Best Practices Conference in June, 2001

Lake Forest College

Participants:

• Bob Archambeau
• Cathy Benton
• Les Dlabay
• Janet Miller
• Rand Smith

Project Title: Creating Global Citizens: Integrating Students' International Experiences

Project Description:

Lake Forest College has recently formed a Working Group to establish a Program in Global Citizenship. This program grows out of a sense that the development of international studies requires more than merely "internationalizing the curriculum" though that is a worthy goal. Rather, this program plans to focus on the identification and resolution of concrete problems in the global community. To be a global citizen means knowing how to interact empathetically, ethically, and responsibly with nations, cultures, and organizations – and their representative individuals. This program will emphasize the development of practical, problem-solving skills to be used in international settings.

This proposed Program in Global Citizenship will focus on three areas: promoting global citizenship throughout the curriculum, experiential education, and outreach. The program will promote the introduction of international issues that raise questions of ethical responsibility, cultural understanding, justice, and conflict resolution. To facilitate the introduction of new courses and the creation of new international studies concentrations within existing majors, the program will provide a variety of faculty development activities, while also fostering a system of student internships in Chicago encouraging students to work with organizations involved in contemporary global issues.

One way that current students already act as members of the "global community" is by participating in study abroad programs and welcoming international students on the LFC campus. The project associated with our attendance at the Global Partners conference will link to the LFC Working Group on Global Citizenship by examining ways to more fully integrate both of these groups of students and their international perspectives into the campus and local communities.

We would like to identify specific ways for study abroad students to reflect further on their international experiences and insights by making certain kinds of campus contributions a condition of their international study. For example, students might write an article for the student newspaper, give a presentation at the Student Symposium, design a webpage, create a photo or text montage for the campus literary magazine in foreign languages, or speak about their experience in classes. These activities would allow the student to reflect on her/his experience, and help others to understand the value of studying in another culture. Often students returning from other countries experience reverse culture shock and feel rather isolated from the campus community. Such activities may assist students' re-entry into campus life by providing a way for them to share their discoveries with their peers and be recognized for their work in another culture.

We are also examining ways to highlight the culturally rich and diverse experience of our international students. Possibilities include publishing the backgrounds and accomplishments of the international students so that faculty might acknowledge and draw upon their expertise in classes, and sponsoring an international symposium modeled on our current spring Student Symposium. Such an international symposium would bring together different campus groups by building on the experiences of both international students and American who have lived in other cultures.

Within the theoretical framework of global citizenship, our conference team plans to explore and implement academic models that are rooted in an understanding of ourselves as members of the larger global community.

Participants:

Name: Bob Archambeau

Title: Assistant Professor of English

E-mail: archambeau@lfc.edu

Biographical Information:

Name: Cathy Benton

Title: Lecturer in Religion

E-mail: benton@lfc.edu

Presentation: Simulation Games and Structured Debriefing Workshops for Pre-Departure Orientations/Re-Entry Sessions, Saturday, 9:00-10:30

Biographical Information: Cathy Benton began her formal study of intercultural communication at the School for International Training in Vermont. As part of that program, she taught adult and high school English classes in Dodoma, Tanzania, where she also studied Swahili and the works of African writers. Tanzanian friends and colleagues helped her develop the intercultural skills necessary for living in New York City where she taught ESL classes. Subsequently hired by UNICEF as part of the United Nations Volunteer program, Cathy worked as a Field Officer in the three southern states of India, where she became immersed in the diversity and richness of the Indian religious traditions, leading quite naturally to her Ph.D. study of Sanskrit Indian Religious Literature. These experiences in India have led to the friendships and fascinations that continually pull her back to India for research and teaching. Currently, Cathy Benton teaches classes in the Asian Religious Traditions at Lake Forest College and works with Chicago businesspeople and students preparing to work with people from new cultures.

Name: Les Dlabay

Title: Associate Professor of Economics and Business

E-mail: dlabay@lfc.edu

Biographical Information: Les Dlabay teaches international business courses, including "Cultural Perspectives of International Business," "Global Marketing," and "Latin American Global Business." These courses are a part of several majors and programs, including Business, International Relations, and Latin American Studies. He is author of International Business, published by South-Western Educational Publishing, an introductory textbook that emphasizes geographic, cultural, economic, and political influences on global business activities. Les has presented several hundred workshops and seminars in over 20 states to academic conferences, businesses, and community organizations. His current research emphasis involves the influence of the informal economy (unreported business activities) on economic development in Latin America. Other areas of research include the influence of globalization on culture, and the potential of global e-commerce in developing economies.

Name: Janet Miller

Title: Writing Center Assistant and Special Programs Associate

E-mail: jmiller@lfc.edu

Biographical Information:

Name: Rand Smith

Title: Professor of Politics

E-mail: rsmith@lfc.edu

Biographical Information: