Shultz, Shultz and Skilton-Sylvester Lead AAC&U Session on Diversity, Internationalization

By Purnell T. Cropper | October 26, 2010

Dr. Jeff Shultz, Assistant Provost and Professor of Education, Dr. Norah Shultz, Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences and Associate Vice President for Undergraduate Education, and Dr. Ellen Skilton-Sylvester, Professor of Education and Director of Global Connections, presented “Integrating Domestic and International Concerns in the Undergraduate Curriculum” at AAC&U’s conference, Facing the Divides: Diversity, Learning, and Pathways to Inclusive Excellence, Oct. 21 to 23 in Houston, Texas.

The session focused on the ways in which domestic diversity and internationalization can be integrated in undergraduate curricula. “Using our new curriculum and the concepts of ‘Global Connections’ as starting points, we engaged the participants in discussion by focusing on four questions: In presenting domestic diversity and internationalization as two sides of the same coin, are we doing justice to both sets of concerns, or is one being privileged over the other? What is gained by combining them, and what gets lost? Is it possible to help students understand these concepts in an integrative manner? How do we know if students are actually achieving the integrative understandings that this approach offers?” reported Norah Shultz.