Upon completing his studies, he had intended
to remain in Russia , beginning research at the Joint
Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna in the lab
of theoretical physics. As the political landscape
deteriorated and unbridled capitalism devastated
the economy, however, the sciences lost funding.
At one point during this period, he was not paid
for half a year. It was thus out of necessity that he
began traveling to the rest of Europe, where he
visited and gave lectures at Western universities in
order to support himself. In 1992 he left Russia and
went on to hold various positions in Europe, including a research position as an Alexander von
Humboldt fellow at the University of Berlin. As an
extension of his research there and in order to
promote German culture, the fellowship included
four months of intensive German at the Goethe
Institute.
The emphasis placed on STEM fields in American society does not surprise Dr. Shabanov, as he
sees it as a natural reaction to the United States’
educational lag behind Europe and East Asia.
He then offers some possible explanations for
this lag, noting that, “There is a different take on
standards in European universities and American
universities.”
He gives the example of 150 students, 140 of
whom fail an exam. In Europe, this would be
viewed as a failure on the students’ part, that they
most likely did not study diligently enough.
However, in the United States this would imply a
failure on behalf of the professor, who would most
likely be accused of poor teaching. In turn, this
difference may come about from the way that the
United States tailors its coursework to the average
student, a standard that may change from semester
to semester, as opposed to maintaining one rigorous
standard as in Europe.
We may expect this measure to diminish even
more over time, as our society insists that everyone
Wanderlust.
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