Virginia Wesleyan College

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By Anne Ward

Wesleyan students broaden their views in a global classroom

Globalization continues to rapidly modify the political, economic, technological and social landscape of our world. Government, education and industry are sectors well aware of this reality, and the urgent responsibility to prepare and employ a populace educated to respond.

Internationalization efforts in higher education vary in terms of scope, but often include efforts to promote study abroad, increase the number of international students, and instill culturally and politically diverse curriculum to prepare globally competent students. Virginia Wesleyan is making this effort.

Impacting the world, celebrating diversity

When you step into the recently redesigned Office of International and Intercultural Programs (OIP) at Wesleyan, Director Lena Johnson doesn't want you to feel it is like any other office on campus.

"The redesign of the office is a direct reflection and outgrowth of how the students were utilizing it," said Johnson. "Students would frequently gather in OIP between classes. Many of the students were friends, but new friendships were forged as they shared a cup of tea, international snacks and chats about campus life, politics, classes or any number of things. The OIP Cyber Cafe and Lounge is a warm, open, and inviting space for students to experience community with international and domestic students and explore study abroad."

Comprised of three areas, OIP supports Intercultural Programs, International Student Services and Study Abroad. These services are essential in providing a catalyst for the College's broader mission to prepare students for a rapidly-changing world.

Intercultural programs: Promoting the freedom of thought and opinion

Raising awareness about and promoting issues of diversity throughout the campus is the main focus of OIP's intercultural programs, which range from organizations focusing on minority students' adjustment to college life, religious studies, cultural arts, and American Indian and Hispanic culture to support for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students. Intercultural programs assist students who desire to educate the campus community about differences and inspire individuals to become a model for understanding, dialogue and action.

A prime example of turning knowledge into action, senior Ina Solms-Baruth of Maryland served as president of STAND (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur), a worldwide movement raising awareness of the ongoing genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. Solms-Baruth, who will spend the 2007-08 academic year studying at Humboldt University in Berlin, wanted to help her fellow students understand that there was another world outside their campus. Some students questioned her ability to make a difference.

"One student asked me why I was even bothering. But I learned to be more patient, not to get disappointed," she said. "I was always hopeful that I would find one more person who would care."

Despite her challenges, OIP stood firmly behind her efforts. STAND will continue with a new president, and more groups focusing on international humanitarian issues begin this year.

International students: A home away from home

The Global Perspective Series, International Friendship Program, Student to Student Forums, excursions tailored for international students — all reflect the dedication to assist foreign students who call Virginia Wesleyan home. Programs focusing on international students' academic success and adjustment to life on and off campus are a major focus of OIP's international student services; yet international student support is a campus-wide effort. Sara Gastler '97, director of admissions and international student liaison, works closely with OIP and advises in the area of immigration law in the context of higher education, including on and off campus employment opportunities.

In 2005-06 more than half a million international students pursued their education in the United States and established U.S higher education as the country's fifth largest service sector export, yet their impact can not be measured merely by numbers. Nadine Steffenhagen, a student from Germany studying American studies and economics, knows she has made an impact on her American classmates throughout her stay at Wesleyan.

"Many students asked me all kinds of questions about Germany and Europe and they are really interested," said Steffenhagen. "I also think that now a lot more students feel like studying abroad to discover the world outside the U.S."

The presence of international students on campus has initiated an increase in reciprocal exchange with partner institutions, with more Wesleyan students planning to attend long-term overseas programs during the upcoming academic year.

Study Abroad: The global classroom

Since the fifth century B.C., students have engaged in one of the oldest forms of learning: study abroad. Opportunities for students to combine learning while immersed within another culture are more abundant and varied than ever, allowing classroom theories to be explored on a world stage.

Several academic programs work in conjunction with OIP, including international studies and foreign language and literatures.

However, the opportunity to study abroad is not only for students in internationally-oriented degree programs.

In the spring of 2006, senior Courtney Benitez journeyed to Mexico – initially to learn her father's native language. She got more than she anticipated while abroad: "I actually learned how to learn in Mexico...in Spanish I really had to listen and ask the right questions, and through learning and studying those concepts and ideas, I was able to learn and understand the language better."

Massachusetts senior Kaitlin Allison, who spent a semester in Rome, vividly recalled "The Pantheon in Piazza Rotonda felt like my backyard and Campo dei Fiori felt like my playground." She also began to view her home country from a new perspective. "We, as a country, can make or break the world, and that's a scary thought when you turn on the television and see all the ridiculous things that modern culture and the media has turned into," she said. "I know that from now on in my life, there is going to be a big change in how I live my life and see the rest of the world."

