Internationalizing the Communication Curriculum in an Age of Globalization

Globalization and the resulting internationalization of universities is driving change in teaching, learning, and what it means to be educated. This book provides exemplars of how the Communication discipline and curriculum are responding to the demands of globalization and contributing to the internationalization of higher education.

Communication as a discipline provides a strong theoretical and methodological framework for exploring the benefits, challenges and meanings of globalization. The goal of this book, therefore, is to facilitate internationalization of the communication discipline in an era of globalization. Section one discusses the theoretical perspectives of globalism, internationalization, and the current state of the Communication discipline and curriculum. Section two offers a comprehensive understanding of the role, ways, and impact of internationalizing teaching, learning, and research in diverse areas of study in Communication, including travel programs and initiatives to bring internationalization to the classroom. The pieces in this section will include research-based articles, case studies, analytical reviews that exam key questions about the field, and themed pieces for dialogue/debate on current and future teaching and learning issues related to internationalizing the Communication discipline/curriculum. Section three provides an extensive sampling of materials and resources for immediate use in internationalization in communication studies; sample syllabi, activities, examples, and readings will be included. In sum, our book is designed to enable communication curriculum and communication courses in other disciplines to be internationalized and to offer different approaches to enable faculty, students, and administrators to incorporate and experience an internationalized curriculum regardless of time and financial limitations.

This book is notable as a professional development resource for individuals both inside and outside the communication discipline who wish to incorporate a global perspective into their research and classrooms.

Paaige K. Turner (Ph.D. Purdue University) is Dean of the College of Communication, Information, and Media at Ball State University. She was the recipient of the NAFSA: Association of International Educators Region IV 2012 Dorothy Brickman Outstanding New Professional Award and a 2013 Fulbright-Nehru International Education Administrators Award to India. For the past six years, she has co-lead the Campus Internationalization Track at the Institute for Campus and Curriculum Internationalization. She has been an external reviewer for the American Council of Education: Center for Internationalization and Globalization Internationalization Laboratory and served as the program coordinator for the AIEA: Association of International Education Administrators Senior Advisor Program.

Soumia Bardhan (Ph.D. University of New Mexico) is Assistant Professor at University of Colorado Denver. Her research interests are informed by Intercultural Communication and Islamic/Religious Studies and her research has appeared in peer-reviewed journals and books by leading academic presses. Soumia has directed seven travel study courses in Spain, France, Morocco, and India. She serves on NCA’s Fostering International Collaborations in the Age of Globalization Task Force and is Chair of the Intercultural Communication Division of ICA.

Dr. Tracey Quigley Holden is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication and Academic Director of the Middle East Partnership Initiative Student Leaders Program, and an Affiliate Faculty Member with the Center for Political Communication at the University of Delaware. Dr. Holden earned her Ph.D. from the Pennsylvania State University, her M.A. from San Diego State University, and her B.A. from Texas A&M University.

Dr. Eddah M. Mutua is a professor in the department of communication studies at St. Cloud State University, Minnesota. She teaches and researches in the area of intercultural communication with a special interest in intercultural and interethnic conflict, post-conflict peace communication, and African culture and communication. She coordinates an award-wining service-learning project nationally recognized for its efforts to promote internationalization of intercultural communication curriculum. Dr. Mutua earned her Ph.D. from University of Wales, Aberystwyth.