Mobile UP: Dr Dejan Križaj on a three-month mobility in San Diego

Our colleague Dr Dejan Križaj is sending us his first report from the San Diego State University where he started a three-month visiting fellowship on Wednesday, 1 March 2023.

San Diego, 31 March 2023

Within the framework of the Mobility of Slovene higher education teachers 2018 – 2021 project financed by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, I started a three-month guest lectureship at San Diego State University (SDSU) on Wednesday, 1 March 2022. My host is Prof Vinod Sasidharan, who is a teacher and researcher in the field of sustainable tourism. His research focuses on participatory action research in sustainable development. He is also active in promoting and developing interdisciplinary education related to sustainable development.

In the course "PSFA 550: International Studies Capstone", for which I am a co-lecturer, I lecture and guide students through the research they have conducted on individually selected issues during their travels in Europe and their visits to European universities in 2022. Each of the students is required to carry out the same research in the USA this year, in order to be able to compare the results and aspects of the issues on both continents. The work is extremely varied, interesting and methodologically excellent. This month we have been studying the literature and research methodology. I have been integrating into the teaching process themes related to the exploration of tourism and innovation potentials of each of the researches from two perspectives: the social and the business.

Since Prof Sasidharan is also the Transborder and Regional Engagement Director at SDSU, there is no shortage of opportunities to meet and network with other partners in the region. San Diego is a border city, only 30 minutes by metro from the Mexican border. Just across the border is the city of Tijuana, where one of SDSU's most important partners - the Mexican university UABC (Universidad Autónoma de Baja California) is situated.

I also attended meetings with UABC representatives to discuss future tripartite cooperation between the three universities. There are many links between us. UABC, like our research and development team at UP FTŠ Stoudio Turistica, is very much involved with local, small tourism providers. Both SDSU and UABC representatives also listened with interest to the experience of the University of Primorska as a border university and the links with Italian linked cities (Koper - Trieste, Nova Gorica - Gorizia), which are pursuing similar goals and facing many of the same challenges as the small border cities of San Diego and Tijuana.

This visit to San Diego is particular from another point of view as well. According to this news https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/california/wheres-the-sun-san-diegans-want-their-sunshine-back-after-relentless-winter/3193605/, the city's residents are complaining about the lack of sunshine. This winter has been really cold and rainy for them. Not so much for our conditions. And it has been much worse for the people of the more northern parts of California. Find out why this can be a good thing in a future report (from a sometimes still sunny) San Diego.

Dr. Dejan Križaj

In the photographs:

1. The lectures are full of interesting exchanges about insights that students have gained from their travels across Europe (Dr. Vinod Sasidharan on the left).
2. Hepner Hall - the central and most photographed building of San Diego State University.
3. Despite complaints from San Diego residents about a lack of sunshine, the views of the city, its beaches, and surroundings are still picturesque.

Photo: Dejan Križaj.

San Diego, 30 April 2023

This month has been busy with interesting and impactful visits, leaving no time for being homesick. The first visit was virtual, with Rudi Medved, a master's student from UP FTŠ Turistica, joining us for one of our PSFA 550 lectures. Dr. Vinod Sasidharan and I are mentoring Rudi for his master's thesis, which is titled "Attitudes of Digital Nomads Towards Their Effects on the Local Community," and is written in English.

Rudi's thesis explores the connections between digital nomads and the communities they visit. He presented the findings of his research on digital nomads who engaged in community and volunteer work during their travels. His aim is to understand the factors that encourage digital nomads to integrate into communities, including the wish to connect with locals, a sense of responsibility towards the places they visit, and the desire to bring positive changes. Rudi also shared his own experiences of volunteering in various communities around the world with the students and highlighted the benefits that community work brings to both digital nomads and local communities.

It goes without saying that the students folowed his presentation with great interest and asked Rudi many questions and made suggestions to enhance his research. As described in last month's introduction, all of these students are also travelers and researchers themselves since the PSFA 550 course involves field research conducted by students during their mobility in EU countries.

The second notable visit was in person, with Dr. Florian Zach from Virginia Tech, USA. Together with Dr. Sasidharan, Dr. Zach, and colleagues from universities worldwide, we established the international alliance AIRTH (Alliance for Innovators and Researchers in Tourism and Hospitality, http://www.airth.global) several years ago, which focuses on researching and promoting innovation in tourism and hospitality. Last year, I visited Dr. Zach in Virginia myself (more in this news), and at that time, the idea came up, i.e. that it would be great if all three of us could meet in California. The idea was realized, so this month, students in the PSFA 550 course were able to learn even more about who Dr. Florian Zach is, what we have already done as part of AIRTH's activities, the importance of disruptive and radical innovations in tourism, and what Dr. Zach is currently researching with his colleagues and doctoral students.

