Intentional, critically informed pedagogies are a means of developing and shaping the kinds of transformative experiences students should have. While much of the work in the field of international education emphasizes formal assessments, we’ll focus on critical pedagogy and how to best shape experiences that promote experiential learning, immediacy, engagement, and immersion that is both self-reflexive and respectful. We’ll consider approaches and methodologies that can be used for specific study abroad programs and the ways in which an ethos of deeply intercultural and experiential learning can inform campus and curriculum internationalization efforts.

1. International Center
Immediacy, Engagement, and Immersion
Critical Pedagogy and the Study Abroad Mission
Presenters:
Dr. Cari Vanderkar Moore
California Polytechnic State University,
San Luis Obispo
Prof. H. Leslie Steeves
University of Oregon
Prof. Josh Machamer
California Polytechnic State University,
San Luis Obispo
Dr. Roger Adkins
Gustavus Adolphus College

2. International Center
History of the Internationalization of
Higher Education
• Hans de Wit (2002):
Internationalization of
Higher education in the
United States of America
and Europe
• International aspects of
higher education in the
US became organized
after WW II
o As a corrective measure
o As an element of foreign
policy and national security
• Rui Yang (2002):
“Internationalization has
mostly occurred in a rather
ad hoc and incremental
fashion, with policy and
reflection often occurring
after the fact.”

3. International Center
Influence on present
Intentionality
• Emphasis on global and intercultural awareness
• Efforts to internationalize (“interculturalize”)
curricula

4. International Center
Case Statement for
Internationalization
American Council on
Education:
“In order for the US to
have a truly world-class
higher education system,
we must be globally
engaged and prepare
students to be citizens for
a multicultural community
both at home and in a
globalized world.”

5. International Center
American Council on Education
Center for Internationalization and Global Engagement

6. International Center
CRITICAL PEDAGOGY
• Ira Shor (CUNY Staten Island) one of the leading
advocates on critical pedagogy:
o "Habits of thought, reading, writing, and speaking which
go beneath surface meaning, first impressions,
dominant myths, official pronouncements, traditional
clichés, received wisdom, and mere opinions, to
understand the deep meaning, root causes, social
context, ideology, and personal consequences of any
action, event, object, process, organization, experience,
text, subject matter, policy, mass media, or discourse."
(Empowering Education, 129)

7. International Center
CRITICAL PEDAGOGY–
• Catherine Forbes and Peter
Kaufman (2008) on critical
pedagogy:
o Promotes a problem solving
dialogue
o Encourages such dialogue
through lived experiences of
learners
o Helps students find comfort
zone for working through
uncomfortable issues
• Such as identity, race and
tolerance

8. International Center
Leslie Steeves, Professor of Journalism
University of Oregon

9. Media in Ghana
University of Oregon
School of Journalism & Communication

10. There is so much mystery around
Africa. In the U.S. it is either spun as
being Eden or just total chaos. When
there is so much mystique around a
place, as a person and as a journalist
I want to go there and see for myself.
(Dana, 2013)

11. WHY GHANA?
•Politically stable and safe.
•English as language of
government and media
increases accessibility.

12. • Historic connections to North America
draws students.

13. • Excellent onsite service
providers.

14. Aya Center from road
& Dr. Michael Williams, Aya Director

15. • Ghana’s media are among the
freest and most diverse in Africa.

16. • Technology such as cheap mobile phones and
internet access create new opportunities.

17. Pre-Trip
• Students are selected by February.
• Mandatory spring term orientation,
weekly 2 hours. Orientation class:
teaches about Ghana and program
logistics, plus facilitates pre-program
bonding. Readings and papers also are
required.
• Optional Twi class.

18. Once in Ghana:
• Move into shared
house.
• Onsite week-long
orientation—lectures
& local field trips.
• Begin full-time
internships.
• Weekend fieldtrips—to Cape Coast (historic
slave-trading castles), Kumasi (capital of Ashanti
region), and to Volta Region, southeastern Ghana
near Togo.

