Press Releases
Center For International Education Offers Saint Xavier Community A Change To Gain A Global Perspective
‘Clearinghouse for international activities’ will help students become citizens of the world
CHICAGO (Dec. 11, 2003) – America has “a severe deficit in global competence,” according to an independent task force that on Nov. 18 urged the government to increase the number of college students who learn foreign languages and study abroad. In a prescient move, Saint Xavier University on Nov. 13 officially unveiled its Center for InternationalEducation, a clearinghouse for international activities long in the making.
The Strategic Task Force on Education Abroad claimed that a failure to understand the rest of the world a “liability” that America cannot afford, and pushed for reforms that would allow study abroad opportunities to more than just privileged students.
“Americans just don’t know everything about the rest of the world. That’s become a big problem, because when historic things happen, we just don’t understand,” said Dr. Christopher Clott, professor of international business and director of the center. “Students need to gain more understanding of how other places operate. Study abroad is as important as English Composition or Math 101.”
Saint Xavier President Judith A. Dwyer called the Center “an important new initiative” for the University.
“The Center for International Education will integrate our longstanding commitment to the study of other cultures with the Mercy commitment to respect for the richness and diversity of our contemporary world,” Dwyer said. “The Center will provide a forum for intense intellectual inquiry while also offering new opportunities for partnerships with the community. The Center is a tribute to Saint Xavier's ability to look beyond the borders of this campus and to identify, express and celebrate the differences and common bonds that characterize our international community.”
In June, the center received a $163,000 federal grant from the U.S. Department of Education Title VI program. The grant supports the founding of the center, an initiative that supports the University mission goal of encouraging international perspectives through study abroad and curriculum infused with global perspectives.
Developing concentrations in Middle Eastern and Eastern European studies are among the center’s first plans. The programs will encompass all aspects of culture, history, geography, politics and religion, while also focusing on creation of four-course language sequences in Polish, Lithuanian and Arabic.
Important to the success of these tracts of study is the interaction of the University with the greater community. Within Saint Xavier University’s locale exist sizeable Eastern European and Middle Eastern populations, Clott said.
“Creation of these programs has everything to do with the university’s diverse population and the demographics of our area and geography,” Clott said.
The center also would incorporate into these programs exchange relationships with universities overseas. Saint Xavier is working to partner with universities in Poland and Lithuania, Clott said. To assist in developing a curriculum in Middle Eastern studies, the University also has been granted its Fulbright application and will host a Middle East scholar for two weeks in March or April.
As the center grows, Clott hopes to spur more interest in study abroad, including short-term, semester-long and, eventually, year-long programs overseas. In May, Clott’s international business class will visit the cities of Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai.
The program’s evolution depends on cultivating student interest in study abroad opportunities. Too many students either put off study abroad until after graduation – when such exploration becomes less feasible – or fear financial constraints.
“The problem for a lot of students is that they think in short-term bursts or don’t realize that financial assistance is available,” he said.
The center will work to promote programs and also to create further incentives to study abroad, Clott said. A hoped-for goal is to have 20 percent of the student body partake in study abroad opportunities each year, he said.
In the 2001-2002 school year, a record number of college students – 160,920 – studied overseas for credit, but 90 percent did so for one semester or less. The Strategic Task Force on Education Abroad, on which the late Illinois Sen. Paul Simon served as co-chairman – hopes to have 2.6 million, or 20 percent, of undergraduate American college students abroad by 2010.
For more information on Saint Xavier University’s Center or International Education, visit www.sxu.edu/cie, or call 773-298-3780. Information on the Strategic Task Force on Education Abroad is at www.nafsa.org/content/publicpolicy/stf/edabroad.htm.