The students were particularly drawn to his presentation of his latest research titled "Marijuana Legalization and Hotel Performance." As the students come from different parts of the US, a lively debate about the varying levels of (il)legality of marijuana on this continent ensued at the end of the lecture. After the lecture, Dr. Sasidharan, Dr. Zach, and I went to a Lebanese restaurant where we continued the discussion about the interesting presentation and our plans for the future of AIRTH. However, we did not visit any of the many specialized stores in California that legally sell all possible variations of marijuana-based substances. :)

In the photos:

1. Dr. Vinod Sasidharan (far left) during the introductory presentation of Rudi Medved (on the screen) and our collaboration on his master's thesis.
2. Students watching Rudi's presentation. One of the pages of his presentation is visible on the screen.
3. Dr. Florian Zach from Virginia Tech presented to students the importance and results of researching disruptive and radical innovations in tourism. 

Photo by Dejan Križaj.

San Diego, 31.5.2023

In že je tu zadnji mesec gostovanja na San Diego State University. Hkrati z mojim poslavljanjem od gostitelja dr. Vinoda Sasidharana smo se poslovili tudi s študenti pri predavanjih zgoraj omenjenega predmeta PSFA 550. Zadnji dan so študenti uspešno predstavljali vsak svoj raziskovalni projekt, ki so ga deloma izvedli med bivanjem in potovanjem po Evropi in deloma doma v ZDA. Ker študenti prihajajo iz zelo različnih študijskih smeri, je bilo zaključno srečanje ter spoznavanje raziskovalnih uvidov in pripetij na njihovih potovanjih izjemno zanimivo. Na koncu sem študente vprašal, ali imajo še pri kakšnem predmetu na univerzi možnosti tako interdisciplinarnega učenja. Odgovorili so, da sicer univerza spodbuja interdisciplinarno razmišljanje, da pa pri nobenem drugem predmetu nimajo možnosti za spoznavanje tako raznolikih raziskovalnih uvidov kot pri PSFA 550, kjer so dobesedno prisiljeni, da o svojem raziskovalnem problemu razmišljajo iz zelo različnih raziskovalnih vidikov in kultur. Vsekakor odlična zaključna misel o priložnostih in uvidih, ki sem jih na SDSU dobil, kako naj izgleda izobraževanje v 21. stoletju!

Še en zaključni uvid sem ta mesec dobil v sosednji Tijuani, kamor me je povabila profesorica Marisa Reyes Orta, ki je zaposlena na turističnem oddelku univerze UABC (Universidad Autónoma de Baja California). Tam sem imel priložnost poslušati zaključno predstavitev projekta študentov pri predmetu Trajnostni turizem. Študenti so analizirali primere dobrih praks trajnostnega obnašanja v perifernih turističnih predelih Tijuane. Prof. Reyes Orta me je prosila, da predstavim pomen razvoja in raziskovanja inovacij v turizmu ter ovrednotim študentsko delo na trajnostnih primerih dobrih praks še z inovacijskega vidika. Debata se je zaključila z intenzivno debato o pomembnosti in ranljivosti perifernih turističnih destinacij ter njihovih posebnih doživetij, ki jih omogočajo, če znamo na trajnost pogledati tudi z družbenega in ne le okoljskega vidika.

Čisto za zaključek pa še kratka omemba očitnega v Kalifornij – plaž. Vsekakor so zanimive, omogočajo sproščanje, rekreacijo, povezavo z morskimi energijami, ... Za Univerzo na Primorskem morje kot tako ni nič posebnega, saj nas tudi tu spremlja na vsakem koraku. Prav posebne energije v San Diegu in drugih obmorskih krajih na tej strani luže pa si tako turisti kot domačini lahko načrpajo na večih ogromnih plažah, ki so izrecno namenjene sprehajanju štirinožnih kosmatincev. Morje daje svoje energije, absolutno. Kakšne vse energije pa »špricajo« naokoli, ko opazujete pasje radosti sto in več premočenih navdušencev naenkrat, si pa sigurno lahko predstavljate tudi sami :) Na nove energije na novih potovanjih vseh vrst.

Na fotografijah: 

1. Eden od SDSU študentov med zaključno predstavitvijo raziskovalnih projektov pri predmetu PSFA 550.
2. Turistični oddelek mehiške UABC univerze se pripravlja na odprtje sodobno opremljene »Gastronomia« stavbe. Vsekakor razlog za ponoven obisk!
3. Morski velnes posebne vrste za turiste, domačine in štirinožne prebivalce San Diega.

The project is supporting longer mobilities of UP professors to institutions abroad. The main objective of the call coincides perfectly with the overall aim of UP to enhance the internationalization of its study and research processes and open itself to the international higher education and research sphere.

More about the project: here.