IHEC Blog’s YouTube Channel is Looking for Subscription Recommendations

A little over a week ago I created a YouTube channel for IHEC Blog. I decided to create a YouTube channel primarily for my research activities as well as a way for me to find and archive (favorite) interesting videos related to international education and public/citizen diplomacy. The side benefit is that IHEC Blog’s channel can serve as a clearinghouse for all international education and public/citizen diplomacy related channels on YouTube. Building up the subscriptions will be a slow process but as I come across channels of interest I will subscribe to them. Additionally, as I come across videos of interest I will add them to my list of favorites. Here are the YouTube channels I have subscribed to so far:

U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy (http://www.youtube.com/user/USCitizenDiplomacy)

Wandering Educators (http://www.youtube.com/user/WanderingEducators)

Education USA TV (http://www.youtube.com/user/EducationUSAtv)

Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program (http://www.youtube.com/user/gilmanscholarship)

Manitou Heights (http://www.youtube.com/user/rmsylte)

Fulbright Center (http://www.youtube.com/user/fulbrightcenter)

Fulbright U.S. Student Program (http://www.youtube.com/user/fulbrightprogram)

Fulbright Scholar 1 (http://www.youtube.com/user/FulbrightScholar1)

Foreign Fulbright Program (http://www.youtube.com/user/fulbrightforeign)

ExchangesConnect (http://www.youtube.com/user/exchangesvideo)

AustraLearn (http://www.youtube.com/user/AustraLearn)

What channels are missing? If you have a YouTube channel (or have recommendations for channels) that I should subscribe to on IHEC Blog's channel please leave a comment with the link to your channel.[1]

You can link to IHEC Blog’s YouTube channel here at http://www.youtube.com/user/IHECBlog


[1] Links to relevant channels only please! Please note that I reserve the right not to subscribe to a suggested YouTube channel and/or to not post comments suggesting YouTube channels.

Links of Interest for Week of Nov. 20th to 27th

Here are some items I posted and came across on The Twitter that I thought I would highlight and share this week:

IHEC Blog now has a YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/IHECBlog

isa Glancy from IIE-Mexico City talks on CNN-Espanol about how EducationUSA assists students looking to study in the United States (via @EdUSAtips)

Abstracts & presentations from recent Observatory on Borderless Higher Education Global Forum online (via @IDPDRIE)

New Blog Post: Educational and Cultural Exchanges Create Lasting Friendships in U.S. and Russia (via @dipnote)

New blog post on global public opinion on international issues by @CitizenDiplomat

Highlights from a Successful International Education Week by @NAFSA

Study abroad: New pact strengthens student exchange ties between Missouri and Panama

Subscribe to Gilman Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/gilmanscholarship

Canada Can Open a Door to Foreign Students That New U.S. Law Shuts, Report Says

Over 500 Azerbaijani students receive education abroad under state programs

Joint NAFSA-AIEA letter on proposed rule in the FR “Exchange Visitor Program-General Provisions”

Open World now has a Facebook fan page

Congrats to S. Bell from the Univ. of Chicago on her Rhodes!

US Rhodes Secretary Elliot Gerson explores the growing trend of Rhodes Scholars entering finance after Oxford (via @NAFAdvisors)

Take Action @change: Encouraging Americans to Become Global Citizens and Citizen Diplomats

50 Open Courses to Make You an Expert on China

The World’s 50 Best Open Courseware Collections

Citizen Diplomacy and Thanksgiving Day in the United States

For international students (no matter where the student is from and what country the student is studying in), holidays in a foreign land can be a difficult time. The other day I came across an interesting article entitled "Everything after that is gravy - citizen diplomacy and ambassadorial moments during Thanksgiving" in the November 20th Chicago Examiner (they frequently have articles on study abroad by the way). You can link to the article here.

Indian Engineering Education in Peril

Guest post by Dr. Rahul Choudaha, http://www.dreducation.com/

Dr. Rahul Choudaha is an international higher education professional based in New York. He earned his Ph.D. in Higher Education from the University of Denver and holds an MBA and an undergraduate degree in Engineering.

The gap between quality and quality in Indian engineering education is widening. The recent decision of the Washington Accord to turn down India’s proposal to graduate from the provisional membership to full membership highlights the lack of global competitiveness of the Indian engineering education system. The primary reason for denial relate to the “concerns over the quality of faculty members and students in Indian engineering programs.”

