The semester conversion process and internationalizing curriculum at the University of Minnesota

Prepared by Josef A. Mestenhauser and Brenda J. Ellingboe * Feb. 1997

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION & HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION

I. Introduction

Internationalization is the process of integrating international perspectives into curricular and co-curricular units as an entire institution adapts to an ever-changing, increasingly diverse and globally-focused external environment. The semester change represents a once-in-a-career opportunity for faculty members to work with their colleagues in redesigning courses for future generations of students in a twenty-first century context. Internationalizing curriculum is one of the major policy components for the college, approved by its Committee on Educational Policy in l993. Internationalization is also a recognized strategic priority for the entire University of Minnesota; a revised statement on international education was approved by the Board of Regents in l995.

II. What distinguishes traditional, prestigious colleges from "world class" colleges?

After visiting several East Asian countries in the fall of l995, President Nils Hasselmo posed the following question: "How should the University of Minnesota in the year 2006 be distinguished from the University of Minnesota of l996?" A task force was assembled by the President in order to address this question, and many goals, timelines, and benchmark figures were written for all colleges in order for the University to become a "world class" university and one of the top five research universities in the country.

A world class institution should have an international and global reputation that is recognized by others as having a significant presence of faculty on the global scene. Faculty members are globally active. They need to establish collaborative linkages with peers abroad, become knowledgeable with the status of the disciplines abroad, become consultants and acknowledged experts internationally, advise international students, encourage their U.S. advisees to study and travel abroad, engage in collaborative research, and possess skills of intercultural communication, comparative analysis, emic thinking, and cultural sophistication. In addition to disciplinary expertise, their value-added competencies include the abilities to establish trust with international peers, to understand the reciprocal process of knowledge transfer, and to recognize the effect of our own culture on these competencies as well as on the production of new knowledge.

III. Recommendations for Faculty Members

A) Key Questions:

The following recommendations are meant to spark an interest among college faculty to internationalize not only their courses but also departmental programs. They are presented as suggestions for internationalizing individual courses, departmental programs, and the College of Education and Human Development, in answer to some of the following questions:

1) Are we preparing our graduates adequately for their professional futures that may span through the year 2050?

2) Are we taking into account the possibility that more than half of our graduates will work full- time in an international context?

3) Are our disciplines teaching intellectual skills that will be needed in future careers?

B) Scope of Internationalizing Courses and Disciplines:

The need to internationalize courses creates a major problem for faculty who already have difficulties to include an ever-growing knowledge base within their disciplinary specializations. Moreover, internationalization means not only infusion of one’s own disciplinary knowledge from cross-cultural perspectives, but may involve searching for knowledge from disciplines associated with studies and explanations about other countries and cultures as well as our relations with them. Fortunately for educational reformers, interdisciplinary cooperation is already a recognized educational goal as most global problems can no longer be solved through the singular disciplinary lens.

l) The first step is to make a decision to internationalize based on answers to some of the questions posed here.

2) The second step is to decide on the scope and extent of internationalization. Depending on the pressure of covering existing disciplinary content, faculty can choose a "minimalist," "middle- range," or "optimal" approach.

3) The third step is to decide on which internationalization approach to use, which depends on what desired learning outcome one wishes to have. The approach one chooses affects the outcome.

The goal of the minimalist approach is to sensitize students to alternative ways of knowing, perceiving, and problem-solving in different cultures. It might call for infusion of content with an international perspective, integrated with assigned readings, in-class activities, assignments, lectures, discussions, and use of guest speakers including international students, scholars, and visiting faculty members. Faculty members could encourage and advise their students to do the following:

• Get acquainted and find new ways of jointly studying with students from other countries and culturally-diverse students;
• Register for special international education courses organized by the Committee on International Education; (These "one-credit, one-month" courses include general international topics across the curriculum and unique "culture-specific" courses on selected countries of the world.)
• Advise students to enroll in a number of international courses now offered in every department of this college, especially noting the offerings in Educational Policy and Administration and Work and Human Resource Education;
• Participate in departmental discussions on how to meet the international objectives of the college, such as setting up new international courses, inviting international faculty, establishing linkages abroad, and in other ways utilizing the many international competencies of present faculty members;
• Volunteer to serve on the college’s Committee on International Education.

The goal of the middle-ranged approach is to develop comparative thinking skills. It could involve one or more of the following structural approaches:

• Using a comparative educational approach (through making comparisons and contrasts for students about the way the discipline is taught and viewed from another cultural point of view);
• Discussing international issues;
• Adding intercultural communication elements within courses (through face-to-face cultural immersion assignments during or outside of class);
• Creating assignments requiring contact with literature or people from different cultures including international case studies, critical incidents, research problems, and discussion questions which aim toward a cross-cultural, multi-dimensional, international perspective; and
• Providing information on the college’s international majors, international minors, and international concentrations as options for students within the College of Education and Human Development.

The optimal approach of internationalization is to develop global skills of cognitive complexity and integration of a variety of conflicting disciplines and cultural systems. It involves internationalizing existing majors and minors using a totally-integrated disciplinary approach as the college moves toward curricular and systemic internationalization.

This requires leadership and agreement on an internationalization plan for the departments and the colleges which includes a vision for internationalization, a mission statement which reflects that vision, specific strategies with goals, benchmark figures, and financial line items necessary to achieve those, program and personnel considerations, and programs of evaluation.

If internationalization occurs at all in the student learning process, it most likely will happen within the classroom, since so few of our students will have a study abroad experience of their own. Therefore, the way a major or minor is structured and the approach that an entire discipline is organized within this college creates multidimensional challenges for faculty members. Internationalizing the disciplines goes one step beyond internationalizing single courses; it makes curricular and systemic changes toward internationalization of their units.

IV. For Further Information:

To access other materials (including research papers and practical guidelines) on internationalizing courses, contact Professor Josef Mestenhauser at 624-8350 or Brenda Ellingboe. Both Dr. Mestenhauser and Dr. Ellingboe are available for presentations on this topic.

Back to the Internationalization Page