19. • Students have the mutual
security of living together (‘Real
World Ghana’).
• However, each is placed in a
separate internship: media/news
outlets (radio, TV, newspaper,
etc.), advertising and PR
agencies and NGOs.

20. Expected Learning Outcomes Include:
•Be able to critically evaluate
representations of Africa in Western media.
•Successfully live and work professionally in
an unfamiliar culture.
•Better understand, appreciate and respect
cultural difference and diversity, as well as
cultural commonalities.

21. We address learning outcomes in
many overlapping ways including:
•Social media use.
•The media internships.
•A team client project for a local
NGO, Alliance for Reproductive
Health Rights, ARHR.

22. SOCIAL MEDIA
Ghana.uoregon.edu + Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more

26. “Now I want to apologize for posting this
picture, or at least not putting it into
proper context. . . I did not come to
Ghana to save anyone. I came to learn
about a culture and to work as an intern
in my chosen profession.”
-Jeff Mercado, Ghana.uoregon.edu, 2013

27. INTERNSHIPS
Newspapers, radio, television, advertising & public relations
agencies + media for NGOs and private sector organizations

30. At work in
internships,
JOY TV (right),
Today
Newspaper
(below)
S

36. “Although I found this form of journalism
troubling, I continued with my job, pulling
from numerous US press sources in order to
make the story as balanced as possible. After
sending the article to my professor and
receiving positive feedback . . . , I turned the
story in . . . However, when I saw the paper in
print, the title of my unbiased article jumped
out on the front page: ‘Gayism is insult to
Creator’s intelligence, Ghanaians declare’”
-Erin Hampton, Ghana.uoregon.edu, 2015.

39. TEAM CLIENT
PROJECT
ARHR, Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights
See: http://ghana.uoregon.edu/arhr/

44. “Women lined the hospital waiting to be seen. There is no air
conditioning and seating is limited. The “waiting area” is lines of
benches next to a construction site. .. After delivery, mothers share a
single bed with three other mothers and their babies, that is six people
per bed. There are no incubators . .
•All the beds were occupied and we are told this is not even considered
busy. As we moved down another hallway, we passed a baby that could
not be more than 2-3 pounds just resting on its mother’s lap. In
America, the baby would be in an incubator. . . We moved to the ward
for mothers with complications and needing surgery. The nurse
proceeded to tell us they have no water today. How do you do surgery
without water? She also said they often lose power...
•The healthcare problems Americans face are nothing compared to the
ones here. The amount I take for granted is unbelievable. . . The
doctors and staff there are unbelievable. They truly make miracles
happen with basically nothing. It was an eye-opening experience
today.” -Gretchen Henderson, Ghana.uoregon.edu, 2015

45. “At the end of the day, we all just want to
love and be loved. . . We might live a
completely different life than someone we
meet but I truly believe we share the same
core values. . .When I feel the cultural
barrier closing in on a conversation, I must
remind myself of this notion: We are more
alike than we are different. All the
emotions I am capable of feeling are the
same exact ones they feel. Everything I
crave: support, love, happiness,
acceptance, are the same exact things they
crave .”
-Stephanie Hinson, Ghana.uoregon.edu, 2013.

46. THANK YOU
For information:
https://geo.uoregon.edu/ghana/media
and
Ghana.uoregon.edu
Or Email:
lsteeves@uoregon.edu

47. Explores the ideas addressed
by contemporary and historical
global artists, productions, and
organizations.
Focuses on the integration
between performance and
cultural background, thematic
ideas, and nationalistic
issues/history.
Cal Poly Global Program - Summer Study in London
TH390 Global Theatre and Performance
Uses the theatrical contexts of
London as the laboratory
© Machamer 201

