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Creating Global Citizens Through Returnee Programming
Get PDFThe purpose of study abroad is to facilitate students’ journey to global citizenship and a large part in doing this is having effective returnee programming. This research focused on what type of program models best facilitate this goal and are of interest to students at Washington State University (WSU). To answer this question, 12 WSU peer advisors, 4 global learning advisors at WSU, and 5 global learning advisors at other institutions were all interviewed. Along with that, a survey was sent out to all WSU student who had studied abroad within the past year. The results demonstrated that when WSU students return from their experiences abroad they are more motivated to become global citizens. The types of returnee programming that have the most interest to WSU students are program models that incorporate both incentives to students, while at the same time providing community. This study demonstrates the need for investment in returnee programming at WSU and the program models that can most effectively benefit students’ path to global citizenship
Making a Diplomat: Study Abroad Pathways to International Relations Occupations
Get PDFThis case study surveys and interviews alumni of International Student Exchange Programs (ISEP) direct enroll study abroad programs to learn about their post-program career path. ISEP alumni study from and in over 50 countries worldwide. Survey and data analysis methodology for this study used Cognitive Information Processing, Social Cognitive Career Theory, Chaos Theory, and Systems Theory of career development to determine what guides alumni toward or away from international relations (IR) related occupations.
Alumni in IR-related careers usually had an internationalized personal history prior to university and reported that their ISEP program improved their ability to secure and perform their job duties. Participants not engaged in IR-related occupations reported a low comfort level living abroad or unsureness of IR-related career pathways.
This work recommends increased investment in pre-university internationalization, IR-related employment resources, and more robust program-related support, particularly for students who identify ethnic or racial minorities in either their home or host culture.
Keywords: Professional Development, Social Cognitive Career Theory, Cognitive Information Processing Theory, Chaos Theory, Systems Theory, Internationalization, International Relations, Diplomacy, International Student Exchange Programs, Study Abroad, Exchange, Direct Enrol
Criar y Dejarse Criar: Trans-Situ Crop Conservation and Indigenous Landscape Management through a Network of Global Food Neighborhoods
Get PDFAs climate change progresses, global food security is likely to become increasingly threatened and crop biodiversity will be a significant source of resiliency and adaptability. However, these adaptations will only be fully realized through cooperative in situ and ex situ conservation and cultivation of domesticated crops, crop wild relatives, and wild foods. This conservation is best realized in places where communities have the cultural resources to invest meaningfully in the cultivation of native crops, and where the cultivation of those crops can reinforce place-specific livelihoods and identities. To this end, the principal objective of this research is to propose a framework for understanding, modeling, and managing zones of agrobiodiversity which are found in centers of crop origin and/or diversification, building upon understandings of biocultural heritage to create a global vision of sustainable, equitable, and innovative Food Neighborhoods. This study takes the Parque de la Papa [Potato Park] in Cusco, Peru as an ideal example of a Food Neighborhood, and uses the site to parameterize a spatial model and recommendations for up-scaling the Food Neighborhood concept. I provide an overview of the current status and trends in agrobiodiversity conservation, as well as an introduction to key concepts for the case study. I propose “Food Neighborhoods”—areas with deep linkages between indigenous ways of being and the cultivation of emblematic food products—as biocultural units to achieve trans-situ agrobiodiversity conservation. These neighborhoods are characterized by strong interactions between food crops or livestock, their wild relatives, and native farmers, and active management can promote the conservation of plant genetic resources, as well as the maintenance of indigenous food sovereignty and territorial rights to land and water
It\u27s Essential: The Ylang-Ylang Trade on Nosy Be
Get PDFThis paper attempts to describe the production and sale of Ylang-Ylang from cultivation of the tree to the export of the flower, and examines the roles and power that each stakeholder has in the value chain. From there, the paper will look at issues associated with the trade; namely of the threat to the terrestrial ecosystem and the profit imbalance in the industry. Finally, the paper turns to potential strategies to resolve the previously stated issues associated with the production and sale of Ylang-Ylang. As a whole I hope that the paper can be seen as a rough survey of the system of Ylang production on Nosy Be and its associated issues, which might help inform new strategies for improving the industry and the economic fortunes of those that rely on it
Where Do We Go From Here?: Two Key Informants\u27 Perspectives on How to Address Conscientious Objection in TOP Provision in South Africa
Get PDFThis perspectives research endeavor examines the barriers to TOP access that arise from conscientious objection through the conflicting network of rights and legislation in South Africa. While previous research has evidenced the demonstrable barriers to accessing TOP care in South Africa, this project aims to push the existing literature and the field as a whole one step further to interrogate how to move forward within the realities of conscientious objection.
To do so, I conducted interviews with key informants in the field of reproductive healthcare provision, research, and activism in Cape Town on their perspectives about the practice of conscientious objection, specifically focusing on their recommendations for how to address the barriers to abortion access that arise from the right to freedom of conscience.
Through this perspectives research, I found that there is general consensus among the participants of this study and other experts in the field around the barriers to accessing TOP services in South Africa and around conscientious objection in particular. The key informants interviewed for this project, despite their diverse backgrounds and unique approaches to the field, offer parallel recommendations for addressing conscientious objection. These recommendations include creating and enforcing official guidelines for how conscientious objection is used in practice and the role of authority in particular, transforming public perceptions of TOP, establishing incentives programs to encourage increased access, and fundamentally altering the way the right to freedom of conscience is conceptualized. These recommendations require transformation on multiple fronts, but are essential to guaranteeing basic human rights in the country
From the American People: An Autoethnographic Exploration of South African NGOs\u27 Perceptions of PEPFAR
Get PDFThe aim of this research was to understand what the ideal partnership would be between United States (US) governmental aid agencies and South African non-governmental organizations (NGOs), specifically concerning HIV/AIDS programs funded by the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), from the perspective of NGOs. PEPFAR is the largest relief fund for a single disease; thus, I additionally sought to deeply reflect upon myself as a US citizen in South Africa, a country that has received trillions of dollars from taxpayers such as myself.
