The China Semester

CONRAD GUBERA

In 1967, when the Missouri Southern campus opened, Dr. Conrad Gubera was recruited from the Pittsburg State University faculty by Social Science Chair Harry Gockel. Teaching 15 hours per semester (a normal load then), his duties included helping develop degrees and coursework in sociology, anthropology, social sciences, secondary education, and criminal justice. In the 1990s, Dr. Gubera was an integral member of the faculty group who developed the international studies curriculum. He currently teaches courses in sociology and anthropology, secondary social science education, and international studies.

During the past 20 years, Dr. Gubera has engaged in extensive travel, visiting 31 countries. He has traveled to mainland China twice — a field study through the East-West Center in 1995 from Beijing to Hong Kong, and a personal journey in 2000 up the Yangtze River to Chengdu and Xian in northwest China. Most of his international travel has been the complement of being a fellow with the East-West Center at the University of Hawaii and the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, three separate Fulbright Awards, a Japan Foundation Award, and faculty grants through MSSU’s Institute of International Studies.

Dr. Gubera has been a faculty leader of seven different student study abroad groups during the past 11 years of the MSSU international mission. He was named the university’s Outstanding International Education Teacher in 2006 and the Outstanding Teacher in 1996.

In August 2007, Missouri Southern recognized Dr. Gubera for his 40 years of service to the institution.