The number of seats for AICTE (Indian regulatory body) approved engineering colleges grew from 115,000 to 653,000 (CAGR of 19%) in the ten-year period from 1997-2007. Private institutions contributed to the most of growth however, it came at the expense of quality. This is clearly evident from the reports of unemployment among engineers on one hand and on other hand there are concerns of future unmet demand by the industry. Thus, there is a significant quality gap between what industry needs and what engineering education is providing.

One of the biggest challenges for Indian higher education is that institutional practices consider quality as an option and not a requirement. This means quality does not figure as a strategic priority. In addition, over-regulation and dysfunctional reward system further stifles quality orientation. This is also evident from the number of engineering institutions opting for “voluntary” accreditation of quality offered by National Board of Accreditation (NBA). This means given a choice, Indian engineering programs are not striving to integrate quality assurance in their academic offerings.

Source: http://www.education.nic.in/tech/tech_nba.asp

The problem is evident, urgent and systemic. It calls for solutions that more comprehensive and collaborative. Without the support of industry support, regulatory reform and institutional transformation, Indian engineering education is at the risk of created overeducated and underemployed youth.

Indian quality assurance system in engineering education requires an overhaul. A recent report by UNESCO, A New Dynamic: Private Higher Education, argues that "quality mechanisms must find a balance that ensures high levels of provision while at the same time not constraining appropriate innovation that responds to the evolving public and private education sectors."

French Embassy Partner University Fund (PUF) - Call for Projects

For the third year, the Embassy of France to the United States and France American Cultural Exchange (FACE) announced a call for project proposals of the Partner University Fund (PUF).

Here is a brief description of the Partner University Fund obtained from the website:

"Grants provided by the Partner University Fund support research and graduate education partnerships between French and American Universities with emphasis placed on novel, innovative and, when relevant, interdisciplinary approaches that involve exchanges across national and disciplinary boundaries.

Applicants are expected to develop new or deeper partnerships through the collaboration. The PUF Grant Review Committee will value, when applicable, evidence of institutional commitment to the development of joint or dual degrees even when the partnership starts with simple shared teaching and research exchanges.

PUF seeks to fund research and graduate education projects in all disciplines without exception. It also encourages interdisciplinary projects when relevant."

The application deadline of December 15, 2009 is quickly approaching but there is still time to submit a competitive application. You can learn more about the Partner University Fund here.

What should be the Next Web 2.0 Tool(s) for the Field of International Education?

I don't have an answer to this question but I found myself thinking about this over lunch.

I started IHEC Blog in February 2007 but didn't start blogging on a regular basis until June of 2008. I opened a Twitter account in February of 2009. I tried to start a Facebook page for my side consulting business and couldn't figure out how to do it (but instead have connected with many people from high school, college and my early professional career when I worked with juvenile delinquents and individuals with developmental disabilities). I finally figured out how to make a fanpage on Facebook for IHEC Blog only two months ago. I'm also on several Ning networks (such as ExchangesConnect) and other random sites. All of my experiences on these networks has lead me to connect with many great people and these new connections have lead to many collaborations on various projects which is why I signed up in the first place so I'm meeting that goal.

I'm certainly no expert but having a presence on all of these networks has allowed me to sit back to watch and learn about how the many stakeholders in the field (the students, the faculty, the study abroad offices/providers, the researchers, the international education organizations, etc.) have been using the web 2.0 tools in their work. I've been learning much just by observing what is happening in these networks. Some people, offices, providers and organizations are using web 2.0 tools very effectively while others I feel could better capatilize on the power/value that web 2.0 tools can provide. Things are moving and changing at such a rapid pace and the web 2.0 is changing the way the world (and the field of international education) communicates, interacts and does business. Check out this video (4:22) if you aren't convinced[1]

I'm excited and interested to see how these tools and networks will evolve and how the field of international education adapts them into our work. Google Wave Perhaps?[2]

So back to my question...What should be the Next Web 2.0 Tool(s) for the Field of International Education? What have you wanted to do with any of these tools that you can't do now?

[1] Many thanks to @APIstudyabroad for putting this video on my radar. Stealing a little from Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan) ~ @APIstudyabroad is doing it right!

