Teaching Circle - 2009-2010

RU faculty and staff are invited to participate in a monthly conversation about "Education Abroad" - study abroad, internships abroad, work abroad, service abroad, and volunteering abroad.  Experienced study abroad program directors, future program directors, and curious faculty are all welcome to exchange ideas about the role of Education Abroad in their students' academic careers at RU.  Plans are to offer each session twice - schedule TBD.

August - Celebrating Maymester/Summer Success Stories
September - Recruiting for the Short-Term, Faculty-Led Study Abroad
                     Program
October - International Internships - Models for Evaluating Their Impact
                Upon RU Students
November - Designing Pre-Departure Activities for Short-Term Programs
December - Intersession Reading List
January - Mini-Retreat: Design the Perfect Study Abroad Program
February - Academic Advising and Semester/Year Programs
March - Health and Safety Abroad - Mental Health Issues
April - Assessment and Education Abroad
May - What I'm Going to Do on My Summer Vacation

August - Celebrating Maymester/Summer Success Stories - Hear last year's study abroad program directors trade war stories from the front.  What worked well?  What was a bust?  What wisdom can we gain from the triumphs of our peers?

September - Recruiting for the Short-Term, Faculty-Led Study Abroad Program -  The Study Abroad Fair on September 21 is upon us - what strategies have worked on the RU campus to involve students in study abroad programs?  How can we use Web 2.0 technologies to reach students with our programs?  Why are study abroad program provider representatives - many of whom are successful international educators in their own rights - our friends and colleagues?

October - International Internships - Models for Evaluating Their Impact Upon RU Students - Experiential educators have much to teach us about preparing students for Work, Internships, and Volunteering abroad.  Learn how we can prepare students effectively for these experiences and study various models of assessment that help us learn what exactly the students learned while actively engaged in the "real world" overseas.

November - Designing Pre-Departure Activities for Short-Term Programs - Short-term programs usually feature a significant amount of "pre-departure" work before "the trip."  How do we design effective pre-departure schedules of activities without overburdening our students?  (They still have coursework to complete for Spring 2010, after all.)  How can program directors incorporate the IEC's pre-departure activities with their own?  We will review available resources and discuss successful pre-departure programs.

December - Intersession Reading List - Participants will draft a list of websites, articles, and even books (for the truly dedicated and ambitious) to review during the semester break.  These readings will help prepare people for the January mini-retreat as well as for program implementation for Maymester/Summer study abroad programs.

January - Mini-Retreat: Design the Perfect Study Abroad Program

February - Academic Advising and Semester/Year Programs - Short-term programs can transform our students' lives, but there are also great things to be gained during a semester's study abroad...or even a year abroad!  Discussants familiar with our exchange programs and provider programs will share their insights, and academic advisors together with IEC staff will help walk faculty through the ideal advising scenario for the student who wants to take the plunge in a long-term study abroad program.

March - Health and Safety Abroad - Mental Health Issues - We have all heard a few horror stories in the past about health and safety issues: Kidnapping, Terrorism, Nervous Breakdowns!  How do we prepare ourselves and our students for situations where things are not 100% perfect?  Risk management in study abroad is a hot topic, and we will try to touch upon the major themes in the contemporary discussion.

April - Assessment and Education Abroad - Every academic loves the phrase "academic assessment," and we know it's inevitable that faculty will be asked to assess overseas programs.  How do we go about conducting such assessment?  We will review the Forum on Education Abroad's resource on outcomes-based assessment for study abroad programs.

May - What I'm Going to Do on My Summer Vacation - Some of us will be off to begin a new set of international adventures, while others will be involved in research overseas.  Hopefully a few of us even make it to the other side of the pond to enjoy some hard-earned R&R.  How can we use the summer months to become better international educators?  Participants will share their plans with others, perhaps setting up summertime teaching circle breakout sessions in Paris, Shanghai, and Cairo!