Best Practices Conference in June, 2001

Participants:

• Roger Casey (Task Force member)
• Roy Kerr
• Tom Lairson
• Pedro Pequeno-Rossie
• Luis Valdes

Project Title: Creating a unified vision for Rollins' international programs

Project Description:

Rollins College has a number of international programs, which operate in support of the College's mission to create responsible citizens for a global society. Among these programs are our office of International Studies, majors in International Relations, Latin American and Caribbean Affairs, European Studies, International Business, Spanish, French, minors in African and African American Studies, Australian Studies, Asian Studies, German, and Russian.

We have a growing number of students studying abroad in England, Ireland, Spain, Australia, and Germany. We have a new program in Sustainable Development, which offers a number of international practica, and we have one of the largest established Australian study programs and minors of any liberal arts institution, but the great majority of these programs act independently. We believe that Rollins could do a more efficient and effective job of internationalizing its mission, curricula, and faculty if these programs worked more in concert to achieve a unified vision. The professors who will be serving on our team at the Global Partners Conference have begun a conversation this fall to move in that direction.

Professor Roy Kerr heads our Spanish program and is largely responsible for the creation and success of our Spanish for the Professors program in which over 40 Rollins faculty and staff take Spanish classes three days a week and will travel to Spain as a group this summer. Professor Pedro Pequeno heads our Latin American and Caribbean Affairs program and our Anthropology Department and has been instrumental in Rollins' leadership in the area of Latin American Studies for decades. Professor Tom Lairson of our Political Science and International Business Departments is a co-creator of our International Business major, Sustainable Development minor, and Asian Studies minor. He also has extensive experience in Vietnam and is the author of an educational website connected to his Vietnam studies course.

These three faculty, whose roles move beyond that of the department and the classroom, will be integral to any future success of internationalization at Rollins. This summer at the workshop we hope to initiate direction for this possible cohesion and integration to take place. We thank the Global Partners Project and the Mellon Foundation for the opportunity to engage in this conversation and learn from our colleagues at sister institutions in the ACS, GLCA, and ACM..

Participants:

Name: Roger Casey

Title: Dean of the Faculty and Professor of English

E-mail: rcasey@rollins.edu

Biographical Information: Prior to his appointment at Rollins last year, Roger Casey served nine years at Birmingham-Southern College where he was Associate Dean for Teaching and International Programs. As Director of ACS's Teaching and Learning Workshop for eight years, Roger led week-long development programs for college professors. He is the author of over two dozen articles and books, most recently Textual Vehicles: The Automobile in American Literature and Tao Teaching. As a Kellogg Fellow, Roger has consulted with numerous international organizations and leadership development programs on the role of vision in the creation and sustenance of community. His experiences have taken him from Buddhist monasteries in Thailand to the home of the Dalai Lama, from impoverished communities in Guatemala to the mayor's office in Detroit. Roger's work in the theatre has led to both acting and directing awards; he has been Artistic Director of Off-Street Players Theatre in Tallahassee and a frequent director for Birmingham Festival Theatre. The recipient of Distinguished Teaching Awards from both Birmingham-Southern and Florida State University, Roger has been a nominee for the Carnegie National Professor of the Year. Dr. Casey holds an M.A. and a Ph.D. in English from Florida State University and a B.A. in English from Furman University.

Name: Roy Kerr

Title: Weddell Professor of the Americas, Chair of Spanish Program, Director of Spanish for Professors Program

E-mail: rkerr@rollins.edu

Presentation: Spanish for the Professors at Rollins College, Saturday, 9:00-10:30

Biographical Information: Roy Kerr has recently been appointed Weddell Professor of the Americas at Rollins, where he teaches courses in Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese language, and Spanish American Literature and Culture. His publications deal primarily with Peruvian and Colombian narrative and Mexican drama. Current research interest: Hispanic Writers of the Chinese Diaspora. Avocational interests: Mandarin Chinese, Taoism, Tai Chi Ch'uan. He introduced the formal study of Tai Chi to the Physical Education Curriculum at Rollins some years back.

Name: Thomas D. Lairson

Title: Gelbman Professor of International Business and Professor of Political Science

E-mail: tlairson@rollins.edu

Presentation: Collaborative Teaching Over the Web: The Vietnam Experience Online, Saturday 1:30-3:00

Biographical Information: Professor Lairson received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Kentucky in 1980. He teaches courses broadly in the area of international political economy, focusing on Japan and East Asia, technology and development in Asia, e-business, and transnational corporations. Dr. Lairson has been very active in using Internet technology in teaching. He has served as the chair of the department of political science and the department of international business. He currently is the coordinator of the Program in Sustainable Development and the Environment at Rollins. Dr. Lairson was the first Ford Foundation Professor of International Relations at the Institute for International Relations in Hanoi. He has extensive teaching and working experience in Asia.

Name: Pedro Pequeno-Rossie

Title: Professor of Anthropology & Coordinator of the Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Program

E-mail: ppequeno@rollins.edu

Biographical Information: Pedro Pequeno is the chairman (and founder) of both the Anthropology Program (major) and the Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Program (also a major) at Rollins College. In soon to be 30 yrs. of teaching at Rollins, he has conducted more than 25 study trips with students to Mexico, Central America, Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador. He also created and ran a semester abroad program to Merida, Mexico, from 1989-1994. And in 2002, with another colleague in the field of political science, he has been asked to set-up a course with fieldwork experience in the area of sustainable development in the Dominican Republic.

Name: Luis Valdes

Title: Coordinator of International Relations Program and Professor of Politics

E-mail: lvaldes@rollins.edu

Biographical Information: