Is International Education an Agent of Democratization?

One of the first papers I wrote in my doctoral program in Comparative and Interntional Education was entitled International Education as an Agent of Democratization. I did well on the paper and in the class. It wasn't ground breaking research nor was it spectacular writing but it laid the foundation for my current reseach interests on this topic as well as on soft power, public/citizen/cultural diplomacy which I have blogged about from time to time on IHEC Blog.

For this post I thought I would put forth a short (and purposefully vague) question with the hope that IHEC Blog readers will leave a comment in response

Question: Is international education an agent of democratization?

Update: I've heard from a few people that it would be helpful if I provide a definintion/more information and I'm happy to do that. This IHEC Blog post is guided by Aaron Benavot’s (1999) question “What are the specific mechanisms and processes linking higher education and increasing levels of democracy in the recent period?” Benavot suggests that one research approach should focus on “students studying abroad, particularly those in North American or Western European universities, where foreign students often receive firsthand exposure to democratic institutions and practices.”Reference:

Benavot, A. (1999). Education and political democratization: Cross-national and longitudinal findings. In N.F. McGinn, & E.H. Epstein (Eds.), Comparative Perspectives on the Role of Education in Democratization (pp. 45-79). Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Peter Lang GmbH.

I'd love to hear what you think so please leave a comment. Thanks ~ David

IHEC Blog will Participate in Blog Action Day 2009 Focusing on Climate Change

October 15th will be Blog Action Day 2009 and IHEC Blog has registered and will participate. The theme of Blog Action Day 2009 is Climate Change and my plan is to highlight the various efforts and resources in the field of international education that focus on climate change. Examples of what might be included in my Blog Action Day post are:

- Social networks/listservs for international educators that focus on sustainability and greening the field

- study abroad/exchange programs with significant course content focused on the environment

- Standards of Good Practice

- Study Abroad Programs/Providers mission statements and/or efforts in this area

In order to produce a good resource I need your assistance! Please take a moment to leave a comment below with information (preferably links) on what your study abroad program, institution, or organization is doing in this area and I will gladly list and provide a link. Additionally, if you know of any resources I should list please leave a brief description with any links in the comment section. An example of what I'm looking for can be found in the great work of GlobaLinks Learning Abroad in their efforts to go Green which you can read about here.

Thank you in advance and I look forward to reading your suggestions in the comments section!

Additionally, you can follow Blog Action Day on Twitter here.

Links of Interest for Week of September 19th to 25th

For the third consecutive Friday...following are various links I pulled from Twitter from this past week that I found of interest as well as some links I posted to Twitter that may be of interest to IHEC Blog readers.

WanderingEds profiles in international education - here's our interview with @davidcomp

China and India sending more students to Australia

Up With People has ‘impact' in host communities

Review of the Education Services for Overseas Students (ESOS) Act 2000, Issues Paper—September 2009

H.Res. 569: supporting citizen diplomacy, update on the U.S. Center for Ctizen Diplomacy's website

Got a great study abroad story? Share your story for the 2009 Student Diplomat Video Contest

Community colleges preparing for global economy by searching for new ways 2 study abroad

President John F. Kennedy Peace Corps Public Service Message

“Sizing Up the Competition: The Future of Int'l Postsecondary Student Enrollment in the U.S.”

American Diplomacy has a Facebook Page

Dorm Room Diplomacy group pairs Penn, Middle East college students

Japanese government proposes increasing number of foreign students in country to "300,000 by 2020"

U.S.-Russian Military-to-Military Links Set to Expand

FRANCE: Paris prepares for annual student invasion

2009 Student Diplomat Video Contest

With the 2009 Student Diplomat Video Contest, students across the country have a chance to become the next Student Diplomat – and win $300 – just by sharing a story about their experiences abroad.

