Globalizing the Curriculum
From 2001 until 2004, eleven schools participated in
Liberal Education and Global Citizenship: The Arts of
Democracy. This project was designed to help colleges
and universities develop societal, civic, and global
knowledge in their graduates by linking liberal education
and democracy in the context of our interdependent but
unequal world. Below are some of the innovative ways
participating institutions tackled this mission.
Beloit College
Beloit College has shifted its approach to citizenship
to focus on “world citizenships” in curricular
and cocurricular activities, both on and off campus.
Building on the premise that women’s secondary
status is a problem of global concern, part of this
change is taking place within the women’s and
gender studies department. The specific goals of the
department were to infuse global perspectives into the
curriculum, reorient faculty toward this global perspective,
and create internships and experiential learning opportunities
for students. This was done by creating opportunities
for faculty to gain more international perspectives,
revising courses and curriculum accordingly, and encouraging
students to gain a deeper understanding of gender as
a historical, cultural, and global construct. This shift
is reflected in the “International Perspectives
on Women and Gender” course, which seeks to widen
the scope of Western feminisms, to complicate the so-called
women’s issues, and to en-gender issues that,
on the surface, do not seem about gender at all by focusing
students’ attention outside the “mainstream”
and U.S. contexts. The “International Perspectives
on Women and Gender” course has been made permanent
and is offered on a regular basis, and a trans-global
requirement has been added to the women’s and
gender studies major.
Pacific Lutheran University
Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) contends that one
of the most effective ways to build meaningful and equitable
relationships with other cultures is to place oneself
in the space of others. With that in mind, PLU created
the Trinidad and Tobago program, which includes courses
and study abroad as well as an off-campus residence
in the multicultural neighborhood of Shalimar. One of
the new courses designed to promote global learning
and understanding is the “Plays on Tour”
theater course, which uses a Trinidadian Carnival model
and employs traditional and oral characters from street
theater around the world. The objectives of the “Plays
on Tour” course are threefold: (1) to develop
skills in the art of interpreting and creating the role
of a traditional Carnival character utilizing both mental
skills (such as emotional recall of the understanding
of self and other cultures) and physical skills (such
as bodily control and expression); (2) to help free
the student-actors from inhibitions, mental and physical,
which prevent them from realizing their potential as
actors and members of a global society; and (3) to help
students understand the interconnectedness of our global
society by immersing them in the realm of street theater.
The course allows students to explore the way in which
theater is enriched by infusing it with global components.
University of Delaware
The University of Delaware developed a Global Citizenship
Certificate (GCC) program that enhances the opportunities
for students to link curricula with international experiences.
The GCC is an inclusive attempt to encourage students
of all academic backgrounds to engage actively in globally
focused endeavors, both credit-bearing and extracurricular,
and to formally recognize this engagement. There are
no prerequisites or requirements that qualify a student
to pursue the GCC, but in order to earn the certificate,
students must participate in a certain number of preapproved
activities. For example, students may take one or more
courses with a global or cross-cultural focus, study
abroad, engage in international service learning, serve
as an officer of an international club, or attend a
series of lectures. In the spirit of inclusiveness,
the requirements for the GCC are such that students
are not compelled to engage in any one particular activity.
Instead, students choose from a large array of possible
activities. This high level of flexibility allows all
students to create their own global experience, regardless
of curricular constraints, financial means, physical
impairment, or other traditional hindrances to off-campus
study. The goal is simply to encourage all students
to become more active and engaged in global issues than
is required by their chosen academic field.
Rochester Institute of Technology
The Rochester Institute of Technology’s Globalization,
Human Rights, and Citizenship curriculum development
project features over twenty internet-accessible, issue-specific
modules that can be incorporated into existing classes
or developed into specialized courses. The project helps
interested faculty incorporate globalization-related
topics into their courses. The lectures and discussions
are designed in blocks of time, most spanning two or
three sessions that last from ninety minutes to two
hours, depending on the topic. Some of the modules include:
“Poets Without Borders: The Poetry of Witness
and Human Rights Activism,” “Globalization:
Islam, Dialogue or War?,” “Technology in
Global Society,” “Globalization and Democratization
in Africa,” “Social Movements in the Global
Economy,” “Global Governance,” and
“Globalizing the Credit Card Nation.” For
more information about the project, visit www.rit.edu/~gannett/
and follow the modules link. |
