with U.S. Embassies in more than 80 countries. Fellows work directly with local teachers, students, and educational professionals to improve English language instruction at universities and academic institutions.
“The dream,” says Pittman, “and I say this without irony (which is my stock in trade otherwise), has always been two-fold. I want to see the world. And I want to show the world the best that America can be. Not perfect.” He adds that exploration of any new place, when undertaken with compassion and wisdom, will be an endless source of wonder and learning.
The program began in 1969 to foster understanding between countries through cultural exchange.
