Teaching International Development in the Liberal Arts

Organizers:

Beloit College: Jennifer Esperanza (Assistant Professor of Anthropology), Rachel Ellett (Assistant Professor of Political Science), Diep Phan (Assistant Professor of Economics)

Colorado College: Pedro de Araujo (Assistant Professor of Political Science), Takeshi Ito (Assistant Professor of Economics)

Overview:

While international development continues to attract interests from our students, their understandings of international development theory and practice are fragmented. Students' first exposure to international development often takes place during study abroad in developing areas/countries. But is this enough? Do these experiences prepare students to think critically about their position/agency in projects designed to improve a community's educational, social, health, political or economic systems? Teaching international development from a liberal arts perspective can only occur through interdisciplinary exchange that should ideally happen within the classroom but also in connection with students' experiences in the field (e.g. internships, research projects, volunteering) and through study abroad programs. One way to support this mission is to establish a foundational network upon which long-term faculty collaboration and interaction can occur. To that end, we are organizing two 2-day workshops, with support from an ACM FaCE grant, in which faculty from various disciplines across ACM campuses can discuss and share their strategies on and experience with teaching international development.

Workshop 1: for faculty only
Time: January 13-14, 2011
Location: 205 West Wacker, Suite 220, Chicago IL (ACM Chicago office)

Workshop 2: for faculty from workshop 1 and key campus stakeholders
Time: May 19-20, 2011
Location: Colorado College, Colorado Springs CO

APPLICATION DEADLINE: September 24th, 2010
Full expenses will be covered for faculty participants, while partial funding is available for key campus stakeholders.

CONTACT: For inquiries, please contact Jennifer Esperanza (esperanj@beloit.edu)