Call for Papers - The Observatory on Borderless Higher Education

Many readers may be interested in contributing to The Observatory on Borderless Higher Education (http://www.obhe.ac.uk/home). A brief description from the Observatory's website follows:


The Observatory's primary purpose is to provide strategic information to enable institutional leaders and policy makers to make informed decisions relevant to their existing and/or future transnational higher education initiatives.

This mission is accomplished by a continuum of programmes, services and activities to provide access to state-of-the-art research, resources, best practices, emerging trends, policy frameworks, and assessment and quality assurance documents for the effective delivery of transnational higher education academic programmes and services. The Observatory organises regional and global meetings, engages in selected consultancies, and collaborates with numerous international organisations to achieve its mission.

The Observatory's call for authors can be found here: http://www.obhe.ac.uk/publications/call_for_authors

Interesting Perspective on One Million American Students Studying Abroad

I recently came across an interesting post on the Education Dynamics Academic Perspectives blog from December 17, 2008 on the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act which envisions to send over one million U.S. students to study abroad each academic year. This blog post is fairly in line with my view of increasing study abroad participation in the United States to over one million students per year. You can read this blog post and my posted comments here: http://tinyurl.com/9vtox3

Academia.edu and other Social Networks

During this past year I've joined numerous social networks for international educators, researchers, graduate students and bloggers such as Linkedin, Knowledge Communities of NAFSA, ResearchGATE, Graduate Junction, Scribd, Facebook, and VerveEarth . The development and growth of these networks and how people use them to connect is quite interesting.

In addition to the networks listed above that I joined I wanted to highlight another that I think leads all others and is for researchers at institutions of higher education world wide. Academia.edu is a very well developed and functional network that provides academics the opportunity to easily make connections as well as create personal websites where you can upload your CV, papers and highlight various talks you've given. Here is a link to my academia.edu webpage: http://chicago.academia.edu/DavidComp

Write for EducationUSA Connections

Readers looking for a venue to publish their work might want to consider writing for the EducationUSA journal Connections. You can access past issues of the journal as well as an e-mail to submit manuscripts at this website: http://educationusaconnections.iienetwork.org/. I have copied and pasted information about Connections from the website below for your reference:

“The EducationUSA Connections journal is a quarterly, online publication produced by the Institute of International Education's Membership and Higher Education Services Division and sponsored by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Connections is produced for the EducationUSA overseas advisers and includes information about higher education in the United States, scholarship opportunities, specific fields of study, best practices in advising, and other topics.”

100 Free College Rankings

I occasionally write about various academic rankings around the world and thought readers might find the following "100 Free College Rankings (Traditional, Unorthodox and Just Plain Crazy)" to of interest.

You can access this list here: http://tinyurl.com/57gz49

The Language Flagship – Statements Before the House Armed Services Committee

On September 23, 2008 the House Armed Services Committee listened to statements from the following four individuals on the Language Flagship program:

- Dr. Dana S. Bourgeire, Director, The National Chinese Flagship Center at Brigham Young University

- Dr. Terri E. givens, Director, Texas Language Roadmap and the University of Texas at Austin

- Dr. Robert O. Slater, Director, National Security Education Program

- Mr. Galal Walker, Director, National East Asian Languages Resource Center at Ohio State University

You can download their statements in PDF format as well as watch the webcast on the hearing at the following website: http://tinyurl.com/59yogo

The New Fulbright-SENACYT Program

On December 10, 2008, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Panamanian Vice President and Foreign Minister Samuel Lewis Navarro signed a memorandum of understanding to fund up to 10 scholarships for graduate students or professors from Panama to pursue studies in the United States in the fields of science and technology. The Fulbright-SENACYT (Panamanian National Bureau of Science, Technology and Innovation) will fund two to four years of study and covers tuition, airfare, room and board, books, health insurance and a settling-in allowance. Financial support for English language training is also available.

You can read more here: http://tinyurl.com/67vcsr

Mobility Barometer of the Let’s Go Campaign

Those of you conducting research on global student/scholar mobility trends may find the Mobility Barometer on the Let’s Go Campaign to be helpful. The Mobility Barometer highlights the specific mobility situation for students and higher education and research personnel in 46 countries within the European region. You can access the Mobility Barometer here: http://tinyurl.com/5pnkoe

The Lets Go Campaign was launched by Education International and the European Students’ Union (ESU). You can access the main website for the Let’s Go Campaign here: http://www.letsgocampaign.net/

Memo to President-Elect Obama to Implement Policy Changes towards Cuba

On December 8th, thirteen associations and organizations wrote a joint letter to President-Elect Obama asking him to appeal several amendments to the Cuban Assets Control Regulations instituted by the Bush administration in 2003 and 2004. In particular, the letter is most concerned with the restrictions placed on academic and family travel to Cuba.