To accomplish this, I interviewed NGO staff about the nature of current partnerships, outcomes of US involvement in PEPFAR-funded projects, and the responsibilities of the US in international health. Using autoethnography, I incorporated personal experiences and journal entries alongside the views of my informants; this ultimately allowed me to bring humanity back to PEPFAR and share the journey of my relationship with the US and with developmental aid.
The findings are separated into three themes that I found as central to this topic: the structure of developmental aid and PEPFAR, the balance of power between NGOs and PEPFAR, and the nature of America’s involvement in global health. Overall, this project sheds light on the complexities of developmental aid, PEPFAR’s growing potential, and the role each of us can play in achieving better outcomes in PEPFAR-funded nations
Disability and Migration: How systems of violence intersect with the production and experience of disability for migrants in Morocco
Get PDFThis project investigates the perspectives and experiences of physically disabled, chronically ill, or bodily-impaired migrants from south of the Sahara living in Rabat, Morocco. Increasing interest in disabled migrants’ rights from international organizations risks erasing those being ‘protected’ if it does not attend to the intersections of race, class, citizenship, and gender as they relate to the production and experience of disability for migrants. Produced by and for the (white) global North, I argue that traditional Euro-American disability studies scholarship is ill-equipped to address the issues faced by disabled migrants in post-colonial contexts. In addition to being ineffective, the uncritical application of these frameworks constitutes a form of academic colonialism. Building on the analyses of Puar and Gunaratnam, I highlight how systems of structural violence related to migration are inextricable from the production and experience of disability for migrants, making their disablement not an exceptional but anticipated reality
Impacts of anthropogenic waste on Tasmanian Pacific Gull (Larus pacificus) diet
Get PDFPlastic pollution is one of the foremost environmental issues that the world is currently experiencing. The effects of plastic pollution are great and range from leaching of hazardous chemicals into the environment to ingestion of plastic waste by wildlife, including seabirds. Due to the high rates of plastic consumption by seabirds, many recent studies have been performed to determine the biological impacts of plastic consumption on various seabird species. The Pacific Gull (Larus pacificus) is the world’s largest sea gull and the only gull endemic to Australia, yet very limited information exists on this species. This study examines the impacts of anthropogenic debris, including plastic waste, on the diet of Pacific Gulls in Launceston, Tasmania and attempts to determine if there is any seasonal variation in diet or ingestion of debris. Plastic was found in 86.92% of processed boluses, and anthropogenic debris made up 39.85% of the average mass of all the processed boluses. No seasonal variation in diet was found. Further research needs to be conducted to better understand the impacts of anthropogenic waste on this species specifically
Learning Freedom: A Journey in Training
Get PDFThis Training Course-linked Capstone (CLC) integrates learning related to experiential learning theory, engaged pedagogy, emergent learning, and the nature of consciousness, with relevant experience gained throughout my reflective practice phases at SIT Graduate Institute, toward my development as a trainer. This CLC is intended to serve as an exploratory window into the fundamental grounding for my approach to training, and the journey of my growth in applying theoretical principles in practice. It is rooted in my personal experiences with self-oppression and liberation, which I investigate in order to better understand the relationship between those two concepts, as well as their relevance on a personal level and as a trainer. The theories and published works I reference are mainly drawn from ICHR 5410 Training of Trainers: Ethics and ICHR 5025 Training Design in Experiential Learning (TDEL), which I experienced during the on-campus phase at SIT Graduate Institute. The majority of my insights are derived from reflective self-analysis, which has taken place throughout the past year-and-a-half, during my Reflective Practice phase and beyond, in developing my own professional practice over the past year. The theories and practices discussed in this paper are connected to the work of training as the practice of freedom
The River is Flooded by Tributaries: Incorporating ways of knowing in online pedagogy
Get PDFIn the age of global education where online classes, trainings, and degree programs are drawing international and multicultural student cohorts, understanding how culture impacts a student’s online learning experience deserves attention. Tasked with co-creating the plan for pedagogy of SIT’s re-imagined Master of Arts in Sustainable Development online degree program, research into Indigenous epistemologies and experiential education inspired this inquiry’s guiding question: How can we, as online educators, incorporate multiple ways of knowing, pedagogically, into the facilitation of online courses? Foundational theories and principles were drawn from the aforementioned body of literature while studies on the impact of culture in online education were reviewed. Adult learners (18 years of age and older) are at the heart of this research; in effort to understand how to support their ways of knowing, a compressed ethnography was conducted whereby 14 educators with experience facilitating online courses and trainings in multicultural contexts were surveyed and interviewed. Findings were informed by their lived experiences and revealed teaching practices, approaches, philosophies, and theories based on the educators’ perspectives of success. Ultimately, their responses validated the inquiry into ways of knowing and suggest there is more work to be done in meeting adult students’ learning needs given the challenges and opportunities afforded by Learning Management Systems and the asynchronous nature of online education. Thisresearch aspires to spark conversations among practicing online educators and self-reflection about their own ways of knowing which inevitably are woven into pedagogy design and practice