[2] Over the weekend I was invited to preview Google Wave ~ much appreciation and thanks to the person who invited me! This person and I connected via various web 2.0 networks and have only communicated electronically but someday in person over a frosty mug!

Links of Interest for Week of November 13th to 19th

This is my 450th post to IHEC Blog and I'm continuing with my weekly Friday post highlighthing some of the posts I made to Twitter as well as some of the posts others have made to Twitter this past week.

My plan to find time in the evenings this week to do some of my own analysis of the Open Doors 2009 data did not happen as I thought. Stay tuned as I hope to find some time in the near future as I'm sure I'll have something to say and post to IHEC Blog. Until then...please enjoy these links:

New International Education Blog on the scene! Really good stuff so check it out at www.melibeeglobal.com

Educational and Cultural Exchanges Create Lasting Friendships in U.S. and Russia (@dipnote blog post)

Take Action @change: Encouraging Americans to Become Global Citizens and Citizen Diplomats (via @CitizenDiplomat)

"Conflicting International Enrollment Trends at U.S. Institutions of Higher Education" on WENR

Full U.S.-China Joint Statement

Revisiting an old IHEC Blog post for IEW ’09 ~ “Dear President Obama – What’s Your International Policy?”

“Put Germany on Your Resume”

DrEducation.com posted a nice analysis of IIE Open Doors data for Indian students enrolled in US institutions

British Council Sets Up Fund for Partnerships With U.S. Colleges

Profiles in International Education: Brian Whalen by @WanderingEds

ExchangesConnect Video Contest – Change Your Climate, Change Our World

Earlier this week ExchangesConnect announced the opening of their 2nd annual video contest entitled “Change Your Climate, Change Our World.” Watch the following video to learn more about this great contest where four creative people will win an international exchange experience sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs!



Here is a video of Secretary of State Hilary Clinton announcing the launch of the ExchangesConnect video contest:


Find more videos like this on ExchangesConnect

Currently, I’m not planning to participate in this video contest because I am not very creative and because I won the grand prize (by random drawing) in the ExchangesConnect Where is iDrop competition back in October. My prize was a Flip Video Camcorder and I must admit it is pretty sweet. I haven’t had much time to fully investigate how and ways to use the Flip Video Camcorder for my blogging activities but that will come in time. Tentative plans are to create a YouTube channel for IHEC Blog and to post videos to my ExchangesConnect profile (http://connect.state.gov/profile/DavidComp). I hope to be up and running with my video plans in time for the upcoming Forum on Education Abroad conference coming up in March, 2010.

You can learn more about the 2nd Annual ExchangesConnect Video Contest here. Also, you might want to consider joining the current 14,475 members of the ExchangesConnect community here!

Video and Text of Judith A. McHale on Release of the Open Doors 2009 Report

At the end of my IHEC Blog post yesterday I asked where to find a transcript of Judith A. McHale’s, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, remarks at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on Monday opening the tenth annual International Education Week and announcing the significant findings from Open Doors 2009. Well I found the transcript of her comments which you can read here but you may want to watch this video (6:54) of her remarks:

President Obama’s Bold Plan to Send 100,000 U.S. Students to Study in China

I was reading the transcript of President Obama’s remarks at a town hall meeting held yesterday with Chinese students at the Museum of Science and Technology in Shanghai and was happy to see that he talked about educational exchange between the United States and China. This is not the first time that President Obama has met with students and talked about the importance of international exchanges and I hope it will not be the last time he talks about this issue. What caught my attention was the following statement by President Obama:

“..I'm pleased to announce that the United States will dramatically expand the number of our students who study in China to 100,000. And these exchanges mark a clear commitment to build ties among our people, as surely as you will help determine the destiny of the 21st century. And I'm absolutely confident that America has no better ambassadors to offer than our young people. For they, just like you, are filled with talent and energy and optimism about the history that is yet to be written.

So let this be the next step in the steady pursuit of cooperation that will serve our nations, and the world. And if there's one thing that we can take from today's dialogue, I hope that it is a commitment to continue this dialogue going forward.”

This is certainly a bold and interesting plan for the United States. I’m very interested in President Obama’s plans and I look forward to watching and posting to IHEC Blog about future developments in U.S.-China academic exchanges! You can read the entire transcript of President Obama's town hall meeting with Chinese students here.

