The Center for Faculty Development supports the initiation and continuation of Faculty Learning Communities on both a long-term and short-term basis. Three new learning communities are in place: Intercultural Competence, Global Education, and Participatory Culture.

Intercultural Competence

The April 2013 final report of this learning community is here.

Context and Goals:
Since the 1990s, the concept of “intercultural competence” has gained increasing attention in international and interdisciplinary programs as a skill that needs to be intentionally taught and assessed. Given the variety of contexts in which intercultural competence is invoked, the literature can be highly theoretical or praxis-oriented, disciplinary or interdisciplinary, regionally specific or globally oriented. The objective of this learning community is to develop an understanding of intercultural competence as an academic, interdisciplinary field; to develop materials and strategies for teaching intercultural competence in existing or new courses; and to design effective tools for assessing intercultural competence in our curricula.

Readings:
Michael Byram, Teaching and Assessing Intercultural Communicative Competence(Multilingual Matters, 1997)
Anwei Feng, Mike Byram and Mike Fleming, eds., Becoming Interculturally Competent through Education and Training (Multilingual Matters, 2009)
Emory Griffin, Intercultural Communication: Communication Accommodation Theory of Howard Giles,” in “A First Look at Communication Theory (McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2009)
Dan Landis, Janet M. Bennett, Milton J. Bennett, eds., Handbook of Intercultural Training(Sage Publications, 2004)
James Neuliep, Intercultural Communication: a Contextual Approach (Sage Publications, 2006)
Amos Paran and Lies Sercu, eds., Testing the Untestable in Language Education(Multilingual Matters, 2010)
Pamela Perkins, The Art and Science of Communication: Tools for Effective Communication in the Workplace (John Wiley & Sons, 2008)
Wallace Schmidt, et. al., Communicating Globally: Intercultural Communication and International Business (Sage Publications, 2007)
Eva Alcón Soler and Maria Pilar Safont Jordà, eds., Intercultural Language Use and Language Learning (Springer, 2007)
Nico Vink, Dealing with Differences (KIT, 2005)

Timeline:
February-August 2011: Monthly meetings to discuss selected readings; information exchange with other inquiry groups.

September 2011: Workshop led by faculty from the SIT Graduate Institute

October 2011-February 2012: Development and piloting of teaching and assessment tools and curricular components.

March 2012: Reflection, assessment, strategies for implementation.

Facilitator:
Dr. Julia Karolle-Berg (CMLC); for more information email jkarolle@jcu.edu.

Global Education

Context and Goals:
An important aspect of John Carroll’s efforts at curricular review is investigating ways to more effectively integrate global learning into the Core Curriculum. To inform that effort, the University has been awarded a grant to participate in the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU) Summer Institute “Shared Futures: Global Learning and Social Responsibility–General Education for a Global Century.”

This learning community’s purpose is be three-fold:

  • First, to facilitate participation in the AACU Shared Futures Institute;
  • Second, to provide information and communication avenues for the work of the APTF Working Group on Curriculum; and
  • Third, to provide an opportunity for faculty at large to consider and develop their knowledge of theoretical issues and current scholarship surrounding globalization, and of best practices in global education planning and pedagogy.

Readings:
Arjun Appadurai, Globalization (Duke University Press, 2001)
Frank Lecher and John Boli, eds., The Globalization Reader (Wiley-Blackwell, 2007)
Manfred Steger, Globalization: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2009)

Timeline:
February-March 2011: Readings, discussion meetings.
April-May 2011: Development of “Global Learning Action Plan” for AACU.
June-July 2011: Submission of action plan; preparation for summer institute.
August-September 2011: Communication of outcomes at Fall Faculty Workshop and with related learning communities and committees.

Facilitator: Dr. Lauren Bowen (AVP and PO); for more information email bowen@jcu.edu.

Participatory Culture and New Media

Context and Goals:
Whether we regard ourselves as technophobic or technophilic, the world our students inhabit is marked by immersion in new media and in the participatory culture enabled by technology. But we have also, as faculty members, been frustrated by student research that relies largely on superficial and shallow on-line sources and by their failure to evaluate the legitimacy of these sources.

While there has been some discussion in higher education of the social exclusion and the digital divide, there has been less conversation about developing courses and curricula that directly address new media literacies and their connection to traditional textual literacies—reading and writing. This learning community will work toward achieving a common understanding of how media literacy—the critical production and consumption of visual, aural, and digital images—builds on a foundation of the traditional research, technical, and critical-analysis skills that we already teach. It will offer suggestions about ways that JCU’s curriculum can address core media literacy skills.

Reading:
Henry Jenkins, Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture (MacArthur Foundation, 2006)

Timeline:
February 2011: Discussion of the reading.
March-Mary 2011: Three meetings to discuss ideas for curriculum development in media literacy.

Facilitators: Dr. David Shutkin (ED), Dr. Linda Seiter (MT/CS); for more information email dshutkin@jcu.edu or lseiter@jcu.edu.