A friend of mine taped a presentation that I gave here at Champlain about our Global Modules project and then placed most of it on Youtube in three sections. I’ll apologize in advance for the relatively rough quality of the print, and keep in mind that it was a somewhat informal presentation that I was giving to some of my colleagues at Champlain. That said, I think it does a fairly good job laying out the basic day-to-day structure of running a Global Module. As I’ve often said, sometimes, when viewed from the outside, the pedagogical and technical challenges of running a Global Module can seem daunting. Instead, we have designed the system to be as flexible and user-friendly as possible. It is a student-driven approach designed to add dimensions of international dialogue and critical thinking into the classroom without adding to the faculty workload. I hope this presentation can answer some questions, and I am more than happy to answer others.The one thing that doesn’t get addressed in any detail in this presentation is the bigger dream. Remember, our goal is to create an international network of universities interested in linking select courses together for short, thematic online discussions – to give students the opportunity to talk to their counterparts around the world about issues that have scholarly value and which also are important to them. To do that we need your help. Again, we are not looking for financial support – we are looking for innovative professors from universities around the world who are willing to take part in this approach.
Thanks, as always, and all my best,
Gary
scudder@champlain.edu
globalmodules@gmail.com
Friday, December 28, 2007
Connecting to a Bigger World
I was just reading some old Global Module material and came across a wonderful excerpt from the first GM we ever ran from the 2003 spring semester. My good friend, Dr. Tapti Roy from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, linked our classes together so that we could have our students discuss inequality. We had students in both classes read an article about the Grameen Bank. As many of you know, the Grameen Bank started in Bangladesh and specializes in making micro-loans to the poorest of the poor. One of the stipulations is that the loans are only made to women. During the online discussion between the students in Burlington and Dubai the logic behind this rule was questioned by a couple of the male students here in Burlington. At that point one of the female students in Dubai, who was originally from the subcontinent, wrote an extraordinary first-hand account of what it meant to be a woman in Bangladesh. Now, I could have told my students the same thing but it would have never resonated with them the way it did when the story was told by another student. The students were profoundly moved by her story, and it was at that point that we realized the tremendous potential of the Global Module approach for bringing students together. Here is a brief excerpt of that original posting:
"You had a few doubts about the
philosophy behind the Grameen bank in your first
posting- let me try and give a shot at them. Coming from
a nation that practices such a system, perhaps I may
help you look at things from another perspective. First
your initial question- why women? One thing you need to
understand is the status of women in general in the
rural society of the sub continent. Women are treated,
unfortunately, as second class citizens by the system
and only as ‘tools’ by the immediate society. Once she
is married off, given birth to a son (yes, this kind of
narrow thinking is still prevalent in many the corners
of the sub continent) , she becomes non-existent, at
society’s level known only as so and so’s wife or
mother. In Bangladesh, this is especially so because of
the lack of literacy at the village level and the
orthodox belief in caste hierarchy. In defiance of the
Bangladeshi banking system which treats women as second
class borrowers, the Grameen Bank (I read somewhere on
the net) wanted to establish a 50-50 ratio of women and
men borrowers. The Bank soon discovered I guess that
women are far more effective agents of change because at
least in this rural scenario they are accustomed to
handling many responsibilities at a time- managing the
house, the children, in this case acquiring food,
tending to cattle, managing the fields if any, etc. It
is a different issue that these jobs are considered as
‘a part of her duty’ by the men folk. Hence, economic
empowerment of women has a dramatic impact on
stabilizing the family unit. I know you said that the
men might ‘feel as if they aren’t needed and leave their
families, go out and spend more money, or get into
trouble much more easily.’ But a man’s perception of his
role in society, in these cases, is larger than life. It
is the men, on a customary basis that participate in the
village panchayats (grass-root level governments), it is
the men that traditionally do the labor for the house,
the village and their families. It is the men who make
all the decisions-including the work vs. school decision
regarding the children, mortgaging of property, etc.
