Embedding Global Competencies across the Curriculum
The Maryville College Global+ Program is designed to strengthen and improve undergraduate instruction in international studies and foreign language at Maryville College by increasing global/intercultural competencies across the curriculum.
Why global competency?
This generation of students lives in an interconnected, and rapidly changing world. Global (intercultural) competency is one of the main tools we, as educators, can give students to thrive in this new environment. To achieve this, we need a globally focused curriculum. Global competency is also one of the skills identified by both national and local employers as needed in graduates.
The Global+ program activities are designed to educate students on global competency. New and revised coursework, education abroad, and student engagement opportunities will provide opportunities to learn and practice appropriate communication and behavior in intercultural situations. G+ curricular changes will challenge students to investigate the world, consider a variety of perspectives, communicate ideas, and take meaningful action. Global competence is not restricted to knowing about other cultures and other perspectives, however, and experiences abroad and locally outside the classroom will help students apply their knowledge in practical situations and to approach problems from multiple perspectives.
Global competence is the capacity to understand and appreciate local and global issues, multiple perspectives and world views and interact appropriately and effectively with people from different cultures and identities.
Student Learning Outcomes:
- Think globally: have an increased knowledge of their relationship to the world; think about issues from a global perspective; gain an appreciation for other world cultures, viewpoints, and perspectives.*
- Communicate effectively: improve their foreign language skills and their ability to communicate with people across cultural and language divides.*
- Contribute responsibly: use their global knowledge to interact and build relationships with people from other cultures; demonstrate respect, open-mindedness, understanding and flexibility in behavior and thinking; help others to embrace multiple perspectives.*
Global+ Opportunities for Students
The Global+ program aims to encourage greater engagement on campus with global perspectives and issues. Below are some of the ways that students can build greater competency while at Maryville College.
Global+ Courses
Global+ courses move beyond just having global content. These courses have a global framework to integrate language or global competency in a more integrated and experiential way. The goal is to infuse disciplinary courses with structured components designed to build skills needed in an interconnected world. Courses will generally combine elements in one of three ways:
- Global Competency + Discipline
- International Studies + Discipline
- Language + Discipline
Global+ designated courses can be found by searching for the ‘(GL+)’ label in the course registration system. Please search using (GL+) including the parenthesis.
Global Academic Pathways
Work is underway to re-design our International Studies and Spanish majors to adapt to the changing global environment. For students who want the primary focus of their studies to be globally oriented, we offer several programs of study:
- International Studies Major | Minor
- International Business Major
- Spanish Major | Minor
- Foreign Languages (Minors & Coursework)
- Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL)
All of the above programs of study incorporate a period of study or intern abroad.
Global+ Certificate Program
This program will allow students from any major to achieve global fluency while pursuing their chosen field. The certificate will include coursework, study abroad, and co-curricular activities that are designed to increase global competencies in cross-cultural and language fluency.
The Global Plus Certificate program offers an additional credential to any major to achieve global competency while pursuing their chosen field.
The Global+ Certificate also contributes to the development of 21st Century skills and NACE Career Readiness competencies.
It is distinct from the minor in International Studies in that completion of the certificate is not sufficient for a minor in international studies. The Global+ Certificate program has fewer course requirements and contains an additional co-curricular component designed to practice global engagement and include reflection on adding a global dimension to their degree.
Education Abroad & Away
Students have the opportunity to build global competence by spending a period of time abroad or within different communities in the United States. Students develop confidence while learning how to behave and communicate appropriately in a global context through study, internships and community engagement
First Year Student Study Abroad Programs.
INT 149 Costa Rica – May 2023
Global Engagement
Global engagement includes a wide range of activities from curricular and co-curricular programming to international student, faculty and staff recruiting. The Center for Global Engagement works collaboratively to enhance the global learning environment on campus through events, programs and activities designed to help students engage with the world around them.
Faculty Opportunities
The Global+ program provides funding to support curriculum development that promotes and enhances global competencies for students. The purpose of the program is to incentivize the creation or revision of courses that support any of the G+ objectives: embed global competencies; incorporate either foreign language skills (Lang+) or components that relate to international studies (INT+). There are also opportunities to support faculty learning around integrating education abroad advising into their divisions and the development of faculty-led programs abroad.
Global Fellows Training Program
As part of a two-year UISFL (Undergraduate International Studies & Foreign Languages) grant funded by the U.S. Department of Education, the Global+ Program was designed to strengthen and improve undergraduate instruction in international studies and foreign language at Maryville College by increasing global/intercultural competencies across the curriculum. Through our second UISFL grant, and the Global+ Engage! Program, Maryville College strengthened its international studies programs, increased the number of undergraduates pursuing international studies and foreign languages, enhanced faculty advising concerning global competencies integrated with their major course of study, and built faculty capacity to develop and launch new study abroad programs. The project encompassed three objectives: (1) Strengthen and expand international studies and foreign languages by engaging students in first-year programming through the new Global Scholars Program; (2) Improve instruction in foreign languages through applied learning experiences; and (3) Engage faculty in international studies and experiences through the new Faculty Global Fellows Program.