International Studies at UW-Madison

We are delighted to announce that Channel 3 (WISC-TV) news will run a feature this evening on our distinguished international visitor and UW-Madison alum Florence Chenoweth.

The feature, which is part of WISC-TV’s “Distinguished Women” series, will appear during tonight’s 10 o’clock news. The clip will later be posted on the Channel 3000 Web site.

Florence Chenoweth was the United Nations Food and Agriculture (FAO) representative to the UN and executive director of the FAO Liaison Office in New York. Originally from Liberia, Chenoweth earned both her master’s degree in agricultural economics (1970) and her doctorate in land resources (1986) at UW-Madison. She became Liberia’s (and Africa’s) first female minister of agriculture at the age of 32, serving from 1977 to 1979.

While at UW-Madison, Dr. Chenoweth is working with Professor Scott Straus as part of the Human Rights Initiative. This initiative coordinates diverse, interdisciplinary human rights activities on campus, fosters new research and education on human rights, enhances existing studies, and promotes dialogue with the community.

The Distinguished International Visitor program regularly brings international practitioners to UW-Madison. Past visitors have included former U.S. ambassador to South Korea Donald Gregg, former U.S. ambassador to the European Union Stuart Eizenstat, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Jessica Tuchman Mathews. Dr. Chenoweth’s visit to UW-Madison is supported by the Chancellor’s Office, the Division of International Studies, the School of Medicine and Public Health, and the College of Agriculture and Life Science.

by Doug Lederman for Inside Higher Ed

In many countries, as in the United States, demand for higher education is growing fast, sometimes outstripping the ability of traditional colleges — which, in many countries, means government-run institutions — to fulfill the need.

The extent to which private institutions, be they for-profit or nonprofit, are the answer (or part of it) to meet the demand varies from country to country, with some openly embracing the private sector, others keeping them out, and still others intrigued but wary. Wednesday night, dozens of international higher education officials, investors, and others gathered in Washington for the start of a three-day meeting sponsored by the International Finance Corporation, a World Bank agency that aims to build the private sector in developing countries.

And to kick off the meeting, the group turned to Douglas L. Becker, chairman and chief executive officer of Laureate Education, Inc., whose company has built a 300,000-student, $2 billion a year enterprise by focusing solely on creating private institutions in foreign lands — so far, 70 campuses in 17 countries. Continue reading The Private Sector Role in Global Higher Education [Inside Higher Ed]…

Ka Ho Mok
Associate Dean and Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences
University of Hong Kong

Gerry Postiglione
Professor and Head, Policy, Administration, and Social Sciences
University of Hong Kong

8:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
The Pyle Center, 702 Langdon Street
This program is free and open to the public
Coffee and light refreshments will be provided

This presentation is part of the Ideas and Universities International Video Seminar Series, which is made available on the UW–Madison campus thanks to funding and support from the UW-Madison Division of International Studies, the Institute for Advanced Studies at the University of Bristol (UK), the Worldwide Universities Network, and WISCAPE in cooperation with the UW–Madison Department of Educational Policy Studies.

The program theme for the spring 2008 semester is “Universities as Organizations: Looking Inwards, Looking Outwards.” Continue reading Looking Outwards to the Global World: The Drive for Internationalizing Universities in Hong Kong and Asia…

From UW-Madison Communications

When Ryosuke Shibuya came to Madison in 2002, he had more of an adjustment to make than the average freshmen. Arriving from his home country of Japan, Shibuya did not speak any English. Six years later, he’s graduating with a degree in history.

Shibuya says his first year was spent solely taking classes to learn English. In his second year, he took classes at Edgewood College, and then transferred to UW-Madison to study history.

He says that he looked at several universities in the United States — including the University of California-Los Angeles, New York University and the University of North Carolina — before settling on UW-Madison. He says he chose this school for its size, affordability and diverse international community. With more than 3,000 international students, UW-Madison is ranked in the top 20 U.S. universities for international students.

In the past 18 months, Shibuya has been involved in the Reach program, which places international students as speakers in Madison area schools, on campus and in community organizations to share information about their home countries and life experiences.

Shibuya has focused on contemporary and Middle Eastern history in his studies at UW-Madison, and says he hopes to work for the U.S. federal government some day.

