In today's competitive, global job market, cultural awareness is becoming an increasingly important part of liberal arts education. The UConn administration has plans to expand its curriculum to accommodate this new necessity for training in what it means to be a "global citizen."
More than 50 students packed into Konover auditorium Tuesday evening for a series of presentations by UConn faculty on global citizenry, and the need for an increased focus in the curriculum toward creating graduates that can compete in the workforce on an international level.
The only problem with this type of academic program is that the definition of global citizenship is highly debated, according to Katharina von Hammerstein, a native of Germany who is the chair of the UConn Global Citizenship Curriculum Committee.
"There is no one written, set-in-stone definition [of] what this term [global citizenship] means," von Hommerstein said.
The program listed a rough definition of global citizenship as, "an awareness and attitude based on the global knowledge and intercultural skills we need to both contribute responsibly to today's interconnected world and compete in the global marketplace."
The importance of being a global citizen is not just about studying abroad and being culturally aware, its also an important facet of the business world, on the national and state level. For example, Connecticut has 5,000 companies that export goods and services to other countries, von Hammerstein said. One third of all manufacturing jobs in America depend on our exports, and more than 100,000 people are employed by foreign-controlled companies, according to 2006 data presented in von Hammerstein's presentation.
Unfortunately, the budget squeeze has presented some roadblocks toward the creation of the global citizenship curriculum.
"There's not a lot of money around right now […] but we are making progress…because it's important," Provost Peter Nicholls, a native of England said. This lack of funds toward the expansion of a more comprehensive international curriculum was highlighted when one student asked the panel of speakers a question about the absence of certain courses.
"Why is it that Africa is missing in the international education at UConn?" she asked.
The panel members, including Jeffrey Ogbar, associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, who spoke about hip-hop as a cultural/international phenomenon, said that the university used to have a Center for African Studies, but faculty retired and due to a lack of funding, they weren't replaced. P. Christopher Earley, the dean of the School of Business, stressed that the expansion of the curriculum was still in the "preliminary stages," and the mission statement had not yet been finalized.
According to von Hammerstein the mission statement will likely be UConn's take on global citizenship, which will include preparing students with cultural knowledge, languages/communication skills and an specific attitude toward other cultures.
Earley's presentation focused on being a "culturally intelligent person." This means students will learn to adapt when immersed in challenging new cultural situations, and gaining the complex knowledge of not only what another culture is like, but also how someone outside that culture will be perceived by others. He told humourous anecdotes about his own travels and how he found it challenging to break his mindset of American cultural norms at times.
Some of the presenters showed how this kind of global-based curriculum could be spread to many topics, such as natural resources, music and ecology.
Ogbar presented a quick recap of the origins of hip-hop culture and how they influenced international hip-hop artists. He showed photos of international music moguls Jay-Z and Sean "P. Diddy" Combs posing with the likes of Bill Gates and Prince Harry of Wales to show the globalization of American hip-hop music. He pointed to the expressions of culture through instruments, language and video aesthetics to highlight how cultures use a mosaic of different cultural aspects to create their music.
Ogbar's talk was especially pertinent considering the recent publicity surrounding the addition of hip-hop as a legitimate major of study at American universities such as McNally Smith College of Music.
Michael Willig, the director of the Center of Environmental Sciences and Engineering focused on how students have to learn to be responsible global citizens when it comes to the environment. He talked about how graduates need to understand that the environment's natural resources need to be handled in order to promote a sustainable future for generations to come.
Oksan Bayulgan, assistant professor of political science, discussed how countries' addiction to oil was a prime example of global interconnectedness.
"What we pay at the pump or for heating our homes is affected by what goes on in different parts of the world," Bayulgan said. "We go to wars to secure access to oil."
The Global Citizenship Curriculum Committee was formed "as one means to advance the UConn academic plan's goals for internationalization.
Its role is to coordinate and enhance UConn's existing but scattered global/international curriculum," according to the learning outcomes posted on their Web site.
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