AAC&U Conference: Global Learning in College

REVITALIZING THE HUMANITIES: THE GLOBAL HUMANITIES INSTITUTE

AT MONTGOMERY COLLEGE

October 4, 2013

Montgomery College

Global Humanities Institute

Revitalizing the Humanities: The Global Humanities Institute at Montgomery College

AAC&U Global Learning in College: Asking Big Questions, Engaging Urgent Challenges

October 4, 2013

Tools for Faculty Development

· Marcia Bronstein, Co-Coordinator of Curriculum of the Global Humanities Institute

(Learning Communities)

· Sharyn Neuwirth, Co-Coordinator of Curriculum of the Global Humanities Institute

(Single Course)

· Shelley Jones, Co-Coordinator of Curriculum of the Global Humanities Institute

(Service-Learning)

Global Humanities Institute

Dr. Rita Kranidis, Program Director

Global Humanities Institute

Faculty Fellowship LibGuide

http://libguides.montgomerycollege.edu/ghifellows

Handouts:

Internationalizing humanities courses using backward design

Identify learner characteristics
Identify global competencies--the knowledge, skills, and attitudes--that support your course’s Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)
Frame the SLOs in a global context. Rewrite them as Internationalized Student Learning Outcomes (ISLOs)
Develop learning activities that support the ISLO
Identify how to assess students’ mastery of the ISLOs
Evaluate and revise the course/module

Planning Document

Current humanities course title and content
Learner characteristics
Global competencies
Course Student Learning Outcome / Upon completing this course, students will be able to:
Internationalized Student Learning Outcome(s) / Upon completing this internationalized module, students will be able to:
Learning materials, readings and media
Active Learning Strategies
Resources
Outcomes assessment

Resources for internationalizing a course

· Your textbooks.

If you have a choice, choose a textbook that includes international literature or that presents issues from diverse viewpoints. Select textbooks that examine the internationalized and/or controversial aspects of the content.

· Your students and student groups, especially for information about surface culture or objects of material culture

· Student-directed interviews and observations. Provide assignments that ask students to research and present a course topic from another national or cultural perspective.

· Field trips, museums

· Guest speakers and content experts

· Embassies and tourism offices

· Other faculty who teach the same or similar course to share materials, activities, and resources.

Exchange lectures with faculty in other disciplines as a way to examine topics from different perspectives. Example: In an anthropology course, invite an astronomy professor to your class to discuss ancient beliefs about the sky and stars.

· Field trips and museums

· Authentic texts. International journals and newspapers, controversial blogs

Example: Have students read selections from the Quoran. Read news reports in journals or newspapers from other parts of the world.

Pair two articles on the same topic that express opposing viewpoints. Or present one article that presents a biased point of view and ask students to analyze the arguments

· Online blog, websites and videos such as YouTube, TED, podcasts like In Our Time, and iTunes University. Many are quite scholarly.

· Community-based organizations such as CASA de Maryland, Shepherd’s Table, etc. May have brochures, statistical information or speaker services. Include service learning in community-based organizations that will provide experience with other groups and exposure to different points of view. Examples: CASA de Maryland, Shepherd’s Table, etc.

Online resources

Several colleges and universities post seminars, guest speakers, and classes related to the humanities and global cultural issues online. To access these, go to iTunes>select iTunes U> type in the name of the university>iTunes U Collections>See all>select collection>select seminar title

· University of New England, Center for Global Humanities

· University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, The Program in the Humanities and Human Values

· Indiana University, Center for the Study of Global Change, Global Issues in World Areas

· Stanford University, Stanford Humanities Center

· Deakin University, Cultural Heritage Center for Asia and the Pacific

· University of Chicago, Cultural Studies

· MIT, MIT World

· University of Cologne, Languages and Cultures, Faculty of Philosophy

· UNESCO, Culture & Traditions

· Oxford University, Global and Imperial History Research Seminar

· Also check out these podcast series, also available through iTunes. To access podcasts, go to iTunes>select Podcasts> type in the name of the podcast series>select specific podcast title

· “BackStory” University of Virginia (focuses on U.S., but a fascinating romp through cultural history!)

