COMMUNITY COLLEGE FACULTY DEVELOPMENT SEMINARS
A World of Opportunity
CAORC recognizes the immediate and growing need for U.S. community college professors to provide a global perspective to their students, who now account for nearly 50 percent of all American undergraduates. Administrators and faculty at community colleges understand the value of developing “internationalized” learning environments that both broaden their students’ cultural horizons and foster critical thinking, communication, and leadership skills for an increasingly interconnected world.
To support community colleges, CAORC offers fully-funded overseas seminars that help faculty and administrators gain the requisite first-hand experience needed to develop and improve international curricula.
Since 2017, CAORC, in partnership with its member centers, has organized short-term, fully-funded, two-week overseas study trips that allow faculty to experience rich foreign cultures and engage with local scholars grappling with complex global issues like climate change and religious and ethnic diversity. CAORC seminars include lectures from leading specialists, collaborative networking with local scholars, cultural and educational excursions, and experiential learning opportunities.
Through such immersive experiences, CAORC Faculty Development Seminars:
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Produce an increase in capacity for global studies in U.S. community colleges
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Increase community college professors’ international contacts and foster new opportunities to expose their students and communities to global perspectives
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Create a scholarly network of community college faculty, who in turn develop course materials, share teaching models, and engage in research collaboration with faculty from the host countries
Video: CAORC Faculty Development Seminars
Upcoming CAORC and ORC Seminars
Myanmar: Between Political and Climate Change in Southeast Asia
Myanmar: June 3 - 20, 2021 (tentative)
Application deadline: March 9, 2020
Partner: Inya Institute
Pakistan: Religion and Culture in the Postcolonial City
Lahore, Pakistan: May 31 - June 13, 2020
Application deadline: March 2, 2020
Organizer: American Institute of Pakistan Studies
Recent CAORC Seminars
Jordan: Sustainability at the Margins
Jordan: January 2–17, 2020
Application deadline: October 4, 2019
Partner: American Center of Oriental Research
Diversity, Religion, and Migration in West Africa
Senegal: January 6–23, 2020
Application deadline: September 30, 2019
Partner: West African Research Center
Recent Faculty Development Posts
Faculty Testimonials
Video: Levar Smith, assistant professor of political science at Morehouse College, discusses his experience participating in the 2019 CAORC faculty development seminar to Senegal.
Video: Monica Ambalal (Merritt College) and Sobia Saleem (Ohlone Community College) discuss their experience participating in the 2019 CAORC faculty development seminar to Senegal.
Support
CAORC’s faculty development seminars are generously supported by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Past seminars have also received assistance through various university-based National Resource Centers that support area studies education in the U.S., including: Boston University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Howard University, Indiana University, Michigan State University, Syracuse University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Kansas, University of Pennsylvania, University of Texas, Austin, University of Washington, and University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Curriculum Guides and Resources
Several of CAORC’s member centers have developed curricular materials and course modules that are specifically designed to support community college faculty in teaching about certain countries, world regions, and global social, cultural, and political issues. Click on the links below to access these educational resources.
Teaching about Sri Lanka
American Institute for Sri Lankan Studies
Curricular Materials for the Caucasus
American Research Institute of the South Caucasus
In addition, CAORC and member center fellowship competitions are open to community college faculty and provide excellent opportunities to develop new courses and curriculum based around scholarly research projects.