(NAME-MCE) Where Multicultural Education and Internationalization Meet or Don’t

[Anselmo Villanueva]

Where Multicultural Education and Internationalization Meet or Don't.
Panelists discuss challenges to collaboration between the two fields, as
well as common ground, as largest-ever conference of international educators
convenes.

For related stories and links, go to:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/05/28/nafsa

May 28, 2008
Where Multicultural Ed and Internationalization Meet

"Elitist, frivolous, escapist."

"Divisive, political, provincial."

Such are some common perceptions of college officials involved in
internationalization (see the former colorful set of adjectives) and
multicultural education (see the latter) — perceptions that are among the
challenges to cooperation between the two fields, as outlined during an
American Council on Education-led session at the 60th annual and
largest-ever NAFSA: Association of International Educators
Conference<http://www.nafsa.org/annual_conference>in Washington, which
kicked off Tuesday afternoon with more than 9,200
registrants.

"It really boils down to the last point, that we've had limited interactions
and knowledge of each other's work," Christa Olson, associate director of
ACE's Center for International
Initiatives<http://www.acenet.edu/AM/Template.cfm?Section=International>,
said of the gap between internationalization and multicultural education at
American colleges.

ACE is leading an
initiative<http://www.acenet.edu/AM/Template.cfm?Section=International&Template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=25201>,
still in its early stages, to "bridge" that gap, and explore the
intersection between work on diversity and difference done through domestic
and international lenses, respectively. In their presentations Tuesday,
Olson and Jarred A. Butto, a program associate at ACE, described the
challenges to collaboration between those involved with multicultural
education and internationalization, ranging from the theoretical (divergent
historical and intellectual roots of the two fields) to the practical
(different offices charged with the two endeavors, and different budgets),
as well as potential common ground (including a shared student learning
outcome of intercultural competence).

ACE chose 26 colleges to participate in an upcoming June
symposium<http://www.acenet.edu/AM/Template.cfm?Section=International&Template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=24890>—
each college's team including, at a minimum, the chief academic
officer,
chief diversity officer and chief international education officer — to
further discuss the intersection between what ACE believes are two distinct
yet overlapping areas, and to develop action plans on the issue(s).

As of now, however, Olson conceded Tuesday that this intersection between
internationalization and multicultural education is an emerging area of
interest and that the organization does not yet have a collection of
concrete examples of successful practices to share — at least not beyond
general education program requirements at two different institutions
described in Tuesday's session.

Since the mid-90s, the State University of New York at Binghamton, for
instance, has had an eight-credit "Creating a Global Vision" general
education requirement subdivided into two four-credit components. Each
student at Binghamton must take one class tagged under the "U.S. Pluralism"
category and another under "Global Interdependencies," said H. Stephen
Straight, vice provost for undergraduate education and international
affairs. "What we are endeavoring to convey," Straight said, "is that
domestic and ethnic diversity in the U.S. is not a unique phenomenon, is not
unique to the U.S., that virtually all cultures have become pluralistic." In
turn, he said, domestic pluralism has global roots, in immigration and
diaspora.

And for three years now, Baldwin-Wallace College, in Ohio, has required that
all students take a course designed to address how different cultural
perspectives – both domestically and internationally – influence "enduring
questions" like "What is human nature?" explained Judy B. Krutky, associate
academic dean for intercultural education. One challenge, however, Krutky
said, is convincing students, very focused on their majors, of the course's
worth. "Students aren't really sure they need this information," she said.

Also on Tuesday, Mexico's former president, Vicente Fox, gave an opening
plenary speech focused on Latin America's pending rise — with education as
its catalyst — and, more generally, accountability and the need to ensure
equal access to quality education. He thanked the audience for a warm
welcome that "more than compensates" for one he'd received navigating U.S.
Customs upon his arrival in Washington ("Take off your boots!... Don't you
understand me — take off your coat!")

No doubt further conversations on U.S. border control and immigration policy
will ensue – as well as conversations on any number of issues related to
international student mobility and policy, study abroad, and campus
internationalization initiatives — as NAFSA's annual conference continues
throughout this week.

— Elizabeth Redden <elizabeth.redden at insidehighered.com>