During International Education Week (IEW) 2019, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) hosted several events to celebrate the value of international and foreign language education in preparing U.S. students for global competitiveness in the 21st century. The IEW 2019 theme was "Building the Pipeline: Global and Cultural Competencies."

The Department kicked off its IEW 2019 program on Nov. 12 with a panel discussion on global innovations that the U.S. and other countries have implemented to prepare students for future careers. The Department's International Affairs Office and Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education led a discussion with representatives from the Brazilian and Chinese embassies about innovations in apprenticeship programs and career and technical education. A recording of the discussion event is available to stream online.

On Nov. 19, the International and Foreign Language Education (IFLE) office hosted a workshop in collaboration with the Title VI Centers for International Business Education and Research (CIBEs). This event focused on helping schools and teachers develop programs that teach global and cultural skills in tandem with business principles. The workshop began with a panel on the tech revolution, during which representatives from the University of Colorado-Denver, the U.S. Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration, 1847 Philanthropic, and the Molson Coors Beverage Company discussed the implications of digital globalization on industry and international education. The workshop then transitioned to an interactive session on internationalizing content in the classroom, during which Indiana University Professor Roberto Garcia shared tools and strategies for teachers to help students learn about cross-cultural competence and other global skills for success in today's world of business. The final segment of the day-long workshop was devoted to a discussion by representatives from five Title VI CIBEs about how they developed and implemented various experiential learning programs for international business education on their campuses. Attendees appreciated the opportunity to hear from industry and academic experts on real issues in the world of international business, and they enjoyed connecting with colleagues who are also working to add more international business content to their curricula. Participants also appreciated the workshop booklet that provided a plethora of useful information and resources for educators looking to incorporate more international business content into their programs. The complete workshop is now available to stream online at IFLE's YouTube Channel.

IFLE's IEW activities concluded with a Twitter #globaledchat on the evening of Nov. 21 in partnership with the Peace Corps and the Asia Society's Center for Global Education. Many teachers, students, and parents from across the country participated in the chat, sharing their thoughts and resources for building the pipeline to prepare U.S. students with global and cultural competencies.

The Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad Program provides short-term seminars abroad for U.S. educators in the social sciences and humanities to improve their understanding and knowledge of the peoples and cultures of other countries. Each seminar features lectures and activities specifically designed for the group, including visits to local schools and organizations, meetings with teachers and students, and visits to cultural sites. Participants draw on their experiences during the program to create new, cross-cultural curricula for their classrooms and school systems back in the U.S.

In 2020, summer programs will be offered in Argentina, Israel, and Taiwan. Each seminar will have 16 participants. The program covers airfare, room and board, and program costs. Teacher participants are responsible for a cost-share of $600.

The 2020 Seminars Abroad application is now available on the G5 website at http://www.g5.gov. The application deadline is Jan. 14, 2020. For more information and to apply, please visit the Seminars Abroad program website.

Last fall, East Carolina University (ECU) successfully launched the Global Business, Education, Environment, and Health International Virtual Exchange (BEEHIVE) global business course in collaboration with Mexico's Universidad de Monterrey, France's Université de Tours, and China Pharmaceutical University. This is the first of four international virtual exchange courses being developed as a part of the "Global BEEHIVE" project supported by a grant from the Title VI Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Program.

In the Global BEEHIVE Global Business course, students discuss business etiquette and protocols, examine case studies, and work on collaborative projects surrounding leadership, starting businesses in other countries, competitor analysis, and market segmentation. ECU College of Business senior Joseph Feiden said, "The Global Business course has introduced me to relationships outside of the classroom that I never thought I’d experience. It is really giving me a better understanding about other countries’ laws, cultures, and business environments. This course has been like no other, and I’m excited about our future collaborations."

Global BEEHIVE courses are modeled after ECU’s award-winning multidisciplinary Global Understanding virtual exchange model, in which institutions of higher education from ECU’s Global Partners in Education network use web-conferencing and chat technology to offer project-based courses that help students develop the skills and knowledge necessary to thrive in an interconnected world.

