From Study Abroad to Global Studies: Reconstructing International Education for a Globalized World

Authors

  • Theodore E. Long

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36366/frontiers.v22i1.317

Keywords:

Study abroad, Education abroad, Impact

Abstract

Study abroad has become a substantial enterprise as educators embraced the idea that learning about other cultures is a critical component of becoming an educated person, succeeding at work, and serving as an effective citizen (Bok, 2006). Many students report that study abroad has been a transformative life experience and studies now show that study abroad is positively related to student persistence and success, and liberal educators purport that it is an essential element of learning for personal and social responsibility (Association of American Colleges & Universities.). In some important ways, though, the educational value of study abroad today does not seem to be dramatically different than what I got from my first college trips. Beyond my own experience, scholarly assessments have concluded that the empirical evidence for the effects of study abroad is weak (Pascarella and Terenzini). In this article, I attempt to understand this apparent lack of real progress and impact in study abroad and how we can transcend its limitations. I will address these issues from a broad perspective, focusing on defining structures and central tendencies, not specific activities or programs.

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Author Biography

Theodore E. Long

Theodore Long is the former president of Elizabethtown College, where he served from 1996-2011. Prior to becoming president of Elizabethtown, Long served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Merrimack College in North Andover, Massachusetts. Long is a graduate of Capital University, where he majored in sociology and philosophy. He earned a master's degree in sociology from Duke University and a doctoral degree in sociology from the University of Virginia. He specializes in sociology and philosophy.

References

Association of American Colleges and Universities, “Liberal Education and America’s Promise” (www.aacu.org/leap).

Appiah, Kwame Anthony. (2006) Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers (New York: Norton).

Arnett, J.J. (2002) “The Psychology of Globalization,” American Psychologist 57:10: 774-783.

Bok, Derek. (2006) Our Underachieving Colleges. (Princeton: Princeton University Press).

Gates, H.L., Jr. (2003) “Both Sides Now,” New York Times Book Review (April 4).

Harward, Donald W. (2012) “The Theoretical Arguments and Themes,” in Donald W. Harward, ed., Transforming Undergraduate Education: Theory That Compels and Practices That Succeed (New York: Rowman and Littlefield) 3-33.

Held, David. (2010) Cosmopolitanism: Ideals and Realities (Cambridge, UK: Polity Press).

Hoffa, William W. (2007) A History of US Study Abroad: Beginnings to 1965 (Special issue of Frontiers: the Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad and the Forum on Education Abroad).

Hoffa, William W. and Stephen C. Depaul, eds. (2010) A History of US Study Abroad: 1965 – Present (Special issue of Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad).

Iyer, P. (2000) The Global Soul (New York: Vintage).

Kaldor, Mary. (2003) Global Civil Society: An Answer to War (Cambridge, UK: Polity Press).

Suarez-Orozco, Carola. (2004) “Formulating Identity in a Globalized World,” in Marcelo M. Suarez-Orozco and Desiree Baolian Qin-Hilliard, eds., Globalization: Culture and Education in the New Millenium (Berkeley: University of California Press) 173-202.

Pascarella, Ernest T. and Patrick T. Terrenzini. (2011) “Some New Evidence on What Matters in Student Learning,” plenary address at the Council of Independent Colleges Institute for Chief Academic Officers (www.cic.org).

Robertson, Roland. (1992) Globalization: Social Theory and Global Culture (London: Sage).

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Published

2013-01-15

How to Cite

Long, T. E. (2013). From Study Abroad to Global Studies: Reconstructing International Education for a Globalized World. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 22(1), 25–36. https://doi.org/10.36366/frontiers.v22i1.317