Fall 2022 Internationalizing and Decolonizing the Curriculum Seminar Final Projects

In fall 2022, seven faculty members participated in our first Internationalizing and Decolonizing the Curriculum Seminar, adapted from the earlier Internationalizing the Curriculum Seminar. These faculty members met for six ninety-minute sessions with Director of Study Abroad Emily Gorlewski and Associate Director of Intercultural Learning Anita Deeg-Carlin. They discussed internationalizing and decolonizing their teaching as well as their departments’ and Wesleyan’s curriculum. The faculty members each developed a syllabus, unit, or project for their students, bringing in international and decolonizing perspectives. 

The faculty members participating were:  

Raquel Bryant, Assistant Professor, Earth & Environmental Science 

Courtney Fullilove, Associate Professor, History, Environmental Studies, and Science in Society 

Natasha Karageorgos, Assistant Professor of the Practice, Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies 

Kerwin Kaye, Associate Professor, Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Sociology, and American Studies, and Tutor, College of Social Studies 

Robin Mazzola, Costume Shop Manager and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Theater 

Elizabeth McAllister, Professor, Religion, African American Studies, American Studies, and Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies 

Pedro Pascual, Assistant Professor of the Practice, American Sign Language 

IDC PROJECT, by Pedro Pascual on ASL 1 (LANG 190) and ASL 2 (LANG 191)

Selecting More Diverse Material for ASL Courses

The reading of specific books was required to complete assignments for the cultural aspect of the courses. The books were:

  • For ASL 1: “Learning To Be Deaf Without Losing Your Hearing”.
  • For ASL 2: “Train Go Sorry: Inside A Deaf World”.

But the most important material used in the courses are the videos. The previous collection of videos used in class rarely include a diversity of signers and/or signed languages. Some content is also heavily based on a certain way of life (so-considered American).

There are three issues with the material used so far.

  • Do not have representations (actors) that include diversity.
  • Most of it is written in English, not recorded in signed languages.
  • Are focused on the so-called “standard ASL”, and do not take into account variations from other communities in America (Black ASL) or signed languages from other countries (French SL, Mexican SL, etc.)

For this IDC project, I am adjusting the materials and requirements for both courses.

BOOKS

ASL 1:

The readings will be focused on the life experience of the deaf people or their family members.

For the readings, the assignments will be graded as bonus points. The requirement is to complete assignments on a chosen book that is included in a pre-screened list or be proposed by the students. Most of the included texts are intentionally international or intersectional:

  • Deaf in Delhi
  • Deaf in Japan
  • Deaf Republic (in Russia)
  • Deaf Me Normal (in South Africa)
  • Le cri de la muette (in France)
  • La niña que no decía hola (in Spain)
  • Deaf Utopia (Queer in America)
  • On the Beat of Truth (Black in America)
  • Train Go Sorry: Inside A Deaf World (CODA)
  • Learning To Be Deaf Without Losing Your Hearing (Hard of Hearing)
  • More books to be included

ASL 2:

The readings will build upon the list of books for ASL 1. They will include books on signed languages, historical works, and fiction. They should be accessible to beginners. The more academic works will be reserved for advanced levels of ASL and for the courses on Deaf Culture, Literature, etc. The new items include:

  • El Deafo
  • True Biz: a Novel
  • Show Me a Sign
  • Etc.

VIDEO

Previous ASL videos on the web or on platforms with ASL material did not represent diversity. The new material, including the new True Way ASL platform, is much more diverse. See the actors and authors on their website. This platform also provides newly added material on deaf culture.

I will also include publicly available videos on the web that represent minorities in America and different signed languages around the world. The list is in progress. They will be used for assignments on culture and replace the previous assignments on the books.

CONCLUSION

The changes in the grading schema mean a lower weight on the assignments for the books, and a higher weight on the assignments for the videos. Those changes reflect the refocus on the signed languages instead of English, and the inclusion of a more diverse cast.