Faculty from six partner institutions came to the ECU campus last March to collaboratively design the Global BEEHIVE Global Business and Global Education courses. During this intensive week-long workshop, faculty learned about teaching in a virtual exchange modality and built courses by defining learning objectives, identifying topics and resources, designing collaborative projects, and developing appropriate assessments. The Global Business course has already launched and the Global Education course will launch in the Spring 2020 semester. This process will be repeated to develop the Global BEEHIVE Global Environment and Global Health courses in the coming year.

In order to increase students’ readiness for Japan-related careers after graduation, The Ohio State University’s (OSU) East Asian Studies Center (EASC) has developed a portfolio of professionalization programs for students studying Japanese. Initiatives including career talks, conferences, job shadowing, internships, and skill-based coursework are aimed at preparing students to succeed in the workforce, particularly in the area of interpretation. “Following a year-long focus and series of events on the topic in 2016–17, including a week-long interpretation workshop and the 28th International Japanese-English Translation Conference hosted at OSU, we identified an interest in interpretation among our students, a strong demand for these skills in industry, and great expertise in our community,” said EASC Director Etsuyo Yuasa.

Japan is the top foreign investor in Ohio so there is significant demand for Japanese-English interpreters in the state. Four hundred eighty-four Japanese facilities, including Honda of America Mfg., Inc., create more than 77,000 jobs in the state (98% of which are held by Ohioans), according to the consulate general of Japan in Detroit’s “2017 Japanese Direct Investment Survey.” EASC has developed partnerships with many of these facilities, including

• Honda R&D Americas, Inc., which delivered a “Japanese Interpretation Demonstration” at OSU in 2018 and later hosted students on-site to observe interpretation in practice;
• THK Manufacturing of America, Inc., which offered a panel discussion at OSU on the topic of “Working for a Japanese Company: How to Prepare? What to Expect?” and hosted groups of OSU students studying Japanese at its manufacturing facility in Ohio and in Japan; and
• Nissen Chemitec America, which launched a job-shadowing day for OSU students interested in interpretation.

Based on these partnerships and interest from students and the community, EASC launched its first course on Japanese interpretation in spring 2019. Taught by a professional conference interpreter with eight years of experience working in the Japanese automotive industry in Ohio, the course was designed to expose advanced-level Japanese learners to the theories and techniques of interpreting and to provide rigorous hands-on training in consecutive and simultaneous interpretation (bidirectionally between Japanese and English). At the end of the course, 78% of students from the undergraduate to doctoral level reported that they were extremely likely to use the knowledge and skills gained from the course in their future profession (the remaining 22% stated that they were somewhat likely to use the skills learned in their careers). Students reported that it was an “extremely practical course which incorporates theory into actual practice, and gives tools to further study interpretation and develop skills,” and that it provided a “strong foundation for developing our skills and applying them in a career.”

Based on its initial success, EASC plans to offer the course again in 2020. EASC Director Yuasa also shared the concept with other Japanese language educators at the American Association of Teachers of Japanese conference in March 2019 in her presentation, “Community-based Course Development: Professional Japanese Interpretation.”

These events and the Professional Japanese Interpretation course are supported in part by a U.S. Department of Education Title VI National Resource Center grant to The Ohio State University’s East Asian Studies Center.

Nine Title VI Centers for International Business Education (CIBEs) recently initiated and organized an outreach consortium to provide funding opportunities and academic support to previously underserved and underrepresented faculty, staff, and students from Minority-Serving Institutions & Community Colleges (MSI/CC). The CIBER MSI/CC Consortium (CMCC) is made up of the CIBEs at Brigham Young University (Utah), Florida International University, The George Washington University (Washington, D.C.), Georgia Institute of Technology, Indiana University, San Diego State University, University of South Carolina, University of Maryland, and University of Washington.

The four-year academic and business outreach program will provide funding and support in the areas of international business research, curriculum and program development, student study abroad, student internships and work studies, faculty and professional development programs, and business foreign language training.

