Fulbright for Murdock

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 5, 2008

Dr. Gwen Murdock
murdock-g@mssu.edu
(417) 625-9504

 

Dr. Gwendolyn Murdock

JOPLIN, MO (SNS) - When some people think of retirement they envision long days relaxing on the beach. For Gwendolyn Murdock, retirement will mean learning Russian, teaching on the other side of the world, and, with any luck, following yaks across the mountain meadows of Central Asia.

Murdock, retiring August 1 as Professor and Department Head of Psychology at Missouri Southern State University (MSSU), just learned that she has been awarded the prestigious Fulbright Award, starting August 2008. She expects to teach and help develop the Psychology curriculum at the American University-Central Asia (AUCA) in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic.

 

The far-off, mountainous Kyrgyz Republic, famed as part of the ancient Silk Road, remained little-known during its years as one of the Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union. But now, its leaders are re-shaping its higher education system and social science research methods so they can work with scholars and businesspeople from the West.

 

“I look forward to this opportunity to bring my expertise to students who have grown up with the Soviet-style educational system,” says Murdock. “I have always enjoyed helping people think about new things in new ways."

Despite three previous, but short, visits to the country, Murdock realizes that there will be a great deal to learn.

 

She continues, “I will be equally enriched by learning how Kyrgyz students see the world and react to my ideas and perspectives. I have the privilege of working with Dr. Aron A. Brudny, one of the most respected psychology professors in all of the former Soviet Union.”

Murdock has long experience with international travel. She has researched animal and human behavior in Tanzania and Cuba, and has led MSSU student study-abroad trips to India and Cuba.

 

Murdock came to Missouri Southern State University from Washington D.C. in 1985 to teach Psychology, and was appointed Department Head in 2001. Her research focus of animal behavior prompted her moving to Missouri. She conducted a 10-year study of bison behavior in Prairie State Park, near Liberal Mo.

 

“I very much appreciate the fact that my departmental colleagues took a chance on a weird comparative psychologist, who wanted to study the social behavior of bison. My colleagues have always been wonderfully supportive of my research interests,” recalls Murdock.

Though certain she will miss southwest Missouri and her students, retirement may offer her opportunities to study animals like the yak.

 

“Yaks are the closest relatives of bison,” Murdock says. “It will be very interesting to observe the similarities and differences between them and other bovid species I have studied. There are large herds of domestic yaks. I am excited about the prospect of sitting on the side of a mountain observing their behavior. If I am lucky enough to work out all the logistic challenges in conducting research in addition to teaching, it will be a tremendous opportunity to complete a picture of their social behavior and how it compares to bison.”

 

She will serve as a “goodwill ambassador” to the Islamic nation nestled between China, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, south of Russia, north of India. The location has a new strategic importance for the U.S. in light of international events.

 

She will have help adjusting to this unfamiliar and demanding world from the regional Fulbright office, but also from her spouse, John Couper, a professor of journalism and communication who lived and worked in the Kyrgyz capital city of Bishkek in 2004-06. Murdock took advantage of her visits there to give guest lectures to the University that is often called the “Harvard of Central Asia.”

 

“I already feel quite comfortable with my future colleagues and with the students I have met,” Murdock says. “This spring, I am providing a critique of a psychology student’s thesis, which they are required to have to graduate with honors from AUCA.”

 

Gwen Murdock has a reputation for avoiding the easy, conventional way of doing things. In the past, her readiness for adventure has led to tall grass prairie, Joplin, and MSSU, where she was awarded the Outstanding Teacher Award in 1992. Starting in August, the prized Fulbright Award will take her to a dramatic and exciting new “road less traveled.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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