Friday, February 27, 2009

Spring 2009 Global Modules

I wanted to take a moment to give a very quick update on our Global Modules project for the spring 2009 semester. Every first year student in the Concepts of Community (COR 120) course, and every second year student in either the Capitalism & Democracy (COR 240) or Secular & Sacred (COR 230) courses – along with one Legacy of World Civilization II (HIS 211) and four Seminars in Contemporary World Issues (HIS 415) classes – is participating in a Global Module.

This semester we have Global Modules running or getting ready to start with faculty and students from the University of Alcala in Spain, Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates, Al Akhawayn University in Morocco, the University of Jordan in Jordan, Donau University Krems in Austria, Corvinus University in Hungary, Goteborg University in Sweden, Pearl Academy in India, Gulf University of Science and Technology in Kuwait, Kenyatta University in Kenya, the University of Pretoria in South Africa, Pazmany Peter Catholic University in Hungary, Bethlehem University in the West Bank, and Klagenfurt University in Austria.

Our students are discussing topics such as kinship, human rights, globalization, community and religion, media, marriage, community discord and conflict resolution, views of Arabs in film, carbon footprints, gender, the lives of Muslims in America, religious diversity, the dividing line between the sacred and secular worlds, divorce, perceptions of leadership in the Arab and American experience, physical appearance, toleration and terrorism, democracy, and women and education.

Obviously, we could not do this without the incredible hard work and dedication of our faculty here at Champlain and our friends overseas – as well as the enthusiasm of students here and around the world. They are all deserving of recognition and our appreciation. Certainly I can never thank them enough.