. . . But I’m sure, that they too will
eventually realize that if they need the money and their
women can get it easily . . . then why not? So
I’ll beat her a little less today so that she doesn’t
complain tomorrow to those jibbery-jabbery friends of
hers and we can get that loan, and finally that landlord
will be off my back and we can keep that cow. . . The long term
benefit of any society, agreed as you said is for men and women
to stand up as equals. But the long term benefit of an under-developed
society is for the women to first realize and prove that
she is an equal."
"You had a few doubts about the
philosophy behind the Grameen bank in your first
posting- let me try and give a shot at them. Coming from
a nation that practices such a system, perhaps I may
help you look at things from another perspective. First
your initial question- why women? One thing you need to
understand is the status of women in general in the
rural society of the sub continent. Women are treated,
unfortunately, as second class citizens by the system
and only as ‘tools’ by the immediate society. Once she
is married off, given birth to a son (yes, this kind of
narrow thinking is still prevalent in many the corners
of the sub continent) , she becomes non-existent, at
society’s level known only as so and so’s wife or
mother. In Bangladesh, this is especially so because of
the lack of literacy at the village level and the
orthodox belief in caste hierarchy. In defiance of the
Bangladeshi banking system which treats women as second
class borrowers, the Grameen Bank (I read somewhere on
the net) wanted to establish a 50-50 ratio of women and
men borrowers. The Bank soon discovered I guess that
women are far more effective agents of change because at
least in this rural scenario they are accustomed to
handling many responsibilities at a time- managing the
house, the children, in this case acquiring food,
tending to cattle, managing the fields if any, etc. It
is a different issue that these jobs are considered as
‘a part of her duty’ by the men folk. Hence, economic
empowerment of women has a dramatic impact on
stabilizing the family unit. I know you said that the
men might ‘feel as if they aren’t needed and leave their
families, go out and spend more money, or get into
trouble much more easily.’ But a man’s perception of his
role in society, in these cases, is larger than life. It
is the men, on a customary basis that participate in the
village panchayats (grass-root level governments), it is
the men that traditionally do the labor for the house,
the village and their families. It is the men who make
all the decisions-including the work vs. school decision
regarding the children, mortgaging of property, etc.
. . . But I’m sure, that they too will
eventually realize that if they need the money and their
women can get it easily . . . then why not? So
I’ll beat her a little less today so that she doesn’t
complain tomorrow to those jibbery-jabbery friends of
hers and we can get that loan, and finally that landlord
will be off my back and we can keep that cow. . . The long term
benefit of any society, agreed as you said is for men and women
to stand up as equals. But the long term benefit of an under-developed
society is for the women to first realize and prove that
she is an equal."
Monday, October 29, 2007
Chronicle of Higher Education Article
Chronicle of Higher Education
Section: INTERNATIONALVolume 54, Issue 10, Page A35
By Karin Fischer
To Connect With Foreign Students, Champlain College Taps Into Technology
Some colleges are bringing foreign students into their classrooms through video and computer hookups. One professor's experience at Champlain College, in Vermont, shows how a little ingenuity and a lot of persistence can go a long way.
In 2003, Gary Evans Scudder Jr., a professor of history, thought it would be a great idea to connect his senior class on world issues with foreign students at a campus in Dubai then owned by Champlain. He cajoled the college's information-technology staff members to set up a secure online discussion forum, and the global-modules program was born.
The concept is simple: For four weeks during a semester, students at Champlain and a partner institution overseas tackle shared readings, then discuss the material online. The focus is usually thematic, so as not to limit the discussion to specific courses.
After that first success with Dubai, Mr. Scudder scouted out other interested universities, sometimes by simply sending out blanket e-mail messages to key departments. Champlain students have discussed peace activism with Austrians, women's issues with Moroccans, and Aristotle's concept of friendship with students at a college in Israel.
Mr. Scudder says the conversations have opened students' eyes to new ways of seeing the world. For example, one discussion centered on a controversial cartoon of Muhammad published in a Danish newspaper, with Jordanian students explaining why they found the depiction offensive. "I could have talked about that in class every day, and it wouldn't have had the same impact," says Mr. Scudder.