You can access the letter here: http://www.nafsa.org/_/File/_/cubaletter_12-4-08.pdf

Science as a Gateway to Understanding: International Workshop Proceedings, Tehran, Iran (2008)

A new book entitled Science as a Gateway to Understanding: International Workshop Proceedings, Tehran, Iran (2008) has just been published by the National Academies Press. Here is a link to this publication on the National Academies Press website (http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12539) where you can download in PDF format if you complete a free and brief registration. Following is a description of this international workshop that I copied and pasted form the National Academies Press website:

“In October 2007, the U.S. National Academies and the Iranian Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Science organized the first of a series of planned U.S.-Iranian workshops on the topic "Science as a Gateway to Understanding." This new workshop series is a component of the broader effort of the National Academies to support bilateral workshops and exchange visits in a variety of fields with a number of Iranian institutions that began in 2000.

This book includes papers that were presented at the workshop and summaries of the discussions that followed some of the presentations. At the conclusion of the workshop there was general agreement that the presentations on many aspects of science and scientific cooperation that have a bearing on mutual understanding were an important first step. Several participants underscored that the next workshop should emphasize how scientific cooperation can lead in concrete terms to improved understanding among both academic and political leaders from the two countries.”

The First 100 Days: Setting a New Tone in U.S. Foreign Relations - NAFSA Memo to President-Elect Obama

On November 24th, NAFSA: Association of International Educators sent President-Elect Obama and his National Security Team a memo encouraging him to set a new tone in U.S. foreign relations within his first 100 days in office.

You can find the memo here: http://www.nafsa.org/press_releases.sec/press_releases.pg/obamamemo

New Brookings Report on U.S. Public Diplomacy for the 21st Century

In November 2008, the Brookings Institution released the Voices of America: Public Diplomacy for the 21st Century report. I find it to be an interesting read and found that the value of international educational exchanges is discussed throughout the report.

You can access the Executive Summary and the full report here: http://www.brookings.edu/reports/2008/11_public_diplomacy_lord.aspx

First Public Diplomacy Effort of the United States?

As we come to the end of 2008 and with the Obama Administration ready to lead the United States for at least the next four years my hope for an improved public diplomacy effort in the United States is high. To be sure, there will always be someone who wants to throw a shoe at the President.

This week I plan to focus my blog posts on international education and public diplomacy. To start off the week I'm posting a short historical piece about the public diplomacy efforts of the United States in 1936.

Perhaps the first public diplomacy effort[1] of the United States government was in Latin America during the 1930’s in an effort to combat the growing influence and infiltration of German and Nazi propaganda on the continent.[2] During the 1936 Pan American Conference for the Maintenance of Peace in Buenos Aires, the delegation from the United States proposed a Convention for the Promotion of Inter-American Cultural Relations which received unanimous approval from the other delegations.[3] The 1936 Buenos Aires Convention called for the exchange of peoples in an effort to strengthen intellectual cooperation and cultural relations between the United States and other Latin American countries and wanted these exchanges to include nongovernmental groups of people such as college faculty, youth groups, and representatives from social service organizations and labor unions.[4]

[1] Some may argue that the International Expositions/ World’s Fairs of the late 19th century and early 2oth century served this purpose.
[2] Cummins E. Speakman, Jr. International Exchange in Education, (New York: The Center for Applied Research in Education, Inc., 1966), 31-32.; Milton C. Cummings, Jr. Cultural Diplomacy and the United States Government: A Survey. (Washington, DC: Center for Arts and Culture, 2003), 1-2.
[3] Cummings Jr.,1.
[4] Kevin V. Mulcahy, “Cultural Diplomacy and the Exchange Programs: 1938-1978.” The Journal of Arts Management, Law and Society 29, no. 1, (Spring 1999): 11.

The AXE Study Abroad Sweepstakes

During my recent research efforts I came across an interesting sweepstakes…The AXE Study Abroad Sweepstakes (https://axestudyabroad.com/). My post is by no means intended to be an endorsement or promotion of this sweepstakes, any of the AXE fragrant products or any of the numerous Unilever brands. I am writing to see what others think of this “study abroad” promotion which, as you can tell, has nothing to do with studying abroad. To be fair, under the “Speak the Language of Love” button and the “AXE Study Abroad” logo it clearly states “The Promotion is not a study abroad program, does not include tuition or studies of any kind, nor course credit or classes.” This reminds me a little of the Abercrombie & Fitch study abroad catalog from a few years ago.