48. course objectives
identify key concepts related to the understanding of
theatre/dramatic arts in performance
investigate varied means of theatrical performance
in/around London
construct clearly supported and specific critical responses
to the varied nationalistic, cultural, and historical issues
found within the context of plays/performances
develop an understanding of a play/production,
organization, movement, and/or persona's significance, not
just from a performance/theatrical point of view, but also
from a cultural or historical perspective
Cal Poly Global Program - Summer Study in London
TH390 Global Theatre and Performance
© Machamer 2015

49. Cal Poly Global Program - Summer Study in London
TH390 Global Theatre and Performance
Intentional, critically informed
pedagogy in Cal Poly's Summer
Study in London Program
Course is constructed as a way to
enhance intercultural and experiential
learning for students while abroad
Sharing of three (3) specific
assignments that are used to
immerse and engage students in the
local communities/cultures in London
© Machamer 2015

50. #1 FOUNDON PROJECT
"Found in London" © Machamer 2015

51. FOUNDON PROJECT
"Found in London"
• Students apply a chosen theatre production to
a particular location in London.
• The goal is for them to utilize the surroundings
of the city as the theatrical backdrop for
enhancing the story, ideas, and/or elements of
the given play.
• A combination of visual and narrative elements
- the essence being to find one (1) “non-
theatre” space (indoor or outdoor) that would
enhance the experience of the play.
• Provide a detailed descriptive write-up and
photos of the space.
• Illuminate how the ideas, themes, and/or
particular aspects of the play that are key
elements lend themselves to the found
space.
© Machamer 2015

52. #2 WEST END
MAPPING
© Machamer 2015

53. • Students work in small
groups.
• They are given a tube location,
blank sheet of paper, a
direction (e.g. head NE), and a
time limit.
• Working their way toward
Leicester Square, they are
drawing/cataloging the West
End theatres and productions,
streets, and landmarks along
their route.
• The key aspect is that the map
is being hand drawn in the
moment, showing a bread
crumb trail as interpreted by
each student.
• The end products are
"merged" together as one
cohesive Theatreland map for
all students. © Machamer 2015

54. #3 LOCAL
KNOWLEDGE
Cultural Dramaturgy
Project
© Machamer 2015

55. LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
Cultural Dramaturgy Project
• Working in small groups, students are assigned a specific "neighborhood"
theatre/theatre company in and around London.
• They use their entire time in London to "get to know" the specific area the
theatre inhabits (Dalston, Brick Lane, Islington e.g.) via the ethnic
demographic, history, cultural significance, current issues.
• The leading question to address: if theatre is a story a community tells
itself about itself, then what is this neighborhood's story?
• The subsequent report is then compared against the mission, philosophy,
and production choices of those specific theatre(s).
• Does the theatre and the stories they present have an inherit tie into the
community that surrounds them?
© Machamer 2015

56. T H E R E I S A D I F F E R E N C E
B E T W E E N T R A V E L W R I T E R S A N D
T O U R I S T S . A T O U R I S T I S O N
V A C A T I O N ; A T R A V E L W R I T E R I S
O N A P U R S U I T .
D I N T Y W . M O O R E ( A N A M E R I C A N E S S A Y I S T )
© Machamer 2015

57. “Interculturalization”
Course- and Campus-Level Observations
Roger Adkins, Gustavus Adolphus College
CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL
AND CULTURAL EDUCATION

58. • Literature, folklore,
and social justice in
the UK
• Integrate primary
texts, theory,
experiential learning,
engagement, and self-
reflection
• Intercultural
engagement projects
CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL
AND CULTURAL EDUCATION
Fantasy on the Fringe

59. • “7 pieces of your soul”
• Highly integrative
project (synthesis of
course content,
experiential learning,
and self-reflection)
CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL
AND CULTURAL EDUCATION
Project example:
Horcrux Project

60. • At the summit of
Arthur’s Seat, first
personal experience of
the ‘numinous’ is a
terribly Scottish one
• A British production of
“The Crucible” at the Old
Vic brings ‘the Other’
into sharper focus
CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL
AND CULTURAL EDUCATION
Horcrux outcomes