The Language Institute and the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages are pleased to announce the Fall 2008 pilot of Methods of Teaching Less Commonly Taught Languages, a new online course for post-secondary instructors of less commonly taught languages (LCTLs). Enrollment is limited!

Course Description

Methods of Teaching Less Commonly Taught Language is a fully online course developed in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Language Institute, in collaboration with the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages (NCOLCTL), to provide pre- and in-service teachers of less commonly taught languages (LCTLs) at the postsecondary level with an introduction to language teaching methods.

The course is built around the National Standards for Foreign Language Education, with a framework that responds directly to the particular challenges shared by many instructors working in LCTLs in the United States.  The course is based on original material authored by the project team, videotaped interviews with LCTL professionals and students, videotaped exemplars of classroom practices, and readings from professional journals and other works.  In this course, you will reflect on your and other’s teaching practices, learn about approaches to language teaching and research in language learning, and apply new ideas and methods to your teaching.

Course authors

Sally Magnan, Dianna Murphy, Robin Worth, Erlin Barnard

Questions about enrolling

Dr. Dianna Murphy, (608) 262-1575

Click here for more Information.

Souvenirs: A Collection of International Experiences is a brand-new publication on UW campus this year, sponsored by the Wisconsin Union Directorate Global Connections and Publications Committees. Souvenirs features stories from students’ experiences studying, traveling and volunteering abroad, a message from U.S. Senator Russ Feingold, and travel tips and advice. Pick up a free copy around campus today. Locations include Memorial Union, Union South, Morgridge Center for Public Service, Study Abroad Office and more!

by Tom Sinclair, UW-Madison Communications

A new online map makes it possible, for the first time, to track news of disease outbreaks around the world that threaten the health of wildlife, domestic animals, and people.

The Global Wildlife Disease News Map was developed jointly by the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Updated daily, the map displays pushpins marking stories of wildlife diseases such as West Nile virus, avian influenza, chronic wasting disease, and monkeypox. Users can browse the latest reports of nearly 50 diseases and other health conditions, such as pesticide and lead poisoning, by geographic location. Filters make it easy to focus on different disease types, affected species, countries, and dates.

The map is a product of the Wildlife Disease Information Node (WDIN), a five-year-old collaboration between UW-Madison and two federal agencies, the National Wildlife Health Center and the National Biological Information Infrastructure, that are part of the U.S. Geological Survey. WDIN is housed within the university’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and the USGS. Continue reading Web tool puts wildlife diseases on the map…

By Jenny Price, UW-Madison Communications

Moji Olaniyan pulls a plush tortoise puppet onto her hand, asking an audience of eager third-grade students for their help in telling a story about how the animal cracked his shell (answer: because he was too greedy). “How did the birds feel when the tortoise ate all the food?”

Olaniyan started doing storytelling when she was invited to share tales from her native Nigeria with her daughter’s kindergarten class. Now her daughter is an undergraduate at UW–Madison and Olaniyan is an assistant dean, advising students in the College of Letters and Science. But the demands of her job and storytelling reached a level where Olaniyan sometimes thought, “wouldn’t it be great to kind of clone myself” and reach even more young students?

Now Olaniyan has that chance, launching “African Storytelling on Wheels,” with an $88,000 grant from the 2008 Ira and Ineva Reilly Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Endowment to fund the program for three academic years. With Olaniyan’s guidance, about 20 UW–Madison students of African origin are preparing to tell stories to third-, fourth- and fifth-graders in racially nondiverse elementary schools in eastern and northern Wisconsin. But the students won’t just perform for these young audiences, they’ll teach them about African culture and basic human truths.

The program, which receives additional support from UW–Madison’s African Studies Program, could reach as many as 500 students in one trip. “We are not only outreaching to future Badgers, but helping teachers look at a different way of teaching,” Olaniyan says. Continue reading A voice nearly silenced teaches art of storytelling…

UNESCO Portal on Higher Education

via Global Higher Ed.

This portal offers access to on-line information on higher education institutions recognized or otherwise sanctioned by competent authorities in participating countries.

Users are encouraged to consult several sources of information before making important decisions regarding matters such as the choice of an institution, course of study or the status of qualifications. Individuals wishing to have their qualifications recognized for work or further study are advised to consult the competent authorities of the country in which they are seeking to have their qualifications recognised. It is also important to note that some institutions not on the national lists may offer quality programmes. Users are encouraged to contact the national contact point(s) for each country, if necessary, for further information.

