Pomona resident, Cal Poly professor heads to China

A Cal Poly Pomona professor will head to Hong Kong this month to teach as a Fulbright Scholar.

Professor Renford Reese of Pomona will teach in the American Studies program at the University of Hong Kong, Cal Poly announced this week.

Reese, a political science professor who has been a member of the Cal Poly faculty for 13 years, called the University of Hong Kong "one of the Harvards of Asia" in a university statement.

Reese has traveled to China multiple times and studied the Americanization of Chinese young people for his book, "American Bravado" published in 2008.

"I am intrigued by Chinese traditions, language, and culture," Reese said in the statement. "I am even more fascinated with Hong Kong because it represents the fusion of the new and the old, the East and the West."

Travel has been a teaching tool for Reese. He has taken students to do fieldwork in Amsterdam during spring break and organized annual trips to Ghana during the summer where students completed two-week study-abroad programs.

"I look forward to lecturing in a different environment," Reese said of his forthcoming trip. "This is one of the highlights of my academic career, and I'm proud to be representing Cal Poly Pomona."