His work has also had a broader impact at Champlain. The college has adopted a new core curriculum that integrates his global modules program. Beginning next spring with the freshman class, all students will take one course a year that includes a module. This fall Mr. Scudder, who recently won a campuswide teaching award, has been given time off from his classroom duties to travel the globe recruiting new partners.
Section: INTERNATIONALVolume 54, Issue 10, Page A35
By Karin Fischer
To Connect With Foreign Students, Champlain College Taps Into Technology
Some colleges are bringing foreign students into their classrooms through video and computer hookups. One professor's experience at Champlain College, in Vermont, shows how a little ingenuity and a lot of persistence can go a long way.
In 2003, Gary Evans Scudder Jr., a professor of history, thought it would be a great idea to connect his senior class on world issues with foreign students at a campus in Dubai then owned by Champlain. He cajoled the college's information-technology staff members to set up a secure online discussion forum, and the global-modules program was born.
The concept is simple: For four weeks during a semester, students at Champlain and a partner institution overseas tackle shared readings, then discuss the material online. The focus is usually thematic, so as not to limit the discussion to specific courses.
After that first success with Dubai, Mr. Scudder scouted out other interested universities, sometimes by simply sending out blanket e-mail messages to key departments. Champlain students have discussed peace activism with Austrians, women's issues with Moroccans, and Aristotle's concept of friendship with students at a college in Israel.
Mr. Scudder says the conversations have opened students' eyes to new ways of seeing the world. For example, one discussion centered on a controversial cartoon of Muhammad published in a Danish newspaper, with Jordanian students explaining why they found the depiction offensive. "I could have talked about that in class every day, and it wouldn't have had the same impact," says Mr. Scudder.
His work has also had a broader impact at Champlain. The college has adopted a new core curriculum that integrates his global modules program. Beginning next spring with the freshman class, all students will take one course a year that includes a module. This fall Mr. Scudder, who recently won a campuswide teaching award, has been given time off from his classroom duties to travel the globe recruiting new partners.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Africa and the Middle East
Champlain College, as part of its twin goals of embedding the Global Modules approach in our new core curriculum and the college becoming a true facilitator and promoter of a global network for student dialogue, has given me the semester off and the resources to expand our network of partner institutions. Even though it seems like I just stepped off a plane, I will be turning around in a week and embarking on the longest trip of the semester. In the space of four weeks I will be visiting the University of Jordan and Princess Sumaya University in Jordan, Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates, Kenyatta Univesity and Moi University in Kenya, and Uganda Christian University and the Islamic University in Uganda to run workshops and meet with interested faculty members, administrators and students. Part of this reflects our vision of having a wide variety of voices represented in our Global Modules discussions. Even more, however, it expresses our desire to have a very strong presence in Africa and the Middle East, two areas that are all too often ignored or vilified in the international press. While we have a growing network in these two parts of the world, we are always looking for new partners. If anyone has any suggestions or contacts we would love to hear from you.
Gary Scudder
scudder@champlain.edu
globalmodules@gmail.com
Gary Scudder
scudder@champlain.edu
globalmodules@gmail.com
Pazmany Peter Catholic University
The process of finding new GM partners is an odd one. There is a lot of thought that goes into picking out countries and universities, but some of it is just a process of adapting on the fly. A few days before taking off on the last trip I almost cancelled the Hungarian leg of the trip because I didn't think it made sense as I was balancing out the cost of the trip and my initial perceptions of the reaction I was getting from a couple Hungarian universities. I actually contacted my travel agent about just flying back early, but in the space of a couple hours I heard what it would cost to change the flight, and found a more affordable hotel, and received a couple very hopeful emails. As it turns out the Hungarian leg of the journey ended up being remarkably productive and Hungary may end up being a foundation of the expanding network. I've already talked about one of the universities, Corvinus.