Update: Video added November 18th ~ President Obama begins talking about sending 100.000 U.S. students to China at the 3:37 minute mark.




Given that it’s International Education Week and that President Obama continues to tout the importance of international exchanges between the United States and other countries with plans to send 100,000 U.S. students to study abroad in China it seems fitting for me to revisit my August 6th IHEC Blog post where I wrote “Dear President Obama – What’s Your International Policy?” which you can view here.

U.S. Department of State press releases on Open Doors Data

I receive many, many Google Alerts for a variety of search terms related to international educational exchange and it is really great to read all of the news articles (in the international, national & local press) and press releases related to International Education Week, the Open Doors 2009 report and NAFSA’s Economic Impact Statements. I enjoy reading college and university student papers and institutional press releases that highlight the number of international students on their respective campuses and the number of their students that study abroad as well as how they rank in the Open Doors report. Additionally, I liked seeing that the U.S. Department of State issued press releases on the release of Open Doors 2009 (although I was hoping for more of a statement from them). Here are is the link to the two U.S. Department of State press releases on Open Doors data:

-11/16/09 International Students Come to United States in Record Numbers, 16% Increase in New Foreign Student Enrollments is Largest Since 1980; Office of the Spokesman; Washington, DC

-11/16/09 Numbers of Americans Studying Abroad Up 8.5%, China, India, Japan, South Africa, and Argentina See Strong Gains as Destinations; Office of the Spokesman; Washington, DC

Also, does anyone know if (and where) there is a transcript of Judith A. McHale’s, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, briefing on the launch and observance of International Week yesterday at the National Press Club in Washington, DC?

International Education Week, Economic Impact Statements & Open Doors 2009

If you are following international education offices, organizations or people in the field on Twitter or reading/receiving/google alerts feeds from any higher education publication it is hard to miss the fact today marks the start of International Education Week in the U.S. (thanks President Clinton!), that the Institute of International Education (IIE) released their annual 2009 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange and that NAFSA: Association of International Educators released their 2008-2009 Economic Impact Statements.

There is a lot of information to read, analyze and synthesize and I admit I haven’t had much time to do this yet. I do plan to post to IHEC Blog, to the IHEC Blog Facebook page, and to Twitter about these topics all this week.

Following are a few links to whet your appetite[i]. These are the main sites I will be visiting/using in my analysis of this data and to see what, if any, trouble I can stir up in an attempt to start discussions on how we perceive and/or report on the state of the field of international education.[ii]

International Education Week by U.S. Departments of State & Education

See which governors have issued International Education Week Proclamations

2008-2009 Economic Impact Statements by NAFSA (for the first time also broken down by Congressional District)

Open Doors 2009 by IIE

Fall 2009 International Student Enrollment Survey by AACC, AASCU, ACE, AAU, APLU, CGS, IIE & NAFSA

[i] Many thanks to Andy Amsler over at NAFSA his message this morning.
[ii] Please see this IHEC Blog post from March 20, 2007 to see an example of the type of discussion I like to see us international educators, as well as outsiders, participate in.

Links of interest for the Week of Nov. 6th to 12th

Yes I know the days of my week (Thursday to Friday) for these posts are a bit strange but they work for me and I’m okay with it. Following are several links I have found to be of interest (and one rather humorous link) that I either posted or RT’d to Twitter this week:

Open Doors 2009 is coming next Monday! IIE has been tracking internatioanl student mobility for 60 years (via @IIEglobal)

Jon Stewart on the Job Posting for a Dead Archivist (see my June, 2008 IHEC Blog post on the GD archives here)

RPCV Pamela Houston on her experiences in Kiribati & volunteering with a disability (via @PeaceCorps , @mobilityintl)

Are you interested in TCKs?