In the 2018–19 academic year, the CMCC funded approximately $90,000 in awards for 30–40 faculty leaders, administrators, and students at MSI/CC institutions. Funded activities included

• development of international business courses and curricula at Morgan State University (Maryland) and Edmonds Community College (Washington);
• study abroad program design and implementation at Alabama A&M and Governors State University (Illinois);
• faculty professional development programs and seminars at Montgomery College (Maryland) and Eastern New Mexico University; and
• international business research projects at Howard University (District of Columbia) and Morgan State University.

The Title VI CIBE law requires grantees to promote international business and global U.S. competitiveness via their funded projects, and the CIBE Minority-Serving Institutions & Community College Consortium outreach program is a unique initiative that meets this mandate in an exemplary manner by facilitating the internationalization efforts of underserved and underrepresented institutions. 

On Nov. 18, the Global Business Center at the University of Washington’s Michael G. Foster School of Business (a Title VI Center for International Business Education) hosted the 2019 CHINA Town Hall, an annual event produced by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. The event involved two parts: a national webcast of panelists, moderated by George Stephanopoulos, chief anchor and political correspondent on ABC News, followed by a local town hall discussion focused on Seattle-China business relations. Steve Scher, chief correspondent for Town Hall Seattle’s podcast In the Moment, moderated the local discussion. Across the country, there were over 85 participating locations.

In Seattle, nearly 70 faculty, staff, students, and business community members filled a classroom to watch the national broadcast and participate in the local discussion. The national broadcast featured expert panelists Stephen Orlins (president of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations); Melanie Hart (senior fellow and director of China Policy at the Center for American Progress); Yasheng Huang (American professor in international management at the MIT Sloan School of Management); and Ely Ratner (senior fellow and deputy director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security). They discussed hot-button issues in U.S.-China relations, ranging from the ongoing trade negotiations to the protests in Hong Kong. During the local discussion, Scher asked business community members to weigh in on their personal experiences doing business with and in China. Jim Weber, CEO of Brooks Sports, spoke of the decision to move their factories entirely outside of China due to rising operation costs, while Keith Hu, director of International Operations at Northwest Cherries, discussed how the trade war has dramatically affected the price of Washington cherries in China.

Earlier this year, Cornell University's Southeast Asia Program and the Cornell-Syracuse South Asia Consortium brought together teachers from 14 different school districts in upstate New York to learn content, tools, and strategies for internationalizing their curriculum. The International Studies Summer Institute (ISSI) is an annual teachers’ workshop that covers a different theme each year. This year's theme was cultural sustainability across many disciplines and world regions.

Workshop presenters discussed how diverse cultures around the world both preserve and adapt their traditions in the face of environmental, economic, social, and political change. Topics included the languages and language policy of Indonesia, perspectives from the Onondaga Nation, cultural sustainability in contemporary art, and promoting peace through community building in Kenya.

Many speakers recognized the struggle in sustaining local cultures in a more globalized world, yet also spoke on the cooperation that can happen at the local, national, and global levels. Abby Cohn, professor of linguistics and director of Cornell's Southeast Asia Program, spoke about how Indonesia’s language policy has shaped a main language for nation-building at the expense of losing the country’s linguistic diversity consisting of over 700 living languages, posing the question, “Should Indonesian be a force for unity at the expense of the diversity of existing languages and cultures, or should national unity be built on a foundation that accommodates and appreciates ethnolinguistic diversity?”

In response to Cohn’s presentation, attendee Michael Abrams from the Skä•noñh- Great Law of Peace Center, discussed the reality of speaking two languages and its implications on one’s cultural identity. As a member of the Onondaga Eel Clan and a lifelong resident of the Onondaga Nation, Abrams presented on the resilience and challenges of preserving the language and culture of his tribe among the changes brought by colonialism.

Many participating teachers noted that they could seamlessly apply content from the workshop into their own classroom curriculum. “There are resources that I didn’t know were available until [this workshop],” said Maritza Peña, a Spanish teacher at Spencer Van Etten High School in Spencer, New York. These resources included a lending library for teachers and schools (consisting of books, videos, DVDs, and culture kits) from the Cornell Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, and the media library (offering documentaries and films for educators' use) from Syracuse University's South Asia Center. Peña shared that she plans to incorporate some of the workshop concepts into her own lessons by using books and culture kits from the lending library.

