The Importance of Global Learning

Problem: The Global Citizenship and Multicultural Understanding aspects of the Carolina Core are not optimally fulfilled without studying abroad.

Even before my career at the University of South Carolina I was told by many older students, graduates, and family that I should study abroad if I had the opportunity. I took this very seriously and even choose USC over another university because I knew I would be able to study abroad if I attended South Carolina. My experience abroad pushed me, shaped me, and gave me unforgettable memories and lessons that I will cherish and use for the rest of my life. My time abroad also clarified and emphasized my WTC insights such as: the magnitude of the events of the Holocaust, the sustainability culture of another country, and the immigration process. All of these insights would not have been made if I had not been exposed to another way of life. While the university promotes and helps students with the study abroad experience many students feel they cannot go abroad for a multitude of reasons. According to the Study Abroad Office’s 2016-2017 overview of education abroad only 1724 undergraduate students had an experience abroad (including non-credit, semester, summer, maymester, research, and internships). This was only 6.7% of the 25,556 undergraduate students enrolled in the university from 2016-2017.  Even if these statistic repeat themselves for four years students are typically enrolled (about 7000 undergrad over four years) this still leaves a large number of students (about 27.4%) likely to graduate with a degree from USC without having any type of global interaction besides what the Carolina Core currently offers within their enrollment at the university.

 

Not only visiting, but living and being forced to experience another countries cultures pushed me outside of my comfort zone while also educating me on how to respect and immerse myself in another culture. This is something all students should be presented with. I believe that this experience can be attained to a certain degree without even leaving the United States of America. As mentioned in my Key Insight II the experience of food in Itlay is so rich and diverse that it in itself is a culture. Even by just visiting an authentic restaurant in America, and talking to people whose experiences are different, students can get a since of what it means to live in another country and take part in a culture outside of their own.

 

Whether it be financial burdens, inability due to curriculum, or simply time constraints, every student should have the ability to experience another culture and global learning even if that means staying in Columbia. The university sets a precedent of providing students with a wholistic general education through the Carolina Core “The Carolina Core develops competency in communication, analytical reasoning and problem-solving, scientific literacy, information literacy and the arts. Topics in global citizenship and multicultural understanding as well as values, ethics and social responsibility are explored (found on the university website)”, but I argue that the Global Citizenship and Multicultural Understanding aspects of the Carolina Core are not optimally fulfilled without studying abroad.

 

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Solution:

After experiencing the Carolina Core, I realized that the global learning aspect is lacking. Students take classes to fulfill “global citizenship and multicultural understanding” in three different fields: “foreign language”, “historical thinking” and “social sciences”. I found that these courses teach about a wide range of topics and do not adequately teach what it would be like to live, work, and learn in another country today. These classes could be anything from SPAN 109, and HIST 101 to ANTH 204. Of the classes that do offer single country history they are mainly focused on the history and origin stories of the country, and not what it is like to live and work in that country today. There is no one class that teaches what it would be like to live and experience a single country in a concise and deep manor.

 

After my study abroad experience clarified and emphasized so many other aspects of what I learned in Columbia, I find it is imperative that South Carolina students gain this experience whether it be in the form of a maymester, study abroad semester, or core class. For that reason, the University of South Carolina should add a one credit requirement that requires all students to take a condensed global learning class about a country of their choosing or study abroad in some capacity.

 

While this class will not ultimately substitute a real life experience completely submerged in another country it will present ideas, concepts, and experiences that would be likely to happen and be learned if a student were to visit abroad. Currently the Carolina Core does not bring all of these aspects of global learning in a cohesive, dense format like this class will, therefore the global aspect of each USC students’ curriculum is not being fulfilled upon graduation. The university is graduating students who may have never been introduced to other experiences outside of their country besides the GSS requirement of which they likely choose a class that didn’t focus solely on a global aspect. In order to fulfill this Carolina Core requirement of global learning this class will help supplement visiting another country since it is not feasible to ask over 26,000 undergraduate students to live abroad within their 4 years.

 

 

Plan:

In order to implement this one credit course requirement, I will first have to create a mock syllabus in order to get all of my ideas mentioned above on paper. This document will outline the class as well as the predicted learning outcomes. After this I will propose the course to the office of the Provost. I will do this through the Academic Programs Proposal System (APPS) found on the university website. From there the course will have to go through review by those sitting on college and university committees. Professors and faculty of the university can also review this proposal in order to help it pass through the review stages. Therefore, I will reach out to professors and faculty involved with U101, the study abroad office, the office of international student services, the business school, and the department of languages. I will send them the proposed syllabus that I have created and ask if I can give a brief presentation to their staff on the class in order to hopefully gain their approval and support.  In this short presentation I will ask those in attendance to log into APPS and approve the class if they feel so inclined. After that, the course will hopefully be approved, however in order to insure this class is a Carolina Core requirement I will also have to have a faculty member propose it to be approved as a CC requirement. I will go back to my connections formed from the beginning proposal stage in order to identify a faculty member who will promote and propose this course to be a core class. They will then go through the APPS again for CC approval.

 

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Assessment:

When it comes to assessing how beneficial and successful this solution is, I will send out a survey to all students taking each section at the end of the semester. In this survey they will rate how helpful they found the class to be, if they would take it again, any strength or weaknesses, and any feedback on how to improve the class. I will also poll the professors who teach each section and ask them what they would like to see change in the class, and what they would like to see more of. As for all university students, both those who do not take this course, (but instead choose to go to another country on a study abroad/maymester/class trip) and those who do take the course, I will poll them at the end of their senior year. This survey will include questions about how beneficial they believe their international experience and exposure was to the rest of their studies, and if their time abroad or takin the core class widened their view on the world, and topics introduced in their curriculum. After four years of data collection I will take a look at the results and adjust the class accordingly. If the data comes back and says that there is no benefit to this requirement, I will report this to the Provost and suggest removal the class/abroad experience from the Carolina Core requirement.