A former deputy assistant secretary of the US Department of State recently received a "life-long teaching certificate" to teach students at Shanghai International Studies University.

"My plan is to devote myself to teaching students here in Shanghai," Jerome Ogden, a newly nominated guest professor at the university, told Shanghai Daily Friday. "I couldn't find a job more interesting than being a teacher."

Ogden was invited to lecture on American foreign policy to students in the university's International Affairs Department last September. With his first semester of teaching nearly complete, Ogden said he very much enjoyed teaching in the city, which gave him more informal accesses to making friends than working as a government official would.

Last November, Ogden was awarded the title "guest professor" by the university, meaning that he is welcome to teach students at the university without an expiration date.

Born in 1943, Ogden has more than 30 years of working experience in the US government and diplomatic arena since late 1960s. Among his major occupations: the US consul general in Guangzhou from 1981 to 1983, deputy assistant secretary of the US Department of State from 1986 to 1991, and the US consul general in Shanghai between 1992 to 1994.

Asked how he covers the cultural difference between the west and east, Ogden said he designed scenario-based classes, most of which revolve around an imaginary event.

In yesterday's class, Ogden designed an imaginary nuclear crisis in South America in 2015. Four students were asked to play the role of different high-ranking US officers - such as secretary of state and secretary of defense - to give the president various suggestions on how the US government should react to the situation. He himself played the role of the US president.

In each class, he collected articles and editorials from US newspapers and journals and sent out around 25 pages as assignment to students. He also designed TOEFL-like quizzes to test students' learning of US foreign policy. One recent test question is: "What does the 'Axis of Evil' mean?"

Dou Hui, director of the university's International Affairs Department, said: "Ogden is very devoted to his job as he makes very good preparation before each class."

"Ogden is like a 'US friendship ambassador' to China to help the young people here better understand US foreign policies," he said.

Yu Lili, a junior student majoring in international affairs, commented: "To me, Ogden is a very humorous person and qualified teacher who poses thought-provoking and open questions to us instead of forcing us to follow certain rules."

(Shanghai Daily January 8, 2005)