Internationalising the Curriculum : A Departmental Approach

1. Internationalising the Curriculum: A Departmental Approach Nasos Roussias Department of Politics Presentation prepared for “Internationalisation of Learning and Teaching: Good Practice in the Faculty of Social Sciences”, University of Sheffield, October 4 2013

2. Subject Topic • Politics as a subject by definition integrates numerous internationalization aspects • Most modules examine different countries or regions • Level 1: Comparing Modern Polities, Politics of Globalisation, Security Studies • Level 2: Politics and Government of the EU/ Global Political Economy, Contemporary International Affairs/ Contemporary International Relations Theory/ New Politics of Latin America/ Comparative Politics, Contemporary Security Challenges/ Contemporary US Foreign Policy • Level 3: Foreign Policy/ Political Economy of Africa/ Civilisation, Empire and Hegemony/ European Union and Globalisation/ Peacekeeping, State-Building and International Intervention/ Terrorism, Violence and the State/ Cuba in the Post-Bipolar World/ Party Politics: Competition, Strategies & Campaigns/ War, Peace and Justice • Research Design and Methods courses, applicable to any context

3. Comparison • At the heart of Politics is the use of direct or indirect comparisons • Only by juxtaposing how different institutions function, individuals behave, states interact, etc. can we understand the world of Politics • This forces us to become accustomed to and incorporate information/views from multiple and diverse societies

4. Comparison II • Experiences from different environments key even for local politics • World understood through relation to others • Policies constructed by looking at examples elsewhere • Methodological approaches used rely on comparing information from varying environments

5. Viewpoints • Comparisons not enough • Aware that viewpoints may be biased • Exploring at the world through a “western” lens may be problematic • Incorporation of alternative worldviews • Aim at objectivity and a better understanding of phenomena

6. Diversity • Significant number of foreign students • UG: between 10-15% foreign students per year • Exchange Students: ~30 per year • MA: around 60% of students foreign • Staff from all over the world • Diversity creates opportunities and challenges in the classroom

7. International Students • Bring different perspectives & insights in class • Valuable for learning for all students • Tutors appreciate their input and try to exploit it, use diverse experiences and views in class • But they may also expect different things from teaching... • More “lecturing” • The “correct” answer • The professor is always “right”

8. Teaching Strategies • Lecture presentations placed online to help student understanding (in advance of class) • Seminar participation more difficult • Some foreign students are shy or conscious of language limitations and find it difficult to participate • Group work used as a potential solution • Mix them up with native speakers (learn from others, do not only talk to compatriots)

9. Teaching Strategies II • Mock UN sessions • Use country expertise to everyone’s benefit • Role playing • Students called on to “advise” different PMs • Case studies • Analyse particular scenarios or countries • Institutional design • Draft a constitution for imaginary/real cases

10. Challenges • Language barrier • Seminar participation • Essay writing (more acute with MA students) • Cultural barrier • Difference in expectations • Varying understanding of concepts, lack of “universal” terms & understandings

11. Conclusion • Internationalization closely linked with Politics as a subject • Yet, not as easy to fully implement as it may seem • Creates ample opportunities for teaching • Beneficial for all students • Yet, challenges remain, especially in unbalanced classrooms • No silver bullet