Together with the Internationalization Collaborative of the American Council on Education (ACE), Fairleigh Dickinson University recently hosted a conference on “Developing Competencies in Higher Education,” which featured presentations by leading experts in globalization and global education.

The two-day event, held April 4 and 5 at the College at Florham, was attended by more than 75 college faculty and administrators from East Coast universities, including about 20 FDU faculty and staff.

Fairleigh Dickinson was the first collaborative member to host a regional meeting exploring global learning. The collaborative is an invitational forum that consists of approximately 45 colleges and universities committed to advancing internationalization on campuses across the country.

The conference, supported by a grant from the AT&T Foundation, was designed to “foster a greater dialogue about global education among Fairleigh Dickinson faculty and administrators and those from other institutions,” said Michael Sperling, associate provost for interdisciplinary, distributed and global learning (Metro/Flor).

He added, “We’re proud that ACE has chosen to partner with us and recognized us as playing a leading role in offering a global education. It was a very lively couple of days, and we all learned a lot.”

The conference began with a session titled, “Why Educate Global Citizens?” with President J. Michael Adams and Ahmad Kamal, New College (Metro) and president of The Ambassador’s Club at the United Nations, who was instrumental in developing the University’s U.N. Pathway Lecture Series.

Speaking of the vast changes unleashed by globalization, the development of a global economy and the global challenges that necessitate global cooperation, Adams said, “A world view must be adopted with a sense of and sensitivity to today’s interconnections, to our shared destinies and to the magnificent differences among us. Becoming a citizen of the world is an economic, practical and moral imperative. It is an issue of our very survival.”

Other featured sessions included: “Global Competencies — Defining New Skills,” with Scott Sernau, associate professor and chair of the sociology and anthropology department, Indiana University South Bend, and author of Bound: Living in the Globalized World, and Kendall Brostuen, dean of the Institute for International Studies at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania; “Transforming a College Environment,” with Madeleine Green, ACE vice president for international initiatives; “Education in the Multilateral World,” with H.R.H. Prince Zeid Ráad Al Zeid Hussein, permanent representative of Jordan to the United Nations.

H.R.H. Prince Zeid Ráad Al Zeid Hussein, left, permanent representative of Jordan to the United Nations, delivered the keynote address. Second from left photo — Jason Scorza, philosophy/political science (Metro), moderated the panel discussion, “The Role of Technology in Creating Global Competiencies,” which included participation by, second from right photo — Walter Cummins, emeritus, English (Flor), and Nandita Ghosh, English (Flor), and right photo — Francis Ingledew, English (Metro).

As the host institution, Fairleigh Dickinson University was in position to showcase a number of its global education efforts, including its use of technology to bring the world to its students.

Building on those experiences, Fairleigh Dickinson faculty presented “The Role of Technology in Creating Global Competencies,” moderated by Jason Scorza, philosophy/political science (Metro), with Walter Cummins, emeritus, English (Flor); Nandita Ghosh, English (Flor); and Francis Ingledew, English (Metro); and “Global Education Around the Globe,” with members of FDU’s Global Virtual Faculty including Nilufer Bharucha (India), Viorela Ciucur (Romania), Tomas Chuaqui (Chile) and John Lennard (England).

In concluding dialogues, breakout sessions involving all the attendees created specific reports fusing the various definitions and practices addressed during the event. Groups focused on four topics: general education, disciplinary education, co-curricular education and study abroad.

One group concluded that global competencies boiled down to the “knowledge, attitudes and skills that equip students to live and to work in a globally interdependent world and exercise the rights and responsibilities of global citizenship.”

Another group broke down the essence of global competencies into the following parts: recognizing that you are a full member of a global community; understanding how your actions impact others and how others’ actions impact you; having an attitude that is respectful of the diversity of human experience; being aware of the value and limitations of specific identities and being unafraid to go beyond them; possessing the ability to imagine and/or experience yourself in another time and space; and recognizing the interconnectedness of economic, social, political and environmental systems.

Among the many recommendations made by the attendees were having an institutional commitment to global education, thinking beyond and across disciplinary lines, empowering faculty to infuse global issues throughout the curriculum, enlarging student experiences, offering faculty incentives, using non-U.S. source material, emphasizing the importance of study abroad and international internships, and using “whatever pedagogical means necessary to unglaze students’ eyes.”

Several challenges in the delivery of a global education were raised, including resistance from colleagues and, perhaps the biggest barrier, the lack of time to fully prepare and present global lessons throughout the curriculum.

Sperling said the University would be active in upcoming events with the ACE Internationalization Collaborative and perhaps host another global education conference in the future. “We hope to continue to be a leader in bringing together educators who are interested in sharing ideas about global education and making it real on their campuses.”

Left photo: The conference “Developing Global Competencies in Higher Education” was hosted by Fairleigh Dickinson University and the Internationalization Collaborative of the American Council on Education. From left are J. Michael Adams, University president; Madeleine Green, vice president and director, Center for Institutional and International Initiatives, ACE; and Michael Sperling, associate provost for interdisciplinary, distributed and global learning (Metro/Flor). Right photo: Six members of the University’s Global Virtual Faculty attended the conference and four presented the panel discussion, “Global Education Around the Globe.” Standing from left are Nilufer Bharucha (India), Jacob Lomranz (Israel) and James Gallagher (United Kingdom). Sitting from left are Thomas Chuaqui (Chile), Viorela Ciucur (Romania) and J.C. Lennard (United Kingdom).

April/May 2003

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Flor =
College at Florham, Madison, N.J.

Metro =
Metropolitan Campus, Teaneck, N.J.

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