Call for Submissions - Disasters in the Field: Preparing for and Coping with Unexpected Events

I'm posting the following to my blog for a colleague:

Have you ever had essential equipment fail when you are in the middle of the jungle? A difficult student? Research permission revoked in the middle of the project? Been struck by lightning? Dropped your camcorder in a river? We need your stories about challenges in field research. We all know that the old adage, “what can go wrong, will go wrong” often holds true when we do international field research. However, we all find creative ways of working around these potential disasters. We are working on a book titled, Disasters in the Field: Preparing for and Coping with Unexpected Events. The purpose is to present students and researchers with an overview of problems associated with doing international fieldwork—to provide them with practical suggestions that will help them prepare for the field and minimize the impact of unexpected events. We’re going to use real stories to make these issues come to life. If you have a story about any of the topics below, please consider submitting it. Stories are 200-1000 words and will be incorporated into chapters. You have the option of being credited with the submission or requesting that it be anonymous. Please contact Gillian Ice and Darna Dufour at field.disasters@oucom.ohiou.edu if you are interested.

Guidelines for submissions for Disasters in the Field: Preparing for and Coping with Unexpected Events.

Stories may be submitted on any of the following topics:
- Equipment failure, loss, confiscation
- Data loss
- Cultural misunderstandings that disrupt research
- Corruption, crime, political unrest that impacts research
- Health Emergencies
- Issues with participant recruitment and/or retention
- Student issues
- Personal or family issues that disrupt research
- Other potential disasters not listed here are also welcome

Please be concise (200-1000 words) but provide enough detail so the reader understands the issue. Include information on how you dealt with issue (successfully or unsuccessfully). After you relay the story please provide us with information about what you “learned from your experience”. What might you do differently in the future to avoid the problem, if possible? How might you handle the situation differently now? Contributions will be woven into chapters with specific topics. Depending on how many submissions we get we may not be able to use all contributions and we may have to edit some contributions for length. Any edits will be approved by contributors. You may submit photos or line drawings to illustrate your story. Please indicate if you prefer to be credited with your contribution or to have it listed as an anonymous contribution. Please submit your stories no later than April 1, 2009. Stories should be written in Microsoft word and submitted via email to: field.disasters@oucom.ohiou.edu.

After review of submissions, we will select stories for inclusion in the book. Some stories will be featured in their entirety, while others may only be included as short excerpts. You will be informed either way by email by August 1, 2009. At that time, you will be asked to sign a release form for publication. Authors of feature stories will be provided with a free copy of the book.

The Forum Pathways to the Profession Survey 2008: Report and Results

On Monday, December 8, 2008 the Forum on Education Abroad released The Forum Pathways to the Profession Survey 2008: Report and Results and it is available for download on their website. I quickly reviewed this publication and think it’s a valuable contribution to the field of education abroad. I receive frequent e-mail messages requesting information on how to enter the field of education abroad/international education and I think this report will be a valuable resource for people wanting to enter the field. Additionally, those who are newcomers and mid-career professionals will also find value in this report.

You can access the report here: http://www.forumea.org/documents/ForumEAReportPathways2008.pdf

Early Connections between the DAAD and The University of Chicago

As the DAAD contact at The University of Chicago I have long been interested in the history of the DAAD and the early connections it has had to the University. During my recent efforts I learned that Arnold Bergstraesser who founded the DAAD and from 1937-1953 he taught in the United States with his last appointment as Professor of German Literature and History at the University of Chicago. You can learn more about Arnold Bergstraesser here: http://www.arnold-bergstraesser.de/arnoe.htm.

Similar to Senator Fulbright, German Chancellor Adenauer also had a vision to create a major international academic exchange program that Germany could call her own and in the years following the end of the Second World War he re-founded the DAAD, Deutcher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (German Academic Exchange Service). German Chancellor Adenauer was so engaged in this process that he actively took part in the signing of exchange agreements with a variety of partner institutions in the United States.[1]

[1] Chancellor Adenauer’s active participation in the signing of partner institution exchange agreements is evidenced at the University of Chicago where the original DAAD-University of Chicago exchange agreement from 1953 is housed at the Office of International Affairs. This exchange agreement between the University of Chicago and the DAAD contains Chancellor Adenauer’s original signature and on the agreement it is evident that he crossed out the word “eins” (meaning “one” in German) and wrote in the word “zwei” (meaning “two” in German) for the number of guaranteed exchange students from the University of Chicago.

Need for Standards for International Education

During my recent research efforts I came across the following statement on the need for standards for international education from 1992 that I thought I'd share with readers:

“Sojourn difficulties are an occupational reality at all levels of exchange. They are exacerbated, however, when organizations responsible for facilitating exchange programs fail to do so at adequate levels of quality and ethicality. In such instances, increases in volume of exchange present a liability rather than an opportunity, and the potential for good effects becomes eroded by the incidence of failure in and dissatisfaction with the exchange experience. To the extent that individual participants suffer psychologically, emotionally, or physically, the field as a whole suffers damaged visibility and reputation. When administering organizations fail to respond professionally and competently to the inevitable difficulties that arise in teenage exchanges, the field risks increased liability as well.” (p. 1)

Bachner, D.J. (1992). Developing Program Standards for International Educational
Exchange, NAFSA Working Paper #25. Evans City, PA: NAFSA Publications.