100 Excellent Open Access Journals for Educators

Overseas study bubbles on brink of bursting

@arttrav is looking for students to talk about how they share their study abroad/travel experiences online, reply on Facebook

International Educator (for @NAFSA) “Health & Int'l Travel Insurance Considerations for Students w/ Disabilities”

Education Abroad Advising to Students with Disabilities (@NAFSA publication) http://tinyurl.com/y978men

A World Awaits You - Special Edition on Including People with Disabilities in International Exchange by MIUSA

Senate of the Philippines - ANGARA CALLS FOR MORE EXCHANGE SCHOLARSHIPS IN ASIA

A Framework for Analyzing the Impact of International Students on Economic Development (via @IDPDRIE)

"Finding the Ties That Bind Through Educational Exchange"

New Foreign Language Partnership Bill introduced in the House Nov. 9th (via @CitizenDiplomat)

I’m liked this point/counterpoint about study abroad in The Chronicle

2 reports on U.S. cultural exchange & diplomacy by the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation

Ten reasons not to study abroad

Call for Authors - New "Reviews of Global Studies Literature"

There are some really great things happening over at the NAFSA Research/Scholarship Network (part of the larger Teaching, Learning & Scholarship Knowledge Community). The following post is simply a copy & past job from a recent Research/Scholarship Network call for authors. Many thanks to Rebecca Hovey for leading this effort and to Bryan McAllister-Grand for his work on this!

Members of the NAFSA Research/Scholarship Network (www.nafsa.org/rsnetwork) are working on a new pilot resource for the field, tentatively called "Reviews of Global Studies Literature." This online feature will consist of short reviews & synopses of recent research and literature.

The purpose of the project title is to include not only international education research and literature, but also relevant books for our profession in fields such as human rights, peace and justice, international relations, international studies, cross-cultural communication, psychology, anthropology, etc. A more complete description of the project with submission guidelines is available at http://www.brandeis.edu/globalbrandeis/office/RSReviewsOct2009.pdf or can be requested by email (see below).

We are writing today to invite you to be involved as a book review author for two initial "issues" in 2010. These reviews will be published online to the NAFSA Research/Scholarship Network, promoted in our
discussion forums, and in PDF form for download.

Book reviews will be of two types, although we would consider other creative proposals:

1. Book review *articles* will compare and review 3-5 related books in a short essay format of less than 1,000 words. The articles should take on one topic or regional area (e.g. "social justice," "global competence," or "Africa") and integrate book reviews with the author's knowledge/expertise of that topic. The article should also address the relevance of the books to the field of International Education.

2. Book *synopses* will be short reviews of individual books of approximately 1-2 paragraphs or less than 500 words.

Deadlines:

# January 15th 2010 submission deadline for mid-February 1st online Issue

# April 18th 2010 submission deadline for May NAFSA Conference online Issue

More information:

A project description with more details on submission guidelines, as well as a list of potential books to review, is available at http://www.brandeis.edu/globalbrandeis/office/RSReviewsOct2009.pdf

We hope you'll also consider suggesting other books for review so we can add to our list.

Please note that we can not provide copies of books, nor reimburse for purchasing expenses.

We hope you'll participate in this exciting project, which we hope grows into a kind of virtual "book club." Since the idea is still in development, we'd also welcome feedback about project design, book
choices, etc. Feel free to email either Rebecca or Bryan – contact details below.

Best,

Rebecca Hovey
World Learning
Rebecca.Hovey@sit.edu

Bryan McAllister-Grande
Brandeis University
bgrande@brandeis.edu

Members, NAFSA Sub-Committee on Research/Scholarship
Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship (TLS) Knowledge Community

National Summit for Global Citizen Diplomacy - The Decade of Citizen Diplomacy: 2010-2020

This IHEC Blog post is abbreviated version of a post over on the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy Blog entitled “Update: National Summit for Global Citizen Diplomacy”. Many thanks to Derek Forsythe from the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy for his permission to use parts of The Center’s blog in my post.

The U.S Center for Citizen Diplomacy is pleased to announce a National Summit for Global Citizen Diplomacy to be held in 2010 in Washington, D.C. The Summit will launch a national initiative that includes a multi-year educational campaign and calls upon the private sector in partnership with the public sector to expand the number of American volunteers of all ages who are engaged in international activity both at home and abroad.

The Summit broadens the momentum generated from the work of the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy (USCCD) a national resource base and network for Americans to be engaged as citizen diplomats, two major leadership forums held in 2008 (USCCD & The Johnson Foundation) and 2009 (The Leaders Project & The Gilman Foundation), and extensive reports conducted by the Center for Global Leadership, the Building Bridges Coalition, and the Center for Strategic International Studies, among others. These forums and reports engaged more than 200 leaders in international affairs and diplomacy who strongly endorse a revival of citizen diplomacy as a critical component of U.S. public diplomacy strategy and U.S. foreign policy.