Fall 2021 Internationalizing the Curriculum Seminar

View of Segovia, Spain

Participants

  • Lisa Dombrowski, Professor, East Asian Studies and Film Studies
  • Peter Gottschalk, Professor, Religion, Education Studies, and Science in Society
  • Elizabeth Hepford, Assistant Professor of the Practice, TESOL, Education Studies, and English
  • Iddrisu Saaka, Assistant Professor, Dance
  • Natalie Shibley, Visiting Assistant Professor, Science in Society

Projects

Two of this year’s participants, Beth Hepford and Iddi Saaka, used the seminar time to develop new courses. The other three participants chose to develop internationalized lessons for existing courses. The projects can be found below in alphabetical order by the faculty member’s last name.

Interestingly, all five of these professors have always incorporated international dimensions into their teaching. Their prior experience made our conversations rich and complex. They shared resources and explored internationalizing from different perspectives and different disciplines. We discussed an education-based approach, not only incorporating international content but also considering learning outcomes and how to achieve them. Faculty members thought about what knowledge, skills, and attitudes their students should have developed in their courses and by the time they graduate.

Internationalizing and Decolonizing the Curriculum Seminar Fall 2022 Applications Open!

Mural, Rue Barriault

APPLY NOW

Are you intrigued by the opportunity to share curriculum and assignment ideas with colleagues from other disciplines who are also interested in internationalized teaching? Would you like to explore the meanings of and challenges to “internationalizing” and “decolonizing” our university? Then join the Fall 2022 Internationalizing and Decolonizing the Curriculum Faculty Seminar, hosted by the Fries Center for Global Studies (FCGS).

Leask (2015) argues that an internationalized curriculum will: “Purposefully develop students’ international and intercultural perspectives” and “Move beyond traditional boundaries and dominant paradigms and prepare students to deal with uncertainty.” At the same time, internationalization can result in unintended outcomes, such as the hegemony of the English language or the perpetuation of harm and inequities. For this reason, the FCGS takes a decolonizing approach to internationalizing the curriculum. We invite faculty members whose courses and teaching are already internationalized in traditional ways to explore their course content, methods, and theoretical frameworks through the lens of this decolonizing approach, and we invite faculty members who have not yet explored internationalizing or decolonizing to join the conversation.

In the Internationalizing and Decolonizing the Curriculum Seminar, faculty will come together to discuss their efforts, past, current, and future, to incorporate global perspectives and intercultural learning into their teaching. There will be six 90-minute seminar meetings in fall 2022, facilitated by Emily Gorlewski, Ed.D., of the Fries Center for Global Studies, which will allow faculty members time to discuss and reflect on internationalization and how it can be promoted in sustainable, antiracist, decolonizing ways. Guest speakers may include members of the Critical Internationalization Studies Network: https://criticalinternationalization.net/. The outcome should be a new course, a new unit of a course, an existing course re-worked, or other project in which each faculty member demonstrably internationalizes and/or decolonizes their teaching or their department’s curriculum. Faculty will present these projects to the FCGS and other faculty in spring 2023; the implementation of the projects should take place during the 2023 calendar year, either fall or spring. Examples of past projects can be found at https://internationalizing.wescreates.wesleyan.edu/internationalizing-the-curriculum-seminar/

Seminar members receive a $500 stipend to support their participation.

Applications to participate in the Fall 2022 seminar are due on May 31, 2022.

APPLY NOW

2021-2022 cohort starts tomorrow

The 2021-2022 cohort of the Internationalizing the Curriculum Seminar starts tomorrow, September 30, 2021, with our first meeting. Stay tuned for further info! This cohort includes faculty from Education Studies, Religion, Film Studies, Science in Society, English, East Asian Studies, and Dance. We are so excited to welcome our second cohort.