61. • Theoretical backdrop for this
project: Ethnography is not
innocent!
• Students seek out a host
national who gets to
interview the student, asking
any 10 questions that the
person desires about U.S.
culture.
• Students, in their write-up,
analyze the experience of
being the ethnographic
object
CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL
AND CULTURAL EDUCATION
Reverse
ethnography

62. • Importance of working
collaboratively with the
people whose culture(s)
you are studying
• Colonizing tendencies of
ethnography (and study
abroad), even for US
students in the UK
• Intersubjectivities
(working against the
self/Other power dynamic
CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL
AND CULTURAL EDUCATION
Reverse
ethnography
outcomes

63. • Define the terms to work
against the colonizing
gaze of academic
research
• “Intercultural” instead of
“international”
 It’s not about nation-states
 ‘Cultures’ very broadly
understood
 Encompasses ‘diversity,’ too
• “Interculturalization”
So…
how to do this on the
institutional level?

64. • Multilingual Learners Program
• ‘Interculturalizing’ the
10-Year Strategic Plan
• Intercultural focus in
scholarship programs and
fundraising
• Infuse the curriculum with
‘interculturalism’
• Develop more models for
intercultural learning
• Making room for
transformation
CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL
AND CULTURAL EDUCATION
Intercultural mission
(examples)

65. International Center
Intercultural and Experiential Learning
Campus & Curriculum Internationalization Efforts
• Establishing Connections
• Creating Meaning
• Developing Shared
Experiences
Dr. Cari Vanderkar Moore

66. International Center
Establishing Connections

67. International Center
Creating Meaning
Task Force on Curriculum internationalization developed the
following definition:
Curriculum Internationalization at Cal Poly is the process of designing
and delivering courses of study that equip graduates to become
interculturally competent and to solve global challenges in
sustainable, ethical and inclusive ways.
An internationalized curriculum at Cal Poly will:
• Challenge students to critically evaluate themselves, cultures,
values, and how meaning is created;
• Fuel informed global systems thinkers and doers; and
• Activate Cal Poly students to be positive forces in the world.

68. International Center
Developing Shared Experiences
Participation of faculty in conferences/workshops
• NAFSA
• AIEA
• ACE Internationalization Collaborative
• CIEE
• China Studies Institute
Staff and faculty site visits abroad

69. International Center
• Intercultural Competency
• Diversity and
Internationalization
• Global Citizenship
• Curriculum
Internationalization

70. International Center
Fostering Critical Pedagogy in your role
• Policies and Procedures:
o Curricular and co-curricular efforts
• Training
• Programming

71. International Center
Co-curricular travel
• “The experiential nature of the co-curriculum —
where students encounter cultural ‘others,’
navigate shared space, learn to manage conflict,
calibrate their moral compasses, and test their
leadership skills—can offer some of the richest
opportunities for students to encounter cultural
differences that test their beliefs and assumptions.”
(ACE—CIGE: Internationalizing the Curriculum Part Two:
Global and Intercultural Education in the Co-curriculum)

72. International Center
Training
Faculty/staff pre-departure training
• Teaching in the context of intercultural immersion
• Embedded Education Abroad Faculty Toolkit (University
of Kentucky—April 2009)
Staff/student employee training
• Reflect on own experiences
• Tell your own ‘story’

73. International Center
Programming
• Creating connections—international students
and campus community
o Hosting program launching this fall bringing together
faculty/staff with international students
o Peer mentoring program—study abroad returnees
o Inclusive classroom workshops/discussions with
Center for Teaching and Learning

74. International Center
CLOSING
“Knowledge rooted in experience shapes what we
value and as a consequence how we know what we
know as well as how we use what we know.”
bell hooks, Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical
Wisdom

75. International Center
QUESTIONS
• List the top three things you will work on
implementing at your institution
• In what ways has your institution/international office
constructed study abroad programming to promote
“intentional, critically informed pedagogies?”
• Questions for panel