It provides students, employers and other interested parties with access to authoritative and up-to-date information on the status of higher education institutions and quality assurance in these countries.

Currently, information can be accessed on the following countries: Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, Egypt, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Norway, United Kingdom, and the United States of America. In the next stage of the project, the number of countries covered will be expanded.

The country information on this portal is managed and updated by relevant authorities in participating countries. More information on the national processes for recognizing or otherwise sanctioning institutions is available on the country pages.

The Middle East Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin–Madison received a grant from the U.S. Department of Education to increase expertise among students and faculty on this strategically important region. The grant will allow UW–Madison to expand the available pool of knowledge of Middle East languages and cultures across the campus.

“This grant allows the Middle East Studies Program to meet the demands from undergraduate students wanting more and higher language and culture programs,” said Uli Schamiloglu, Director of Middle East Studies. “Not only can we now meet these demands but we can also provide a strong dependable resource for a better understanding the region.”

With the grant the Middle East Studies program plans to develop advanced Colloquial Arabic courses as well as regularize the offering of three levels of Persian. It also plans to enhance the Persian summer immersion program and expand in its study-abroad programs for students. The program will reach out to the campus and community by improving their resources in library holdings, films, speakers, and faculty development grants. It will also create relationships with institutions in the Arabic world that will strengthen its resource base and available opportunities for students.

The Department of Education awards Title VI A funding to develop, enhance, and apply international undergraduate programs to strengthen and advance foreign languages and studies.

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Mike Ivey, The Capital Times

When Brown Shoe announced it was locating its new headquarters in St. Louis, not Madison — and closing its Famous Footwear offices here — one reason cited was some $43 million in economic development incentives from the state of Missouri.

Wisconsin officials had also attempted to lure Brown Shoe, offering up free land and other perks if it would build its new headquarters here. Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and Chamber of Commerce President Jennifer Alexander even flew to St. Louis to give the pitch.

But rather than spending limited resources fighting each other for new jobs, Midwestern states must work together if they hope to compete in the new world economy, development experts say.

“A guy in China doesn’t care about the difference between Minnesota and Wisconsin and we shouldn’t either,” says Richard Longworth, author of “Caught in the Middle: America’s Heartland in the Age of Globalism.” Continue reading Global warning: States must work together, development expert says [The Capital Times]…

by Brian Mattmiller, UW-Madison Communication

The 2009 Reaccreditation Project has reached a critical milestone this month with the completion of six in-depth theme reports that provide a banquet of ideas on how to protect and strengthen the future of UW–Madison.

Beginning Friday, May 9, all six reaccreditation theme reports and an executive summary will be available at Reaccreditation Project.

“I think people are seeing this as an incredible opportunity, enhanced by the upcoming leadership transition, to really rethink what it means to be a great public university in the 21st century,” says reaccreditation director Nancy Mathews, referencing the overall theme of the project.

“Even though we’re overshadowed in some ways by some challenging realities,” Mathews adds, “we’re also overshadowed by a strong sense of optimism: That this is the time to really make some changes and be deliberate about carving out our future.” Continue reading A shared vision emerges from UW–Madison Reaccreditation Project…

Nearly 200 college presidents from the United States and abroad, along with dozens of corporate and foundation representatives, met at the State Department in April to discuss how they can work together to support economic and social development in poorer regions of the world.

Click here to read the full article (subscription required)

More information is available on InsideHigherEd and on the summit’s official website.

Business schools in the United States and elsewhere all need to take a more global approach to education, according to a new report by the Global Foundation for Management Education.

Click here for the full report.

By: Grace Kim /The Daily Cardinal

The national Social Science Research Council awarded a grant of more than $90,000 to UW-Madison’s eight Title VI National Resource Centers and Middle Eastern Studies to support the public communication regarding Islamic issues.

According to Tom Asher, SSRC program officer, nine universities in addition to UW-Madison received the grant, including Harvard University, University of California-Berkeley, University of California-Los Angeles and University of Minnesota, among others.