With support from the U.S. Department of State – Office of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, the proposed Summit and national campaign are being submitted to the White House for the President’s endorsement. The U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy will partner with the administration to organize the summit and collaborate with some 1,000 U.S. NGOs devoted to providing opportunities for Americans to be involved in international activity whether at home or abroad. Leaders in international affairs are organizing twelve private sector task force groups to solicit and prepare summit presentations. The sectors include Business, Community and State-based Exchange Organizations, K-12 Education, Higher Education, International Service, Development Assistance, Cultural Diplomacy, Sports, Travel & Tourism, Volunteer Youth Service, Global Health, and Environmental organizations.

OBJECTIVES of THE SUMMIT

The National Summit on Global Citizen Diplomacy is the first such meeting since President Eisenhower’s People to People conference on the same subject in 1956. Most importantly, the summit will support current efforts of President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Undersecretary of State for Public Affairs Judith McHale to make global citizen diplomacy a national priority through efforts to:

· Focus national and international attention on the importance of citizen involvement in international activities as citizen diplomats, whether at home or abroad and show why citizen diplomacy is a vital foreign policy tool;

· Establish the United States as a collaborative world leader in the promotion of international understanding through the interaction of Americans with people throughout the world;

· Enhance current U.S. best practices and strengths of global citizen diplomacy and present new, creative and collaborative programs that build upon and leverage the strengths of existing U.S. international organizations and engage international partners throughout the world;

· Accomplish the first important recommendation in the Initiative for Global Citizen Diplomacy report (publication) – to conduct a national summit; and

· Provide showcasing opportunities for the expansion of funding for innovative programs from the public and private sector, both in the United States and worldwide.

Ultimately, the Summit will stimulate a significant increase in the engagement of global citizen diplomats in the U.S. and throughout the world by:

· Energizing the private sector to support and engage broad citizen involvement throughout the globe;

· Increasing opportunities for international volunteer service both in the United States and abroad;

· Increasing private sector interest and funding from individuals, corporations and other philanthropic foundations and organizations; and

· Increasing media support and coverage of citizen diplomacy in both the United States and abroad

Learn more about what you can do lend your support by clicking here.

Point/Counterpoint on the Value of Study Abroad

In a Sept. 21st commentary piece entitled “Study Abroad Is Often Not All It Should Be,” John F. Burness, visiting professor in the DeWitt Wallace Center for Media and Democracy at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University, expresses his concerns about the value of study abroad. It’s a good read with valid points.

In a recent, Nov. 2nd, Letter to the Editor entitled “Education Abroad Is More Important Than Ever For U.S. Students,” Joshua S. McKeown, Director of International Education and Programs at State University of New York at Oswego, counters Burness’ claims and is also a good read with valid points.

You can access the two articles by clicking on the links below:

“Study Abroad Is Often Not All It Should Be” by John F. Burness

“Education Abroad Is More Important Than Ever For U.S. Students” by Joshua S. McKeown

Please take a moment to contribute to the discussion in the comments section of the two Chronicle articles or here on IHEC Blog.

You will need a subscription to The Chronicle to access the articles (although many college and university libraries (and some organizations) subscribe to The Chronicle so you may be able to access the articles via your campus or organizational network.

Do You Have A Story? - International Education and the Fall of the Berlin Wall 20 Years Ago Today

I wonder what it would have been like to be studying abroad in Berlin/Germany 20 years ago today? I also wonder what it would have been like to be hosting/advising a student(s) from Berlin/Germany when the Wall came down? Did you travel during your studies abroad/travels to Berlin in the immediate years following the fall of the Wall? Were you able to get a piece of the Wall?

Do you have a story to tell about this? If so, please tell your story via a comment below.

As today marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall I’ve been thinking much about my that historic day as I watched the events unfold on TV from my dorm room. When the Berlin Wall came down I was a sophomore in college and I was in the midst of planning for study abroad and my backpacking travels and I knew that Berlin was a necessary stop on my itinerary. I studied abroad in Valladolid, Spain from January to May of 1991 and then began my backpacking sojourn through Europe that summer. Money was tight for me then and I was supplementing my travels with cash advances on the credit card so my time in Berlin was limited to one day. I arrived in Berlin at 5:00am after three days in Amsterdam and I awoke in a very hazy state and to an overcast day which seemed to be a fitting atmosphere to experience the city. I believe I made the most of my time in the city and spent the majority of my day walking around the Brandenburg Gate, Museum Haus Am Checkpoint Charlie with an ultimate goal of finding a place where I could chip off a piece of what remained of the Berlin Wall. I had no map and spoke no German but somehow found a place where the Wall remained and I could chip off a piece of history (pictured here). After chipping off a rather large piece of the Wall I found my way to Zoo Station and began my journey on to Paris (first stop in Paris was here). Berlin will be a day I will never forget!

