Internationalization of the U.S. College Curriculum: An Interdisciplinary Inquiry of Faculty Awareness of Their Roles and Responsibilities
Marilyn Sharif
Advisor: Jan Arminio, PhD, Higher Education Program
Committee Members: Peter N. Stearns, Kimberly K. Eby
Research Hall, #161
April 04, 2018, 01:00 PM to 04:00 PM
Abstract:
Although institutions of higher education are responding to global changes in the 21st century by internationalizing (or globalizing) their campuses and programs, recent literature indicates little is known about faculty awareness of their roles and responsibilities for the process of internationalizing their curriculum (IoC). This dissertation presents findings from a case study conducted in 2015 at one large public research university in the United States of America engaged in comprehensive internationalization (CI). Using Repko, Szostak, and Buchberger’s (2014) Broad Model of Interdisciplinary Research and mixed methods, the study addressed two questions: What is faculty awareness of their roles and responsibilities for internationalizing the U.S college curriculum? How does their course content reflect this awareness? The goals of this study were to (a) add new understanding of IoC from the faculty perspective on this topic by applying the Repko et al. interdisciplinary research approach to a complex problem in international higher education, and (b) raise questions for further research. Findings included “faculty voice” on IoC, challenges they perceived, and suggestions made for faculty engagement in IoC.
Keywords: awareness, case study, college curriculum, diverse, cultural diversity, faculty, global, globalization, higher education, interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary research, integration, mixed-methods, international, internationalization, perspectives, roles and responsibilities
