SYNTHESIS COURSE
Educating Global-Ready Graduates
Dr. Didem Ekici with Dr. Darla Deardorff
Fostering and assessing Intercultural & Global Competence on campuses in transition
OVERVIEW
What comprises global or intercultural competence — and the paths to developing and assessing these in higher education settings?
Explore these key questions through interactive learning methods that draw on your own experiences and knowledge. Participants will design and develop specific plans for integrating global and intercultural competence into their campus programs and curricula.
This course is primarily for higher education professionals.
Confronted with rapidly changing economic, political, technological, and cultural realities, higher education institutions are charged with the goal of matriculating globally competent students.
To undertake — or iteratively enhance — the work of developing globally-ready learners in today’s higher education landscape requires a thorough understanding of what comprises global and intercultural competence as well as the paths to developing and assessing these on a college campus in concert with other educational goals.
This workshop will offer a substantial exploration of these topics. It uses Interactive Learning to draw on participants’ own experiences and knowledge as well as evidence-based best practices so that they can begin to design and develop specific plans for integrating Intercultural competence and campus programs and curricula.
In this course, you will learn how to help yourself and those you work with so that you/they can better:
- Review key theories and concepts related to global and intercultural competence, including models that can be used to frame campus, curricular, and programmatic efforts,
- Explore and analyze practices in higher education designed to develop and assess students’ (and other stakeholders’) global readiness
- Identify and develop practical strategies for infusing global and intercultural competence into campus learning opportunities across multiple levels of your institution.
Upon successful completion of the program, you will receive a Certificate of Participation listing 12 contact learning hours.
This workshop uses Interactive Learning to draw on participants’ own experiences and knowledge as well as evidence-based best practices so that they can begin to design and develop specific plans for integrating Intercultural competence and campus programs and curricula.
This course is for you if you are a higher education leader including:
- Post-secondary administrators,
- Faculty members,
- Senior leaders including deans and provosts,
- Student affairs staff,
- HR and professional development specialists and trainers,
- PhD students researching this area, and
- Consultants and others involved in higher education.
COURSE TYPE
Intersections
DURATION/DATES
2 days/7-8 July 2025
TARGET LEVEL(S)
Mid (6-12 years)
Advanced (13-19 years)
Senior (20+ years)
TUITION FEE
€1050
includes certificate from the University and the Institute
Didem Ekici, EdD
Dr. Didem Ekici has 20 years of teaching experience in Europe (Turkey) and North America (United States). Her research and practice areas include intercultural competence, global competence in higher education, online teaching/equity, peacebuilding through language teaching, and teacher training. On faculty at the University of San Francisco, where she teaches in the Migration Studies and General Education graduate school programs, Golden Gate University, and the College of Alameda (US). She is on the leadership team of the non-profit peacebuilding organization Pax Populi and the Executive Team of the World Council on Intercultural and Global Competence.
Dedicated to advancing equitable and inclusive practices for college students, Didem works with refugees and immigrants in the college context and serves in the Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS) Advisory Board to support marginalized students in their higher education journey. Additionally she has contributed various peacebuilding projects including the 2023 UNESCO Expert Consultation on Intercultural Competencies for Peacebuilding.
Darla K. Deardorff, EdD [will support this class via virtual participation]
Dr. Darla K. Deardorff specializes in cross-cultural scholarship and training, assessment and evaluation, teacher/faculty preparation/development, curriculum internationalization, global leadership, and intercultural coaching. She regularly facilitates learning on intercultural competence, international education assessment, and global leadership, including with UNESCO and OECD. The intercultural competence models developed from her research are widely used.
Darla is Executive Director of the Association of International Education Administrators (AIEA), founder of the World Council in Global and Intercultural Competence, a trainer for the European Association for International Educators (EAIE) and is a research scholar at Duke University’s Social Science Research Institute.
In addition to holding faculty positions at Nelson Mandela University (South Africa), Meiji University (Japan), and Shanghai International Studies University (China), and Harvard University’s Global Education Think Tank (US), among others, she is author/editor of eleven books and over 60 book chapters and articles.
“I believe that we all have more to learn from each other and that it’s through this learning, that we help build a better world together.”
This course is strongly participant-centered. It relies on participants’ contributions of their experience and expertise. Be prepared to share.
“Despite already high expectations, I was still surprised at how extremely enriching the different topics and formats were. I have already made a long list of activities, models, resources and topics to discuss and share with my colleagues.”
“The training program is well tailored to the current needs of those who work in the context of intercultural competence [and] it offers a perfect networking space for deep connections through well-organised training sessions with incredible faculty…and it is a lot of fun!”
“[Dr. Deardorff] responded immediately to my interests, was very approachable, and very wise.”