You can read an interesting piece on msnbc.com with stories and photos of how readers acquired bits of the Berlin Wall here.

Now I wonder…when will we see the fall of the DMZ?

Links of Interest for Week of October 30th to November 5th

It’s been a long and busy week for me and my posts to IHEC Blog were a bit sporadic. Sorry about that. I hope that you find some of the following links I pulled from The Twitter to be of interest:

New report “The Spaces Between Numbers: Getting International Data on Higher Education Straight” (via @CitizenDiplomat)

Evaluation of the Youth Exchange & Study Program: Final Report

Good comment by Yale Richmond on evaluation report of the YES program in the Nov 2 Public Diplomacy Review (via @ivante)

Is the World Our Campus? International Students and U.S. Global Power in the Long Twentieth Century

India Looks to Expand Education Partnerships with United States (via @NAFSA)

U.S. Secretary of Education Duncan & Jordanian Education Minister Al-Ma'ani to lead 2-way video conversation between students

Quality Management and Study Abroad [CIEE Our View series n.15] (via @IDPDRIE)

The Value of a Study Abroad Program for Graduate Students in Psychology (via @AustraLearn)

Public Diplomacy: Lessons from the Past - a new publication by @NickCull (via @andrewkneale)

Explore the types of Fulbright Scholar grants that were funded in 2009-10 by academic discipline (via @FulbrightSchlrs)

@WanderingEds Profiles in International Education series: Jim Buschman of NYU

8,500 people submitted applications for the 2010 Fulbright U.S. Student Program, a thousand more than last year (via @WESFans)

My reply to random person who e-mailed me asking for assistance with their literature review can be found in the comments section (see comment #6) of my IHEC Blog post about this message http://ihec-djc.blogspot.com/2009/11/intercultural-miscommunication-via-e.html

For those of you using Google Reader you can view my shared items at http://www.google.com/reader/shared/international.ed.consulting

International Education to what End? Peace & Justice and Global Citizenship Revisited

If you are heading to the 2010 NAFSA: Association of International Educators annual conference from May 30th to June 4th in Kansas City, Missouri then you might want to consider submitting a proposal for a new poster session. Here are the details my colleague Bryan McAllister-Grande posted to the NAFSA Research/Scholarship network discussion forum:

The Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship (TLS) Knowledge Community, in partnership with the Peace and Justice Member Interest Group, will be hosting a new poster fair at this year's annual conference. We're looking for innovative approaches to among the following topics:

- social justice

- global citizenship and civil society

- peace, coexistence, and reconciliation

- gender, race, ethnicity, and religion

- public or citizen diplomacy

- major global issues such as poverty, health, environmental change, access to education, etc.

- sustainable development issues involving a peace/justice component

- research that looks at the impact of international education on communities, livelihoods, and international relations

These posters are aimed at both the research and practice level. So we're looking for "best practices" as much as exciting research and theory. (Ideally, poster submissions will highlight these theory-to-practice connections.)

The deadline for poster submission is 11:59pm, November 14th, 2009.

Please note that there will be no electrical hookups for posters, though wireless can be made available (price tba).

Please go to the NAFSA website for more information and to submit a poster proposal http://www.nafsa.org/annual_conference/call_for_proposals/

Make sure to indicate that you are applying for the "International Education to What End" poster fair.

If you have any questions, please contact Bryan McAllister-Grande (bgrande@brandeis.edu)

Intercultural Miscommunication via E-mail or Something Else?