Faculty survey for mapping project

Faculty members who wish to have their work included in the mapping project may do so in one of two ways:

  1. Email your current CV to studyabroad@wesleyan.edu as a link or attachment. Our student workers will search the CVs for activities. If there is anything on your CV you do NOT want included on the map, you may specify in your email.

OR

  1. Answer this survey: https://forms.gle/5LpeUSG9MQFjNVtr5 (please submit one survey per activity)

Important: Some of you have CVs which are posted to the Internet and thus are public. If you do NOT want us to use your publicly-available CV to collect information on your international, global, transnational, and/or intercultural activities, please click here: https://forms.gle/fNsf8vqfy2G83jA56

Mapping internationalization

The Fries Center for Global Studies, along with the Quantitative Analysis Center, has embarked on a project to “map” Wesleyan’s curriculum, research activities, study abroad, and other initiatives. It is hoped that the resulting interactive map or maps will help us to see where we are well represented and where there are gaps in our representation.

Internationalizing the Curriculum Seminar Fall 2020

Wesleyan held its first Internationalizing the Curriculum Seminar in Fall 2020. The participants were faculty members from all three academic Divisions.

2020 Participants

  • Martin Baeumel, Assistant Professor, German Studies
  • Abigail Boggs, Assistant Professor, Sociology, Education Studies, and Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
  • Iris Bork-Goldfield, Adjunct Professor and Chair, German Studies
  • Indira Karamcheti, Associate Professor and Chair, American Studies; Associate Professor, Education Studies; Coordinator, Caribbean Studies
  • Teresita Padilla-Benavides, Assistant Professor, Molecular Biology & Biochemistry
  • Mary Paul, Assistant Professor of the Practice, Theater
  • Roberto Saba, Assistant Professor, American Studies
  • Lauren Silber, Assistant Professor of the Practice, Academic Writing, Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, American Studies, and English

Teresita Padilla-Benavides, Molecular Biology & Biochemistry

New course for spring 2021, team taught with Eduardo Castañeda-Saucedo, Universidad Autonoma de Guerrero

Roberto Saba, American Studies

New course for spring 2022, Americans Abroad: Mapping Nineteenth-Century Travel Narratives 

New modules for Children’s Literature course

Indira Karamcheti, American Studies

German Studies Modules for two levels of language courses

Iris Bork-Goldfield and Martin Bauemel, German Studies

Internationalizing the Curriculum Seminar applications open for Fall 2021!

Deadline: May 21, 2021

Link to application: https://forms.gle/SQ1DCfaZXAqVLVtH6

In order to continue to promote intercultural and global learning, FCGS is holding a seminar designed to help faculty internationalize their courses and curriculum. Faculty members (including Department/College Chairs, Center Directors, and/or Academic Deans, if available) will come together to discuss their efforts, past and future, to incorporate global perspectives and intercultural learning into their teaching and curriculum. There will be four two-hour seminar meetings in fall 2021, facilitated by Emily Gorlewski, Ed.D., of the Fries Center for Global Studies, in which participants will work together toward a Wesleyan definition and process for internationalization. The outcome for each participant should be a new course, a new unit of a course, an existing course re-worked, or other project in which each faculty member demonstrably internationalizes their teaching or their department’s curriculum. Faculty will present these projects to the FCGS and other faculty in spring 2022; the implementation of the projects should take place during the 2022 calendar year. Each faculty member will receive an honorarium of $500 to participate. A limited number of seats is available in the seminar.

Faculty members will apply using the Pedagogical Initiatives Application, new for spring 2021.

Helpful links for internationalizing the curriculum

ACE Internationalization page: 

https://www.acenet.edu/Research-Insights/Pages/Internationalization/Intlz-in-Action-2013-December.aspx

U of Waterloo internationalization page: 

https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/teaching-tips/managing-students/diversity-and-internationalization/strategies-course-internationalization

Links to syllabus examples: 

https://goglobal.fiu.edu/resources/syllabi-assessments/

https://intldept.uoregon.edu/courses/
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