Network of International Education Associations (NIEA)

The establishment of the Network of International Education Associations (NIEA) is unknown to most in the field. The following text is copied from the NIEA website (http://www.ieanetwork.org/):

NIEA is an association of non-profit, non-government international education associations from countries and regions throughout the world which share a common mission to advance internationalization of higher education. The network advances the global learning of post-secondary education organizations through the exchange of information and dialog, advocacy for international education, professional development, and discovery of new approaches to international education. Members of the network will meet at least once annually, more often as appropriate.

NIEA Purposes are to:
1. Establish a global network of international education associations for mutual learning, information sharing, and identifying emerging issues, problems and opportunities.
2. Contribute intellectually, organizationally, or programmatically to the conferences and other learning venues of member associations.
3. Share information about and help build complementary training and professional-development programs by member associations.
4. Advocate, commission or sponsor research on topics related to international education.
5. Foster professional recognition of international education practitioners and leaders worldwide, and assist new international education associations.
6. Anticipate emerging issues having cross-regional or global impacts on international education and on the exchange of educational ideas, students, faculty/staff and related activities.

Founding Members are:
Association of International Education Administrators (AIEA)
Asociación Mexicana para la Educación Internacional (AMPEI)
Asia Pacific Association for International Education (APAIE)
Consortium for North American Higher Education Collaboration (CONAHEC)
European Association for International Education (EAIE)
Foro Argentino para la Educación Internacional (FAEI)
International Education Association of Australia (IEAA)
International Educators Association of Canada (IEAC)
International Education Association of South Africa (IEASA)
Institute for International Education (IIE)
Japan Network for International Education (JAFSA)
Korean Association of Foreign Student Administrators (KAFSA)
NAFSA: Association of International Educators

A Plan for the Exchange of American and Prussian Teachers (1907)

For readers with an interest in the early years of international education exchange…

In 1907, Dr. Karl Reinhardt, representing the Department of Ecclesiastical Affairs, Instruction and Medical Affairs of Prussia, proposed to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching a plan for the exchange of teachers between Prussia and the United States which was to be modeled after similar programs that were already in effect between Prussia and England and France.[1] American teachers were to teach English in Prussia for a year and a half and were to receive modest stipends from the Prussian government. Interestingly, American female teachers were specifically barred from participating in this exchange program between Prussia and the United States.

[1] “A Plan for an Exchange of Teachers between Prussia and the United States” Science, New Series, 27 no. 697, (May 8, 1908), 733-737

Analysis of the Research and Literature on Diversity in Education Abroad: A Synopsis

Some time ago I conducted a content analysis of the research literature on diversity in education abroad.[1] There were several themes I found across this literature relating to the barriers to participation in study abroad by students of color which include the following:

- Financial Issues (most commonly cited reason)
- Lack of Family Support and/or Needing to Remain Close to Family
- Concerns about Language
- Concerns about Discrimination
- Program Sites not of Interest

Recommendations for Future Research:

1. Need for more rigorous and advanced research. The field needs more Doctoral Dissertations and peer reviewed journal articles specifically focused on diversity issues in education abroad.

2. Need for more quantitative studies. The majority of studies on diversity in education abroad are qualitative in nature and have produced valuable data. However, we need more studies that provide hard data. Results from this type of data and methodological approaches will be helpful in our advocacy efforts both here in Washington, D.C. and on our campuses/organizations.

3. Better data collection in the field. Consider how we can we collect demographic data (institutional/provider or national level) on underrepresented student participation rates for comparison. Also, it is important to disseminate these data/results to the greater education abroad community.

4. Need for longitudinal studies focusing on diversity issues. Replication of a recently completed or current projects known in the field but with a specific focus on diversity issues. Comparisons can be drawn from the data and analysis.

5. Gain a better understanding of the heritage-seeking phenomena.

6. Compare and analyze data on minority student foreign language study, retention rates and other academic issues such as attendance at community colleges vs. four-year institutions.

[1] Data compiled by analysis of Research and Literature on Underrepresentation in Education Abroad: An Annotated Bibliography (© 2002-2006 David J. Comp)

Nobel Peace Prize Statistics and Wars in the 20th Century

Recently I came across an interesting article/conflict map on the Nobelprize.org website that I thought I’d share with readers. We see some sort of armed conflict happening somewhere on this planet everyday and this is likely to continue well into the future. I wonder what effect international education has had (if any) in reducing armed conflict in the past and what role it will have in the future?

You can access the Nobel conflict map here: http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/peace/conflictmap/readmore.html