For several years now I have been receiving requests for assistance or advise from people all over the globe on matters relating to research, selecting graduate schools/programs, starting a career in the field of international education and since I started IHEC Blog and posting to Twitter I’m starting to receive more and more requests from reporters wanting to interview me or requests from reporters wanting to locate certain data and/or people interview who are knowledgeable on their topic they are writing about, requests from publishers for book reviews as well as a whole host of other requests from people. About 2-3 weeks ago I decided to add the following vacation message to my IHEC Gmail account as there has been a notable increase in the number of e-mail messages I’ve been receiving the past 3 months:

“Thank you for your message. I appreciate your interest in my services and will reply to your message as soon as possible. International Higher Education Consulting and IHEC Blog are secondary projects to my family time, my work at the University of Chicago and my doctoral studies so my response time varies depending on my current work and research/writing loads.”

It’s flattering to receive all of these voice and e-mail messages and I work hard to helpful and to reply as quickly as possible. I currently have several e-mail messages in my inbox that require a response and some of the messages may be from IHEC Blog readers so please note that I will reply to you soon and I apologize for the delay. I welcome these messages as they often times provide a learning opportunity for me and a way for me help and to meet/network with new people! I’ve connected electronically with so many great colleagues via the various social/new media spaces where I find myself (and I’m including e-mail when I’m talking social/new media spaces) and I look forward to our paths crossing in person some day in the future. Many of the wonderful connections I’ve made over the years were made because I received a request for assistance or advice over e-mail.

Why am I posting about this to IHEC Blog?

Well, while I reply to and try to assist 95%+ of the messages I receive there are just some messages that I receive that I simply delete and never respond to. The following are two e-mail messages I recently received (Oct. 31st and today, Nov. 4th) from the same e-mail address that I thought I would copy and paste here to share as an example for possible discussion:

--Start October 31st message---
HELLO
I AM A STUDENT OF ENGLISH LITERATURE AND CIVLIZATION AND I AM PREPARING FOR MY DISSERTATION IN LITERATURE ABOUT THE SIGNIFICANCE OF AFRICANAMERICANS IN THE AMERICAN LITERARY IMAGINATION
BUT I DID NOT FIND CORRESPONDING INFORMATION
SO.IF YOU CAN HELP WITH SOME BOOKS,WEBSITES,OR AMY KIND OF DATA I WOULD BE GRATEFUL
I AM WAITING FOR YOUR ANSWER
--End October 31st message--

No response from me other than my automated reply which I mention above.

--Start November 4th message--
I AM STILL WAITING FOR YOUR ANSWER AND I NEED YOUR HELP
,BECAUSE OF TIME CONSTRAINTS MAY I RECEIVE IT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE PLEASE?
THANKS
--End November 4th message—

To be sure, this person and I certainly differ on how to communicate via e-mail. What I’m trying to determine is if I should be more sensitive to this person and chalk it (their rude and demanding e-mail messages) up to an intercultural miscommunication or if I should have different feelings about their e-mail messages? I’ve communicated with thousands of students from all over the world in my day job at the University of Chicago and based on my experience I’m not thinking this is an intercultural miscommunication.

Thoughts?

What’s Happening over on the IHEC Blog Facebook Page

It’s been a busy couple of weeks for me as I’ve been doing lots of catching up with all the things that were neglected during the Fulbright competition and it’s been difficult to post to IHEC Blog. While I value Twitter and will continue to post there I find that Facebook is a happy medium between Twitter and IHEC Blog. Twitter has allowed me to quickly post and retweet interesting information on international education and public diplomacy (see my previous IHEC Blog post on public diplomacy talk on IHEC Blog) and posting to my blog allows me to provide more information about a topic/issue. What I have come to appreciate about Facebook is that I can post items and links I think are of interest and I can do so using more than 140 characters yet I don’t have to spend so much time crafting a blog post, adding hyperlinks and searching for interesting photos. I can provide a lot of information in less time than a blog post. This doesn’t mean that I plan to blog less frequently. It just means that I’m using the IHEC Blog Facebook page more and more and often times the information on the Facebook page will not find its way onto IHEC Blog or to Twitter.

Here is a list of some of the postings to the IHEC Blog Facebook page:

- One of Many Reasons I’m Proud to be a Lab School Parent

- Nice article on the Fulbright Program in the "Tufts Daily" student paper

- The Student Mobility Network at Universitas 21

- Educational Exchanges at The American Club of Sweden

- Inaugural Lecture of the Josef A. Mestenhauser Lecture Series on Internationalizing Higher Education

You can follow IHEC Blog on Facebook at: http://tinyurl.com/IHECBlogFacebook