Partners Projects

To build on the ideas and energy of the Best Practices Conference in June 2001, Global Partners invited member schools -- individually and in groups -- to propose projects on their campuses that would investigate new models for international education. The task force gave financial support to eight projects. Follow the links below to see reports of their work.

Use the title links or scroll down for brief descriptions of the projects names of contact people. Use the "report" links to go directly to the project reports.

• Educational Information and Advisory Exchange - Birmingham-Southern, Centenary, Hendrix and Millsaps Colleges (report)
• Coming and Going: Intercultural Transitions in a Liberal Arts Context - Carleton College (report)
• Global Semester Program - Centenary College (report)
• Collaboration in Orientation/Reorientation Programming for Exchange Students - Coe and Monmouth Colleges (report)
• Languages Across the Curriculum - Davidson College (report)
• Student Symposium in Global Citizenship - Lake Forest College (report)
• Break on Through to the Other Side: Integrating Intercultural Experiences into the Liberal Arts Tradition - Lawrence and Southwestern Universities (report)
• International Service-Learning - Rhodes College, St. Olaf College, and Southwestern University (report)

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Educational Information and Advisory Exchange
Birmingham-Southern, Centenary, Hendrix and Millsaps Colleges
Go to the project report
During the 2001-2002 academic year, these four schools worked collaboratively to bring three to six educators from South America to visit each of their campuses to share educational, advisory and cultural information. By introducing the visiting faculty to their institutions, they hoped to build connections between educational institutions in the southern United States and in Latin America. Each participating institution hosted the visiting educators for two days. Educators met with students, faculty and staff to exchange information about their educational systems -- its areas of strength and weakness, opportunities for collaboration and common goals. Hosts also reached out to the wider community to include local educators and community exchange organizations as part of the visit itinerary. Contact: Lyn Fulton John, Director, Center for International Initiatives, Millsaps College, fultol@millsaps.edu.

Coming and Going: Intercultural Transitions in a Liberal Arts Context
Carleton College
Go to the project report
Every student experiences cultural change, as they leave home and join a "college culture." Drawing on that common experience, Carleton produced a videotape and booklet that teaches about transitions between cultures, to be used in the college's new Cross Cultural Studies course. The tape focused on Carleton's new student week, illustrating how all students experience intercultural transitions from home to college, and for many, from one ethnic or national culture to another or several. The film illustrated that understanding and navigating such intercultural transitions is a part of a liberal education. They continued their work through 2003 with support from Global Partners.. Contact: Petra Crosby, Director of International Student Programs, Carleton College, pcrosby@carleton.edu.

Global Semester Program
Centenary College
Go to the project report
While many students participate in Centenary's short-term travel-study courses in May, some faculty are concerned that they only scratch the surface of the visited culture. In an effort to address these concerns, the college designed a program where regularly offered semester courses culminated in a short-term overseas study experience. Every faculty member at Centenary was invited to consider how his or her course could be enhanced by a follow-on trip. Contact: Dr. David Havird, Associate Dean of the College, Centenary College, dhavird@centenary.edu.

Collaboration in Orientation/Reorientation Programming for Exchange Students
Coe and Monmouth Colleges
Go to the project report
Both colleges are expanding their exchange relationships with institutions in Europe and Asia, but the total number of exchange students on each campus is small. Orientation and reorientation programs (for both Americans going abroad and international students coming to America), however, require a critical mass. In this project, the colleges held joint one-day orientation/reorientation programs; by combining efforts, Monmouth and Coe were able to pool resources and ideas while increasing the number of students participating in an orientation/reorientation program. In this program, newly arrived international students are a resource for Americans going abroad. They continued their work through 2003 with support from Global Partners. Contact: Thomas Sienkewicz, International Studies Coordinator, Monmouth College, toms@monm.edu.

Languages Across the Curriculum
Davidson College
Go to the project report
Foreign language competency is an essential part of internationalizing a liberal arts education. One new model for improving foreign language teaching is studying languages across the curriculum. Borrowing a model from St. Olaf College (another Global Partner school), Davidson hopes to develop the languages across the curriculum idea on its campus. They brought St. Olaf and Davidson faculty together to explore how to use the model. Contact: Homer Sutton, Professor of French and Director of the Dean Rusk Program in International Education, Davidson College, hosutton@davidson.edu.

Student Symposium in Global Citizenship
Lake Forest College
Go to the project report
To give focus to student study abroad programs, and to allow students to share their experiences abroad with the campus community, Lake Forest organized a symposium on global citizenship. Students bound for study abroad were given global citizenship-oriented questions to investigate while undertaking their studies abroad, and on return presented reports on issues of global citizenship as viewed in different cultures. International students on campus shared their perspectives on their American experience with the campus community, and gave presentations on issues in their own countries. The college continued this program through 2003 with support from Global Partners. Contact: Robert Archambeau, Department of English, Lake Forest College, archambeau@lakeforest.edu.

Break on Through to the Other Side: Integrating Intercultural Experiences into the Liberal Arts Tradition
Lawrence and Southwestern Universities
Go to the project report
A working group of faculty and administrators from both campuses met to critically examine the pedagogical rationales currently informing intercultural study programs on their campuses and at other liberal arts institutions in order to revisit the central philosophical questions and seek to define the educational value of intercultural experience in terms of the U.S. small liberal arts college tradition. This work served as preparation for drafting mission statements for intercultural education at Southwestern and Lawrence, as well as for developing specific evaluative criteria grounded in the educational goals of those institutions. They continued their work through 2003 with support from Global Partners. Contact: Susan Mennicke, Director, Office of International Programs, Southwestern University, mennicks@southwestern.edu.

International Service-Learning
Rhodes College, St. Olaf College, and Southwestern University
Go to the project report
Each of the three schools involved have considerable experience in service-learning programs and in study-abroad programs. They pooled their experience by investigating a potential joint service-learning site in Honduras and organizing a seminar to discuss the pedagogy of service-learning, the special problems of international service-learning, the connection between domestic and international service-learning, and the place of service-learning in the liberal arts curricula of the three institutions. They continued their work through 2003 with support from Global Partners. Contact: Rick Fairbanks, Project Coordinator, St. Olaf College, fairbank@stolaf.edu.