Last semester I taught an Honor's Forum class and decided to focus a session on whether the U.S. has responsibility towards promoting human rights in other countries such as China and Bosnia. The Honor's theme this year is "Rights, Privileges, and Responsibilities: An Indelicate Balance." My students knew that China was a communist country and that there was some kind of war going on in Bosnia, but beyond that, they were completely unaware of the political situations in those countries and the potential economic ramifications. They had never heard of Tianamen Square, and they didn't know what the fighting was about in Bosnia, even though U.S. troops are involved. In addition, they were unaware that human rights abuses were being perpetrated in China, Bosnia, and many other areas of the world. They were, however, very interested in learning more. Their response, when we discussed these issues, was to let other people deal with their own problems; they believed the U.S. only had responsibility for the health and well-being of its own citizens. They were very reluctant for the U.S. to get involved in other countries' politics, particularly if it would impact the U.S. economy, such as removing Most Favored Nation trading status from China.
These honor students were bright, kind, hardworking young adults, but they didn't have a good understanding of the interrelationships between the U.S. and the rest of the world in the global community.
I'm concerned that we, as educators in the Maricopa Community Colleges, are not exposing our students to a world view or the realities of the interdependence of the world economy. We're educating isolationists who will not be able to compete in the coming years or be good citizens of the world.
There are several things we as community college instructors can do to create the necessary learning environment to promote an awareness and appreciation of international issues. First, we can become more knowledgeable ourselves by traveling or living abroad on sabbaticals or teacher exchanges. We can also host foreign students and teachers in our homes. For example, the Hands Across the Border program, of which MCCCD is a member, provides opportunities for short-term faculty and student exchange visits to our sister institutions in Mexico.
The best way, however, to reach the most students is to infuse our curriculum with international/intercultural content. How can we do this? A project is being developed to provide opportunities for faculty to internationalize/interculturalize course content in their individual disciplines. To kickoff this endeavor, an International/Intercultural Dialogue Day will be held on April 23. Faculty are strongly urged to come and contribute to this effort because we owe it to our students to incorporate a global perspective into our classrooms.
To register for the International/Intercultural Dialogue Day, contact Nancy Westenfield at 731-8250.
The Internet Connection at MCLI is
Alan Levine
--}
Comments to alan.levine@domail.maricopa.edu
URL: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/labyforum/Spr96/spr96F4.html