Interdisciplinary Curricular Designs to Address Global Challenges

Global learning is an essential goal of education today. Whether through courses, study abroad, or service learning, students need to practice critical analysis of and engagement with complex, interdependent global systems. Faculty members and international educators are developing interdisciplinary approaches to create engaging learning experiences that address current global challenges.

This Global Learning Conversation will explore these interrelated questions:

• How can faculty work across disciplines to engage students in addressing global challenges?
• What are promising interdisciplinary curricular designs for engaging students in global learning?
• How can allies across campus collaborate to design interdisciplinary curricular strategies to address global challenges?

Presenters and participants will:

• Explore models for linking interdisciplinary curricular designs with global issues.
• Share strategies to empower students to become global learners capable of solving complex global issues.
• Discuss pitfalls to avoid in developing campuswide approaches to addressing global issues, whether through general education requirements, international education experiences, or other academic frameworks.

Global Learning Conversations are designed for faculty members, academic leaders, researchers, and international educators interested in student learning outcomes and the educational experiences—curricular and cocurricular—created to help students gain and practice global knowledge, skills, and perspectives.

Take advantage of this stimulating conversation that taps into NAFSA’s growing community of practice focused on global learning.

Gather Your Colleagues to Participate

Invite colleagues from across your college, campus, or organization to join the conversation. All can participate for a single fee in one location.

Moderator & Presenter

Carol “Griff” Griffin
Grand Valley State University

Carol “Griff” Griffin, PhD, is the general education director at Grand Valley State University, where she works in collaboration with a faculty governance committee. She was instrumental in adding additional student learning outcomes based on the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) Liberal Education and America’s Promise goals to Grand Valley State University’s general education program. She also spearheaded the design of a new upper division requirement: two courses from six categories called “Issues.” The unique aspect of these courses is a focus on skills development (problemsolving in multidisciplinary teams, integrating all of a student’s knowledge and experience) focusing on real-world problems. Griffin is also a professor in the biology department and worked for many years in student affairs.

Presenters

Bridget Trogden
Mercer University

Bridget Trogden, PhD, is an associate professor of chemistry at Mercer University, a mid-size private university with campuses in Macon, Atlanta, and Savannah, Georgia. Mercer enrolls approximately 4,600 undergraduate students and 4,000 graduate and professional students. She is also currently serving as director of the Quality Enhancement Plan and director of the First-year Integrative Foundation program. Trogden regularly works on group deliberative projects at Mercer to maintain and improve institutional effectiveness, including recent work as the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) director on a U.S. Department of Education college preparedness grant and as a member of the Writing Committee and the Service Learning Advisory Committee. She has authored and coauthored numerous studies in chemistry and higher education pedagogy and is the recipient of several faculty awards given for directing undergraduate research and mentoring students. Trogden earned a BA in chemistry with a minor in music from Transylvania University and a PhD in chemistry from the University of Illinois.

Dawn Michele Whitehead
Association of American Colleges and Universities

Dawn Michele Whitehead, PhD, is the senior director for global learning and curricular change in the Office of Integrative Liberal Learning and the Global Commons at AAC&U. Whitehead’s work focuses on advancing practices, strategies, and projects for integrative global learning across the undergraduate curriculum. Prior to joining AAC&U, Whitehead served as the director of curriculum internationalization with teaching responsibilities in the Global and International Studies program at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. She was the faculty director for international service learning programs in Costa Rica, Ghana, Kenya, and Swaziland, and her research evolved from a focus on education and educators in Ghana to the impact of service learning on students and community partners. Whitehead earned her BA in history and Afro-American studies; her master’s degree in international and comparative education; and her PhD in education policy studies with a concentration in African studies and a minor in international and comparative education from Indiana University-Bloomington.

Kristin K. Wobbe
Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Kristin Wobbe, PhD, is the associate dean for undergraduate studies and associate professor of biochemistry at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). She directs the first-year interdisciplinary projects program, the Great Problems Seminars. These courses, each focused on a global problem, are designed to bring to the freshman year the project emphasis that is the hallmark of WPI’s innovative approach to undergraduate education. She also participates in the leadership of WPI’s Institute on Project-Based Learning. Wobbe has been recognized for her teaching and is a corecipient of the 2016 Bernard M. Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education, bestowed by the National Academy of Engineering.