Between fall 2006 and spring 2008, participation in traditional study abroad will have increased 50 percent over previous years at Wesleyan. Recent short-term study abroad destinations have included the Caribbean, England, Germany, Greece and Turkey, Mexico, Trinidad and Vietnam, and covered such disciplines as biology, history, German, Spanish and religious studies.

While the opportunity is there, financing study abroad is a challenge for most students and their parents. Some much-needed assistance has been designated for international programming. Vince and Suzanne Mastracco of Virginia Beach gave a $525,000 gift to establish an endowed international scholarship to provide study abroad support for Wesleyan students and support foreign students to study at the College.

Also, in 2005 Cheray Schamps Bazar '05 and her husband established an annual scholarship to promote the study of German abroad. The recipient of this award is Tiffanie Bundick, a junior majoring in German and international studies, who will attend Berlin's Humboldt University in the spring of 2008.

International Perspectives

Virginia Wesleyan alumni reflect on living abroad, education for a global economy and the importance of developing international competence.

"Study is essential, but practical experience coupled with the book study is a must. I am lucky to work for an international company (becoming more the norm than the exception) which promotes transfers among the regions.However, if I didn't have exposure to other countries and different cultures in my youth, I may have been apprehensive to move internationally."
- Ria Hudome '78, Training Manager for UK and Ireland sales for Marriott International, London England

"There is no better way for countries to understand one another than through student exchanges. This will help to foster international ties which can provide each student with a lasting wonderful experience that is a critical part of any modern education system."
- Bethany Webster '01, Geneva Centre for Security Policy, Geneva, Switzerland

"All in all, I really think that an academically rigorous liberal arts curriculum and a well-rounded education have prepared me best for the professional world, since much of the specialized knowledge required to perform a certain activity is gained on the job.This has become particularly evident to me in situations when I have had to adapt quickly to new demands and changing circumstances or when I had to master new tasks in a very short period of time. Such pressures seem to be a typical hallmark of a rapidly transforming and globalizing world."
- Patrick Reichenmiller '97, Policy Analyst in the World Bank's Office of the Special Representative to the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, Geneva, Switzerland

"Moving abroad immediately catapults you onto a steep learning curve for multiple facets of your life; suddenly you are jerked out of your comfort zone and stripped of your cultural lens – you are forced to behold the world anew, forced to think incessantly, forced to grow; and when you are forced to live your days filled with childlike awe, the experiences will be painful at times, but in struggling through them, you gain a higher degree of self-awareness."
- Dominik Reicheniller '00, Procter & Gamble, Geneva, Switzerland

Grant Watch

Dr. Benjamin Dobrin, associate professor of health and human services, was accepted into the Academic Fellows Program for the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Through the program, Dobrin traveled to Israel to study terrorism and the threat it poses to democratic societies. The intensive course included classroom and field study, with lectures from academics, diplomats, military and intelligence officials and politicians from the Middle East and the U.S.; and featured visits to military bases and border zones to learn the practical side of deterring terrorist attacks.

Dr. Laura Landolt, assistant professor of political science, received a Mednick grant from the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges for her proposed project, "USAID and Egyptian Democratization." Her project seeks to evaluate the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and its efforts to democratize the authoritarian Egyptian state. The annual award allowed Landolt to travel to Egypt to collect data from the USAID's library, and interview a wide number of non-governmental organizations as well as state and USAID representatives.

Dr. Terry Lindvall, C.S. Lewis Chair of Communication and Christian Thought, received a Teagle Grant for his proposed study of American film history and religious belief. Lindvall proposes a course surveying American film history from 1908-98, selecting key cinematic texts and calling students to read them as religious discourses of a particular era. The grant enabled Lindvall to attend a seminar at the University of Richmond to study the works of world scholars and philosophers and examine worldviews to see how they framed the understanding of disciplines.

Dr. Dan Margolies, Batten Associate Professor of History, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to teach American history and American diplomatic history at Sogang University in Seoul, South Korea for the 2007-08 academic year. The Fulbright Program is administered by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State under policy guidelines established by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board and in cooperation with a number of private organizations. The Fulbright Program awards approximately 6,000 new grants annually and operates in over 155 countries worldwide.

Christopher Kreft, a junior from Stafford, Va., received a scholarship through the Irish American Scholars Program to study at St. Mary's University in Belfast, Ireland, for the 2007-08 academic year. A religious studies major who aspires to be a Methodist minister, Kreft will take religion and philosophy classes at St. Mary's University and will attend leadership seminars each semester in Northern Ireland.

Koren Robins, a junior from Chesapeake, Va., received a grant through the Woodenfish Program for a month-long trip to Kaoshiung, Taiwan, to study Buddhism. Robins, a history and religious studies major, participated in the daily practice of Humanistic Buddhism within a traditional Buddhist monastery, and was taught Buddhist history, monastic etiquette, kung-fu, meditation practice, doctrine and philosophy.