The contest, announced today by NAFSA: Association of International Educators and Abroad View, the global education magazine for students, is open to U.S. undergraduate students who are currently studying abroad or have recently returned from a study abroad experience. Videos should focus on how their experience has helped to advance global understanding. Participants are encouraged to consider how their study abroad experience has shaped them as a global citizen, served as a bridge to cross-cultural understanding, promoted peace, or positively impacted the local community in which they studied. Videos should be no longer than three minutes.

The deadline for entries is 11:59 p.m. EDT, November 6, 2009. After the finalists are chosen by an expert panel of judges, the winning video will be selected through open voting on the NAFSA Web site. The winner will receive a $300 cash prize and the title of “2009 Student Diplomat.”

For complete contest guidelines and to learn how to submit a video, visit www.nafsa.org/studentdiplomat

Here is a video from Northwestern University junior Asha Toulmin inviting students to share their study abroad experience.

The Influence of German Higher Education on U.S. Higher Education During the 1800’s

While I was reading chapter 10 “Science and Education: Towards a New Pedagogy” in A History of Western Education: Volume III: The Modern West (1981) by J. Bowen I came across an interesting part about Henry Tappan (1st President of the University of Michigan) and his visit to Prussia. Tappan’s argued that German universities served as the model for universities in the United States because they “were ‘purely universities’, complete with libraries…” (p. 355). I knew that Germany was top destination for students and scholars from the United States during 1800’s (and remains a top destination today) but I was unaware of some of the reasons why this occurred. This chapter has helped me to better understand the interest of U.S. scholars towards studying in Germany and in Europe in general during this time period. Bowen mentions a book that now is a must read for me and that is German Universities: A Narrative of Personal Experiences by James Hart from 1874. The idea by the trustees of making Johns Hopkins a wholly graduate institution based on the German model and, in the end, would make studies abroad unnecessary is fascinating to me. I would be interested in knowing how many others or which other institutions had a similar philosophy about modeling after the German system thus eliminating the need to study abroad. How about The University of Chicago where I work?

Writing and Publishing in the Field of International Education

I've always wondered where the best place is for international education practitioners/researchers to submit their work for publication. One publication avenue is in journals/publications such as Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, Journal of Studies in International Education, or International Educator where we educate/inform our field (critical need for this). Another publication route is to submit work for publication in journals/publications focusing more generally on higher education, public diplomacy, policy, or on many other topics where we educate/inform those outside of our field in order to gain more support and understanding of our field (also critical need for this)? A third possibility is to take both paths and to write and submit different manuscripts for the different audiences you are trying to reach. What are your thoughts on this?

GlobaLinks NewsWire

As many colleagues and IHEC Blog readers may know, I’m all over the internet looking for news about new projects and developments in the field, interesting links and research related to U.S. students studying abroad and, more broadly, international education. The new media tools of today have made it easier than ever for me to follow the trends of this field (and any field or topic for that matter) and I spend less time searching and more time reading and sifting through all of the information I have fed to my Gmail inbox and Google Reader. Additionally, IHEC Blog now attracts enough attention that I frequently receive news pieces from colleagues/organizations that I can further learn and blog about.

One site that I’ve really come to appreciate is GlobaLinks NewsWire. GlobaLinks NewsWire, edited by Stacey Hartmann, reports on interesting study abroad topics as well as interesting news pieces from participants and partners of GlobaLinks Learning Abroad programs AustraLearn, AsiaLearn and EuroLearn. While I really like the content that GlobaLinks NewsWire publishes I’m most impressed with how GlobaLinks Learning Abroad has taken advantage of the new media tools available and have used them to their advantage and in my opinion they are leading the field of education abroad in this area. To be sure, there are other third-party study abroad providers who are doing some really great things but GlobaLinks Newswire has captured and retained my attention. You can link to GlobaLinks NewsWire here and be sure to subscribe via e-mail or RSS feeds here. Additionally, IHEC Blog readers will want to follow GlobaLinks NewsWire on Twitter at @GlobaLinksNews.

I would also like to note that GlobaLinks Learning Abroad is a leader in greening the field of education abroad. You can read more about their efforts in this area here.