“We are really trying to push academics for working on the subject of Islam to be a part of the broader conversation taking place in the society right now and within the U.S,” Asher said. “I hope that [UW-Madison] will be able to reach out to people living in the surrounding areas of the state and really start a conversation that needs to take place.”

The grant allows UW-Madison’s nine international studies programs, Wisconsin Public Radio and UW-Madison’s Division of Information Technology to host a 12-month radio program and website called “Inside Islam: Dialogues and Debates.” Continue reading UW to launch Islam radio program [The Daily Cardinal]…

‘Understanding the Culture of Collaboration: An Exploration of Global Research Partnerships’

Friday, May 9 at 8am at the Pyle Center.

Betty Rambur
Ace Fellow, Office of the Provost
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Dean, College of Nursing and Health Sciences
University of Vermont

Abstract:

Global partnerships with multinational teams are increasingly referenced as a means to approach the world’s most pressing problems. This interactive session details an empirically derived conceptual framework that describes seven distinct types of interinstitutional, multinational research partnerships along a range of increasing faculty risk, decreasing stability, increasing human factors with compounding interaction costs, and increasing time to research outputs. Participants will critique the framework and discuss applications and implications in reference to their fields and institutions.

The PowerPoint presentation will be available on the series Web site.  Please ensure that you have access to these slides locally. The talk will also be broadcast live via Web cast and this link can also be accessed via the Web site.

The Ideas & Universities virtual seminar series is co-sponsored by the Worldwide Universities Network, UW-Madison’s WISCAPE, and Bristol University’s Institute for Advanced Studies.

The International Institute’s International Faculty Book Series
(formerly the World Beyond Our Borders Book Series)

on Human Rights around the World

presents

Leigh Payne (UW–Madison, Political Science)

discussing her new book

Unsettling Accounts: The Politics and Performance of Confessions by Perpetrators of Authoritarian State Violence (Duke University Press, 2007)

Tuesday, May 6 at 7pm
University Bookstore in the Hilldale Mall (702 N. Midvale Boulevard)

Payne draws on interviews, unedited television film, newspaper archives, and books written by perpetrators to analyze confessions of state violence in Argentina, Chile, Brazil, and South Africa. Each of these four countries addressed its past through a different institutional form, from blanket amnesty, to conditional amnesty based on confessions, to judicial trials. Payne considers perpetrators’ confessions as performance, examining what perpetrators say and what they communicate non-verbally; the timing, setting, and reception of their confessions; and the different ways that the perpetrators portray their pasts, whether in terms of remorse, heroism, denial, or sadism, or through lies or betrayal.

CONTACT: Katie Saur, 608-890-0939, kbsaur@bascom.wisc.edu

Madison, WI – International Academic Programs (IAP) in the Division of International Studies has announced the winners of the 2008 Study Abroad Photo Contest. A reception to honor the winners and have them discuss their photos will take place on Thursday, May 1st from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the On Wisconsin Room at the Red Gym. The reception is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.

Each year IAP holds a photo contest asking past study-abroad students to submit their favorite photographs to promote the many and diverse study-abroad programs UW offers. This year 72 students submitted an average of eight photos for four photo categories: people and culture, natural landscapes, urban landscapes, and “Badgers abroad.”

For a list of student winners visit: http://www.studyabroad.wisc.edu/alumni/photos/2008_contest/

“Study abroad is one of the best ways we extend the boundaries of the campus to encircle the globe,” says Gilles Bousquet, dean of the Division of International Studies. “This is how we produce global citizens—and that means global talent for a strong state economy. That’s the role of any great global public university.”

Last year 1,600 UW–Madison students studied abroad. IAP offers over 100 study-abroad programs on six continents, including academic year, semester, summer and winter inter-session options. Programs are available to students of any degree or major, freshmen to seniors, as well as graduate students. Visit the Study Abroad Resource Room located in 250 Bascom Hall or www.studyabroad.wisc.edu.

The winning photographers received special prizes from local businesses. The local businesses donating gift certificates are: Fromagination, Husnus, Ian’s Pizza, and the Sunroom Café.

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Arabic script runs along the dormitory hall of the third floor in Adams Hall. To an outsider it looks like an intricate design flowing among the plaster, but to the residents it provides direction and introductions to their fellow floormates.

This is Baytunaa, the Arabic floor in the International Learning Community (ILC). Baytunaa, meaning “our home,” houses five undergraduate students dedicated to speaking Arabic and learning about the different Arabic-speaking countries and cultures.