· “In Our Time” with Melvin Blagg (especially the Culture archives)

· “Point of Inquiry”

· Be sure to check “TED Talks” http://www.ted.com/

· Also, don’t forget to check YouTube! Type in some key terms related to your content to see what’s available.

Design a Global Humanities Learning Community in an Hour

Adapted from “Design a Learning Community in an Hour,” by Jean MacGregor and Barbara Smith, Washington Center for Improving the Quality of Undergraduate Education, Evergreen College, Washington: http://www.uwec.edu/CETL/bundles/upload/Designing-Integrated-Learning-for-Students.pdf

The idea in this exercise is for you and your learning community partner to engage in some cross-disciplinary curricular brainstorming. Please have your individual course outlines at hand. Feel free to consult http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/ if need be.

1. GETTING FOCUSED TIME: About 5 minutes

Individually, think and make notes in response to the following task:

What global themes intrigue you? What big global questions, issues, ideas or problems are interesting for you right now and might be intriguing for your students to explore?

2. GENERATION OF POSSIBLE THEMES TIME: 30 minutes

Take 10 minutes each and briefly describe to your learning community partner:

· the course you’re involving in the global learning community

· what students need to do to succeed in your course, that is, the methodology of your discipline

· the students in your course

Then, in about 5 minutes each, describe to your partner the big global questions, issues, ideas, or problems that are intriguing to you right now. Note-taker, please write down all global themes that are mentioned.

3. CHOOSE A THEME TIME: 10 minutes

Once your team has generated ideas for possible global learning community themes, see if you can come to consensus on any common global theme, question, or topic that could be the organizing idea for your learning community. If you are divergent in your interests, simply take a leap of faith and settle on one of the themes about which both of you feel comfortable.

4. FLESH OUT THE THEME TIME: 25-30-minutes

Brainstorm:

· sub-themes and concepts that relate to the global learning community theme

· authors, titles of texts (reading of primary sources is encouraged) that can be used in the learning community, films, music, art, other resources

· possible field experiences, internships, service learning opportunities, sites in Silver Spring or Washington, D.C. that would enhance understanding of the global theme

· research projects that might illustrate the theme

· games, role plays, case studies that relate to the global LC theme

Generate as many ideas as you can. Don’t get bogged down judging or discussing the merits or fine points of each suggestion:

· Create a “team memory” as you work: record all the ideas suggested

· As you brainstorm, repetition of earlier suggestions is okay

· Resist the temptation to embark on side conversations about learning community implementation or merits of a particular idea: try to stay with the brainstorming process

5. MAKE A SUMMARY Bring to our next workshop

PAGE OF YOUR WORK

Summarize and present to the group key ideas and activities in your learning community design. At the top of the page, give your global humanities learning community a working title that reflects the theme and note the courses involved. Include these parts in your draft:

· Global Humanities Learning Community working title and courses involved:

· Global Question or Theme: (3-5 sentence summary)

· Sub-themes and concepts: (list, explain)

· Readings/texts:

· Possible projects:

From Towson University

Leadership and Civic Engagement

http://www.towson.edu/studentaffairs/civicengagement/servicelearning/faculty/reflection.asp

Sample Reflection Questions to use Prior to Service

• Why do you do service?

• How do you define community?

• Who determines what's best for the community?

• What is the mission of the community organization?

• How will you help achieve this mission?

Sample Reflection Questions to use During Service

• Describe what you did- what did you see or observe while at your community partner site?

• How did you feel about the experience?

• Describe the people you met at the service site

• Name three things that stuck in your mind about the service experience

• Describe the atmosphere of the service site

• Describe some of your interactions

• What did the "body language" of the people tell you?

• How did the people's responses make you feel?

• How did the service site make you feel?

• What brings people to the service site (both people seeking service and the volunteers)?

