Wooster Chosen for National Project to Develop More Global Curricula

AAC&U initiative focuses on "General Education for a Global Century"

WOOSTER, Ohio, Nov. 10, 2010 – The College of Wooster has been chosen to participate in “General Education for a Global Century,” a curriculum and faculty development project organized by the Association of American Colleges and Universities, and funded by the Henry Luce Foundation. Wooster was one of 32 colleges and universities selected in a competitive process. Other participants include Carnegie Mellon University, College of William and Mary, and Haverford College.

The initiative dovetails with on-going efforts to infuse a more global perspective and focus throughout the student academic and co-curricular experience at Wooster, which is an area of strategic priority for the college.

Institutional teams at each of the 32 participating colleges and universities will spend the fall and winter on their home campuses, taking stock of the curricular and co-curricular opportunities for global learning that already exist and identifying ways to better integrate those opportunities with one another and with the larger general education curriculum. Working through a social networking website, team members across the 32 institutions will identify common areas of interest and concern, which then will be addressed in an intensive summer institute that brings all the participants together in 2011.

AAC&U’s goals for the initiative include articulating essential global learning outcomes for all students; refining and disseminating models of global general education curricula that can be adapted across all institutional types; assisting college faculty in designing and teaching interdisciplinary, integrative courses that focus on real-world global issues; and developing rubrics to assess global learning outcomes.

Wooster’s project team will be led by Heather Fitz Gibbon, dean for faculty development and professor of sociology, and Amyaz Moledina, co-director of the Center for Diversity and Global Engagement and associate professor of economics.

“Each day’s news confirms the importance of developing responsible global citizens who have the knowledge and intercultural awareness to address complex global issues,” said Carolyn Newton, Wooster’s provost. “With the inauguration last year of the Center for Diversity and Global Engagement, Wooster is poised to develop a systemic and intentional approach to equipping our students — in the natural and physical sciences as well as the humanities and social sciences — with the skills they need to navigate effectively in a multicultural, global environment.”

Newton cited, as an example, a program last spring that combined an on-campus course in ecology with a travel experience to Ecuador to study issues in conservation, ecology, and development, which provided an opportunity for biology students to apply their work in a global context.

“It was gratifying to see how many campuses applied to be part of this initiative,” said AAC&U President Carol Geary Schneider. “It is a testament to how seriously today’s academy takes the challenge of preparing college students to participate effectively and responsibly in an interdependent global community. Both their future employers and our society need students with much higher levels of global knowledge and skill. This initiative will help the higher education community graduate students with these critical capacities.”

The College of Wooster is an independent liberal arts college, nationally recognized for an innovative curriculum that emphasizes mentored, independent research. Each Wooster senior works one-on-one with a faculty adviser to create an original research project, written work, performance or art exhibit. Founded in 1866, the college enrolls approximately 2,000 students.

AAC&U is the leading national association concerned with the quality, vitality, and public standing of undergraduate liberal education. Its members are committed to extending the advantages of a liberal education to all students, regardless of academic specialization or intended career. Founded in 1915, AAC&U now comprises 1,200 member institutions — including accredited public and private colleges and universities of every type and size.