PAST COURSES

Understanding Katrina: Transnational Perspectives

This course will survey two distinct, yet interrelated literatures. The first is that of transnationalism, and the second revolves around the recovery and rebuilding of New Orleans post-hurricane Katrina. In this course, students will begin to conceptualize these related literatures as connections of theory and practice, or 'praxis'. Students will be given the opportunity to lead discussions of selected readings, usually a book chapter or journal article, that provide a conceptual overview of the issues raised, along with a series of empirical research reporting ethnographic, policy or survey findings. The final project will consist of a descriptive analysis of educational rebuilding in a specific locale -- the U.S., Asia, Latin America, etc.. Students will use GIS or other visualization methodologies to 'map' the rebuilding of education in a post-disaster environment, for example to show where schools and neighborhoods are located and the curricula and teaching challenges therein.
Instructor: Luis Mirón

Internationalization of the Curriculum

This course begins with an examination of the theoretical underpinnings of the notion of internationalization of the curriculum, looking at ways in which curriculum is affected by forces of both of globalization and nationalism. Considered also, through two case studies, are issues of how curriculum has historically been utilized in nation building; how tensions between the global and the local are inherent in curriculum; and how curriculum is a site of construction of national as well as cosmopolitan identities. Beyond these theoretical issues, the course examines some of the practical ways in which schools have sought to internationalize their curriculum.

Instructor: Brenda Trofanenko

 

Global Issues in Classroom Learning and Management

This course considers classroom management, discipline, and other pedagogical issues relevant to teaching in transnational contexts. The course surveys a range of theories of teaching and learning in order to show how current approaches to pedagogy are based on assumptions of cultural homogeneity and national character. It contrasts this approach with challenges faced by teachers of classrooms composed of students of mixed national and cultural backgrounds. It encourages students to share and develop more culturally inclusive principles and practices of classroom learning and management.

Instructor: Tom Anderson