• Are "strangers" welcomed at the service site? Why or why not?

• Describe what a typical day might be like for someone who uses the services of the organization you worked with

• What would you change about this organization if you were in charge?

• What would you change about this service-learning course if you were the professor?

• What was the best/worst/most challenging thing that happened?

• Did you feel like a part of the community you were working in?

Sample Reflection Questions for During and After Service

• What connections do you find between the experience and your course readings or lectures?

• What new ideas or insights did you gain?

• What skills can you use or strengthen through working with your community partner?

• What knowledge or skills did you learn from this experience that you will apply in the future?

• How were you different when you left the service location compared to when you entered?

• How are you similar/different to others (others in your service group? others seeking services? etc.)?

• In what ways did being different help/hinder the group?

• What have you learned about yourself?

• If you were one of the people receiving services, what would you think of yourself?

• How does this experience compare to other service experiences you have had?

• How does this course compare to other courses you have taken?

• What connections do you see between this experience and what you've learned in your college courses?

• How has your service contributed to your growth in any of these areas: civic responsibility, political consciousness, professional development, spiritual fulfillment, social understanding, and intellectual pursuit?

• What have you learned about a particular community or societal issue?

• How did this experience challenge your assumptions and stereotypes?

• Do you think these people (or situations) are unique? Why or why not?

• What public policies are involved and what are their implications? How can they be improved?

• Describe an internal or external conflict that has surfaced for you during your service work. Explain the factors that contribute to this conflict and how you might resolve or cope with the conflict

• Discuss a social problem that you have come in contact with during your service work. What do you think are the root causes of this problem? Explain how your service may or may not contribute to its alleviation

• What could this group do to address the problems you saw at the service site?

• What could each participant do on his/her own?

• How can society better deal with the problem?

• How can this experience apply to other situations in your life?

• How can your solutions apply to other situations in your life?

• How can your solutions apply to other problem(s) of other groups?

• How can society be more compassionate/informed/involved regarding this community?

• What is the difference between generosity, charity, justice, and social change?

• Where do we go from here? What's the next step?

How to Assess Student Reflection The method being used to assess student reflection should be presented before the students begin the reflective process. Students will be able to engage in reflection at different levels of understanding and with different abilities. Some reflection exercises may be graded complete/incomplete, while others may use rubrics as guidelines for definitive grades. For more information please refer to Bradley's Criteria for Assessing Levels of Reflection (PDF).

*Steven Jones. Introduction to Service-Learning Toolkit. Second Ed. Providence RI: Campus Compact, 2003. Print.

From University of Minnesota

Community Service Learning Center

http://www.servicelearning.umn.edu/info/reflection.html

Reflection in service-learning classes

Examples of Reflection Questions

based on the Experiential Learning Cycle

(see more examples below)

What?

—What happened?

—What did you observe?

—What issue is being addressed or population is being served?

So What?

—Did you learn a new skill or clarify an interest?

—Did you hear, smell, or feel anything that surprised you?

—How is your experience different from what you expected?

—What impacts the way you view the situation/experience? (What lens are you viewing from?)

—What did you like/dislike about the experience?

—What did you learn about the people/community?

—What are some of the pressing needs/issues in the community?

—How does this project address those needs?

Now What?

—What seem to be the root causes of the issue addressed?

—What other work is currently happening to address the issue?

—What learning occurred for you in this experience?

—How can you apply this learning?

—What would you like to learn more about, related to this project or issue?

—What follow-up is needed to address any challenges or difficulties?

—What information can you share with your peers or the community?

—If you could do the project again, what would you do differently?

The Four Cs of Reflection

Effective strategies for fostering reflection are based on four core elements of reflection known as the Four Cs.* These elements are described below:

Continuous reflection: Reflection should be an ongoing component in the learner's education, happening before, during, and after an experience.

Connected reflection: Link the "service" in the community with the structured "learning" in the classroom. Without structured reflection, students may fail to bridge the gap between the concrete service experience and the abstract issues discussed in class.