Internationalizing the Classroom with Effective Assignments
Tuesday, December 02
Dana Gross, Psychology; Anna Kuxhausen, History/Russian Area Studies; and Tom Williamson, Sociology and Anthropology
The St. Olaf Mission Statement talks about an education "incorporating a global perspective," and we often point to the wide range of study abroad opportunities and the large numbers of students who take advantage of these programs as evidence of our commitment. But how do we actually incorporate a global perspective into our courses on campus? The presenters for this session will talk about how they have designed effective assignments to incorporate a global perspective in the classes they teach. Dana will provide an overview from the perspective of her discipline of national efforts to internationalize the undergraduate psychology curriculum and promote cultural competence. She'll provide examples of assignments from her courses, highlighting her on-campus Interim course, "Human Development in East Asia: Perspectives from China and Japan." Anna will discuss assignments she uses in her European and Russian history courses to encourage students to think about different national and regional perspectives on international issues. Tom will talk about an assignment from his Global Interdependence course that asks students to think about the constraints of a global perspective. He's interested in having his students consider what we may miss when we imagine experience in global terms.
- Vivien Stewart, "Becoming Citizens of the World," Educational Leadership, Volume 64, Number 7, Pages 8-14, April 2007
- I. Davies, Evans, M., & Reid, A. Globalizing Citizenship education? A critique of "global education" and "citizenship education". British Journal of Educational Studies, 53(1), 66-89. (2005).