“ISSI is very different from teachers’ typical trainings,” said Meghan Wright, an English as a New Language teacher from the Utica City School District. “Many of my students are refugees that come from Southeast Asia, so the content covered today is very helpful and invigorating and stimulates me with the bigger picture.” Wright stated that the workshop helped her better understand the culture of her refugee students and that she plans to keep cultural sustainability in mind when designing future lesson plans.

The Center for Global Education at Asia Society has partnered with ACTE and Advance CTE to create online professional development modules that support career and technical education (CTE) educators to teach career readiness skills using active, project-based learning integrated with STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) content. These 10 new, online 15-minute modules will help educators

• create high-quality STEM projects with a global focus to more deeply engage all students in STEM;
• assess global workforce readiness skills;
• connect with classrooms abroad to complete collaborative projects; and
• teach students to be project managers so they are more successful in completing their projects.

The modules, together with sample curriculum and other tools and resources, are available completely free of charge. To get started, please visit CTE Learn. For more information, view Asia Society’s website or contact Heather Singmaster.

Are you interested in talking to other teachers about educational issues beyond classroom management? Do you get excited about topics such as immigration, youth culture, notions of the "other" in national identity formation, and education in rural vs. urban contexts? Are you curious about the differences in education between European countries and the U.S.A.?

If so, you are invited to join the Transatlantic Educators Dialogue (TED) 11-week online program!

This project is coordinated by the European Union Center (EUC) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The EUC is recruiting teachers in the U.S. and the EU to come together once a week (Sundays 5–6:30 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time, 1–2:30 p.m. EST) in online sessions to explore a variety of educational topics as they relate to issues of identity and difference. Participants will meet simultaneously online using the Blackboard Collaborate application; in addition, prior to each session, participants should access an online course website to read materials and post responses related to the week's topic. 

The program will begin on Feb. 16, 2020 and will conclude on May 3, 2020. Online sessions are 90 minutes. Weekly attendance is expected and helpful as discussion sessions will be more productive when a variety of perspectives is shared. At the end of the program, teachers will receive a Certificate of Completion from the EUC at the University of Illinois. (Up to 30 non-credit Professional Development Hours for Illinois teachers and up to 3.0 non-credit Continuing Education Units for 30 contact hours for non-Illinois teachers are available.)

Please apply online at the TED website by Jan. 15, 2020. There is no application fee for TED, and there is no cost to participate. TED is FREE!

Are you interested in globalizing your instruction through the context of food, fiber, and natural resources? The Global Learning in Agriculture Conference is designed to help you create global learning opportunities for students in any agricultural discipline. This year's conference will take place completely online from Feb. 3–7, 2020. Current secondary and postsecondary educators of all disciplines, extension educators, pre-service educators, vendors, and stakeholders in global learning are invited to attend.

Program Learning Outcomes

1. Identify resources and opportunities for global learning integration in agriculture education curriculum.
2. Share scholarship related to global learning in agriculture.
3. Share best practices for effective immersion experiences.
4. Engage in innovation: explore global agriculture innovation, develop collaborative research projects and create future instructional programming.

“Digital Passes” for the event are $25 and the “All-Access” or "Conference-in-a-Box" passes are $50.

IFLE is on Twitter with the latest from the world of international and foreign language education. Follow us @GoGlobalED and tell your friends! We'll see you in the Twittersphere!

We're on YouTube with informative webinars and exciting grant program videos. Subscribe to IFLE's YouTube channel to enjoy the latest content!

Have you received a Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowship or participated in a Fulbright-Hays grant program? Join our alumni groups on LinkedIn!

FLAS Program Alumni          Fulbright-Hays Program Alumni

We seek motivated students who are eager to learn and work as part of our team as an unpaid full- or part-time intern during the summer, fall, and/or spring. Visit our website for more information.

We want to hear from you! Do you have suggestions for webinar topics? Ideas for things to include in future newsletters? Send them to Carolyn Collins at carolyn.collins@ed.gov.