The Learning Abroad Center hosts sessions with discussion topics relevant to current and past learning abroad program leaders as well as those interested in leading a program in the future. All sessions are facilitated by current or past program leaders, or campus experts, and will be highly interactive.
Contact Lindsey Lahr, Assistant Director in the Learning Abroad Center, for any questions.
Academic Year 2022–2023 Workshops
Spring Semester 2023
ELLAS & ICC (Internationalizing the Curriculum & Campus) Collaboration- mini training series
We're teaming up with GPS Colleagues in ICC to curate a training series that takes from the existing ICC Webinars on Engaging Global Diversity in our Classrooms. We have put together a series of trainings especially for program leaders and prospective program leaders. And allows for interested leaders to work toward the Teaching in Globally Diverse Classes Certificate. Sessions will be facilitated by ICC staff- Ann Smith and Yuliya Kartoshkina
The sessions will take place on three Fridays in February from 1:00 – 2:00pm CST. Come to any and all you are able!
Session 1
Toward More Inclusive Participation
Join a conversation on class participation to learn and share ideas, resources, and tools for establishing broader and deeper student engagement and interaction. We will facilitate this discussion using an activity to ensure all voices are included, the whip around.
Communication styles
This 30-minute session is designed to help you consider the role of cultural communication styles in your classroom, so that you can help your students deepen their intercultural communication skills. During the webinar, we will review high-context and low-context communication styles used in different cultures and countries and provide you with an opportunity to reflect on your own communication style. You will also experience a teaching activity that you can do with your students on cultural communication styles.
Friday, February 3, 1:00 – 2:00pm CST
Location: Virtual via Zoom
Session 2
Leveraging interactions for intercultural learning
Let’s talk about how we can leverage all interactive classroom activities for deeper content learning and interpersonal and intercultural development. In this session, we will share considerations, strategies, scripts and tools (including a student handout you can adapt) that can help you and your students realize the full potential of classroom interactions. When you facilitate student interactions around content area learning objectives, students are not only engaging with content, they are also engaging with each other. This affords them an additional learning opportunity to practice critical interpersonal and intercultural skills with intention. Naming these skills for students and providing periodic opportunities for reflection are all essential for building students’ global competence. We can’t assume students are aware of or thinking about these competencies. Just as with subject-area learning outcomes, we need to actively and intentionally facilitate this learning.
Friday, February 17, 1:00 – 2:00pm CST
Location: Virtual via Zoom
Session 3
Navigating the unfamiliar (DAE)
In this session, you will learn about and experience an activity called Describe, Analyze, Evaluate (DAE). The DAE is a framework for practicing one’s ability to ‘frame-shift," that is, to understand a situation from another’s point of view. This involves cultivating a critical skill-set and attitudes for interacting effectively across differences. Nam and Condon (2010) explain, this “exercise is intended to foster self-awareness of personal and cultural assumptions, promote the appreciation of cognitive complexity, and the importance of frame-shifting when encountering the unfamiliar” (p. 81).
The DAE can be used daily in a variety of ways by students and faculty alike- join us to learn how!
Friday, February 24, 1:00 – 2:00pm CST
Location: Virtual via Zoom
Guiding Leaders on Student Misconduct
Program leaders will often confide that one of the great uncertainties of leading students abroad is managing student conduct and not really knowing how to best engage students in a productive manner around the choices they make. Leaders who have taken a passive approach, hoping for the best, or waiting until something happens often find themselves in a much more complicated situation. This session brings together two experienced professionals who have worked with student conduct in various contexts - before, during, and after conduct violations. A plan for engaging students in peer to peer collective accountability will be shared and discussed. And there's likely to be a few fun stories shared as well.
Friday, April 14, 1:00 – 2:00pm CST
Location: Virtual via Zoom
Kevin Dostal Dauer, is the Director of International Health, Safety, & Compliance in Global Programs and Strategy Alliance
June Nobbe, is the Assistant Vice Provost for Student Life, and has led multiple Global Seminars to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, Turkey, Argentina, and Panama. June has developed cultural engagement curriculum for Learning Abroad Center programs in Rome, Florence, Montpellier, and Istanbul.
Student Mental Health Abroad
Hosted discussions on Student Mental Health and leading students abroad. Updated information on the types of mental health concerns we are seeing on campus will be offered, as well as how we can prepare ourselves to support students during your programs abroad. We'll also discuss processes and support systems you'll have while abroad.
Spring Break and May/Summer leaders will be invited to a virtual session, prior to your program term, on Student Mental Health Abroad.
Laura Dupont-Jarrett, Ph.D., L.P., Assistant Director for Education Abroad Mental Health in the GPS Alliance. She is an experienced college mental health counselor, a former instructor of undergraduate and graduate courses, and a licensed psychologist.
Fall Semester 2022
Creating your Study Abroad Program Syllabus
Creating a study abroad course syllabus can present different challenges compared with developing an on-campus course about a similar subject. A key aspect is finding ways to allow the experience of going abroad, the schedule of onsite-visits, and being in a new culture to help guide the progression of the course content. Creatively incorporating the cultural differences students experience abroad along with the course content can provide a powerful lens through which students can learn the course content more deeply. Also, frequent debriefs, group dynamics, and learning to take advantage of unique ‘teachable moments' can really enhance the learning experience. Two seasoned study abroad instructors will share their journeys and process for study abroad syllabus development. Come and bring your ideas and experiences to share for a rich learning conversation.
Wednesday, November 9, 1:00 – 3:00pm CST
Location: 3-104 MCB
Nikki Letawsky Shultz, is the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs and International Programs in the College of Biological Sciences. Nikki has led Freshman Seminars Abroad to Ireland, as well as a Seminar to Sweden multiple times.
Mike White, is a Morse Alumni Distinguished Professor in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Sciences, as well as the former Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Faculty Affairs. Professor White has led programs to Italy focusing on food sustainability since 2007, is proficient in Italian, and is leading a new seminar to Montpellier, France during spring break 2023