Baytunaa really does feel like a cozy little home. Students receive special Arabic instruction outside of their daily classes while sitting in overstuffed comfy chairs in front of the fireplace.

[Above: Cristina Treviño-Murphy reads from a selection of Arabic text during professor Dustin Cowell’s class session as part of the International Learning Community (ILC) Arabic floor study program in Adams Hall. Photo: Bryce Richter]

Sadam Issa, a Jordan native is the language floor coordinator.

“I have students of all levels learning and practicing standard Arabic, the Arabic used in modern journalism, legal systems and other formalities in Arabic-speaking countries,” says Issa. “It’s the language people use when speaking to someone of another Arabic dialect.”

Residents of Baytunaa meet with Issa three times a week to watch movies, play games and converse in Arabic. These meetings enhance speaking and writing skills while providing cultural knowledge of the Arabic world. This is all part of a one-credit Integrated Liberal Studies course all ILC students are required to take. It provides heightened cross-cultural understanding.

“ILC is one of the many ways in which UW–Madison prepares its students for an increasingly interdependent world,” says Gilles Bousquet, dean of the Division of International Studies. “It’s global competence training at its best.”

“I feel motivated to speak and learn more Arabic living here in Baytunaa,” says Cristina Treviño-Murphy, a freshman resident studying sociology. “It’s so much easier to find the resources to practice Spanish or French, but not Arabic. I have so many resources for practicing that are almost impossible for people to find. I can speak Arabic with people living on my floor and get help from a native speaker — Sadam.”

Baytunaa residents and all other ILC residents have the greatest resource of all — a fluent speaker in their language of study living on their floor.

“I have students in my room all the time asking questions about Jordan or wanting help with their homework,” says Issa. “They’re good students, they want to be here, and they want to learn.”

Baytunaa not only provides the necessary and hard-to-find resources for students, but it also prepares them for their futures.

“My experience here learning Arabic and living in Baytunaa has provided and continues to provide me with so many different perspectives,” says sophomore Michael Goldstein. “In order to learn and speak Arabic you have to apply a whole new way of thinking, it’s incredibly challenging, but very rewarding.”

[Above: Student Michael Goldstein studies in his residence hall room in Adams Hall. The Arabic floor program focuses on teaching students the Arabic language through an immersive learning environment that includes not only Arabic-based classes, but also a living environment designed to surround the students with Arabic in their everyday lives. Photo: Bryce Richter]

The residents of ILC have a unique opportunity to live in a cross-cultured environment. Every floor has its own language and identity specific to those countries where the language is spoken.

“The ILC is a place where people speak five to six different languages and have been to so many different places, all of these details and backgrounds create for an amazing environment that you can’t get anywhere else,” says Treviño-Murphy.

All ILC residents are encouraged to share their views and ideas with one another at bimonthly roundtable dinners, creating a little global community of knowledge and insight.

CONTACT: B. Venkat Mani, bvmani@global.wisc.edu, 608-265-2631

UW–Madison’s nine area and international studies programs, in partnership with Wisconsin Public Radio, and the Division of Information Technology (DoIT) have received a generous grant from the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) for an interactive program that will support public dissemination of scholarship on the topic of Islam. The grant is part of SSRC’s project, “Academia in the Public Sphere.”

UW–Madison’s eight Title VI National Resource Centers (Global Studies; African Studies Program; Center for South Asia; Center for South East Asian Studies; Center for European Studies; Center for Russia, East Europe and Central Asia; Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies; and Center for East Asian Studies) and its Middle Eastern Studies Program will host a 12 month project titled “Inside Islam: Dialogues and Debates.”

Spearheaded by Global Studies, the grant will allow for the production of 8–10 one-hour, call-in radio shows with local and international scholars on Islam, hosted by WPR’s Jean Feraca. Topics may include such subjects as “Islam and Music” and “Women and Islam,” and will address the diversity of Muslim communities throughout the world. These broadcasts will be followed by real-time chats and a blog on the WPR Web site. In addition, they will produce “insideislam.wisc.edu,” a Web site hosted by DoIT. Continue reading UW to Launch Interactive Radio Show and Web Site on Islam and Muslims in the World…