The other Hungarian university is Pazmany Peter Catholic University. You take a pleasant forty-five minute train ride out of Budapest to the village of Piliscsaba. Finding the right train station can be a bit iffy in Hungary because at some of the stations signage is at a minimum. Instead of a series of signs that run parallel to the tracks, you often only have one sign that is facing towards the front of the train (so it benefits you to sit up in the front of the train). I kept getting out of the train at each stop to see if I could spot the sign. Luckily, the stop for the university, Pazmaneum, was very well marked and had a quaint little station, which you walked through and right into the university itself. The university has a very intimate feel, about the size of Champlain itself, with a very strong liberal arts tradition. I had a series of great meetings with Marton Beke from the international program, Gyorgy Domokos, the Vice-Dean for Foreign Affairs, Kathleen Dubs from the English department, and Karoly Kopasz, a student who works with Marton Beke. Kathleen Dubs had some wonderful ideas for Global Module themes, including using portions of Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings for a Global Module focused on perceptions of "the other." This really made me happy because literature is a wonderful fit for the Global Module approach. Karoly Kopasz was tremendously excited about the project and was checking out the new GM website while we were having the meeting. He couldn't wait for me to get back to the states to get the official OK so that he could get other students at the university to post on the general discussion forum.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Corvinus University
The first university that I visited in Budapest was Corvinus University. It has a long and storied and fascinating history. For a long time, under Soviet rule, it was renamed Karl Marx University and there is still a statue of Marx in the main part of the building. The building itself is very historic. It is located right on the Danube, on the Pest side, and it used to be the old customs house. There used to be a train track that ran right through the middle of the building (where Marx is sitting now). After the fall of the Soviet Union it was named Corvinus in honor of a scholarly Hungarian king of the fifteenth century (a golden age in Hungarian history).
Corvinus is very excited about the Global Modules project, especially in the economics, business and history departments. We should have at least a couple GMs up and running with them in the Concepts of Community classes this coming spring semester. I think they are so excited about the project because of Hungary's own struggle to join the EU and to fashion a more lasting connection with the rest of the world. In one of the many meetings I had with faculty members and administrators, I also had the chance to sit down with some doctoral students in economics, and I think they were the most excited of anyone. They were suggesting GM themes during the meeting and started emailing me more ideas before I had made it back to my hotel.
University of Alcala
The University of Alcala is located in Alcala de Henares, which is around thirty minutes outside of Madrid by train. The university itself is beautiful and has a history that stretches back centuries. Oddly, it was all but dead for much of the 20th century and was brought back to life mainly by the efforts of the people of Alcala de Henares who refused to give up on their dream of breathing new life into the school. Thank goodness they did. While some of the buildings are surprisingly modern, others have the same look, on the outside anyway, that they did in the 15th century. In some places the architects have melded brand new buildings onto older structures, but even they have allowed the older buildings to dominate. Most of their buildings, even the ones five hundred years old, are wireless or soon will be – the challenge of which our own IT folks could understand. The university has something around eighteen-thousand students, but has the feel of a more intimate college.The campus is full of beautiful old courtyards, often hidden behind five hundred year old facades. One administrative building has a façade dating back to the time of Charles V. Once you go through the gate you enter the first of three linked courtyards, each one progressively older. In one of the courtyards there is an idyllic tree-covered corner that is simply referred to as the Philosopher’s Garden.
In a series of meetings that stretched over two days I met a number of faculty and administrators, including the Dean of Humanities, the Assistant Dean of Economics, the Director of International Relations, and the Chair of the Modern Languages department. All of this was organized by Carmen Flys Junquera who is a very big supporter of the GM program. Her parents are Spanish but she was raised in the states. She moved to Spain in the 1970’s and has been here ever since - her own experiences with two different cultures probably explains her fascination with the GM program. If she as good an ambassador for the GMs as she is for the university we’ll have no trouble succeeding here. Alcala is interested in embedding the Global Modules in several courses as an experiment for the upcoming spring semester, but they are already talking about signing a memorandum of understanding and expanding to more classes next year – maybe even taking the same approach that Champlain is doing and actually embed them in key courses. They also have an interesting bonus credit program where students can get one, two or three credits for taking on unique assignments, and Alcala is talking about using this approach for a one-credit course that would just be the Global Module itself. This might actually be a possible approach that Champlain could use as it explores ways to bring the GMs into the extracurricular realm. Carmen thinks that immigration would be a great GM topic because the Spanish (like a lot of European countries, and the US for that matter) are dealing with their own immigration issues.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
