Presenters

• Purba Das is a professor in Communication Studies at Ohio University. Dr. Das’ research employs a critical approach in the field of intercultural communication in understanding the problematics of nations, national identity, race, caste, media, and health narratives in marginalized populations in India and the USA.
• Sarah Wyatt is a professor and research scientist in the department of Environmental and Plant Biology at Ohio University.  Sarah grew up in a small, rural community in the far western corner of Kentucky.  She and her sisters were the first in their family to attend college. After completing a Ph.D. at Purdue University, Sarah worked on a NASA-funded project at North Carolina State University, combining her interests in plant biology and the space program. She and her graduate students are currently studying the genes and proteins that allow plants to respond to gravity. 

Description :

As we welcome international students to campus, there is an opportunity for cultural exchange within class instruction or through international graduate student instruction. At the same time, there is potential for cultural misunderstandings or conflict. This workshop is designed to address two aspects of cultural exchange between international and domestic faculty and students.

Optimizing cultural exchange with international students in the classroom through inclusive pedagogy and purposive integration of international student lived experiences. Managing the classroom as an international instructor through understanding the American experience and American academic culture.

Learning Outcomes

• Critically engage with, and modify, one’s teaching approach to infuse inclusive pedagogical practices, paying attention to syllabi creation, choice of readings, pedagogy, and/or approach in including the diverse identities of those who have created milestones within one’s academic discipline.
• Identify aspects of the hidden curriculum that have operated within one’s classroom (email etiquette, code of conduct within the classroom, recognize acculturating/assimilating forces and our own biases) and address these issues as they arise.
• Envision the challenges and possibilities for diversity and inclusion within one’s field to consider how learning outcomes can align with intercultural competencies to assist student achievement in their careers.
• Reflect on one’s own cultural identity and positionality, as well as how privilege and oppression may function within the classroom and metrics for assessment.

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