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Globalization
Impressive list of speakers highlights globalization course.
- Take technology and global issues, add some cultural topics and expert guest speakers, and you have the makings for an innovative cross-disciplinary Iowa State course for senior and graduate students.
"Technology, Globalization and Culture" (mechanical engineering/world languages and cultures 484/584) is an examination of the present and future impact of the internationalization of society. It's designed, say course organizers Jim Bernard and Mark Rectanus, to prepare students professionally, socially and culturally for leadership roles in a diverse world.
Bernard is an Anson Marston Distinguished Professor in engineering and Rectanus is a professor of world languages and cultures who teaches German.
Bernard and Rectanus designed the elective course for students to be "more aware of the threats and opportunities" facing them in a global society. The course is now in its third year and has about 140 students.
What separates the course from other globalization classes is an impressive lineup of guest speakers.
"The speakers really give very diverse perspectives," Rectanus noted.
Scheduled to speak this semester are former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack; Ambassador David Gross, a U.S. State Department official; CNN reporter and host and ISU alumna Christine Romans; Jim Duderstadt, president emeritus of the University of Michigan; and an all-star list of corporate executives, professors, entrepreneurs and others.
Newt Gingrich, speaker of the U.S. House from 1995 to 1999, was a late addition to the slate. He and Robert Reich, Secretary of Labor in the Clinton Administration, both spoke in 2006.
Another course feature is its wealth of student diversity. Many of the students are in engineering, but they also come from a number of other majors. Also included are international students and graduate students, some of whom are employed and taking the course online from afar.
Video of each of the speakers is online for the off-campus students. However, some of those students view the class in real time on the Internet, and can even ask questions of the speakers.
"Those students fully participate in the class, including the projects," said Rectanus. "They're fully integrated."
The class culminates with student-chosen group projects. Topics have included outsourcing issues, fast food chains in India and a look at what language could become number two in the world behind English.
Rectanus and Bernard choose the student groups themselves to ensure diversity among majors, seniors and graduate students, U.S. and international students, and those on and off campus.
"This simulates real life because engineers will not just work with other engineers," Bernard said.
Group members experience working with persons from various backgrounds and cultures. They have to accommodate everyone else's schedules, including those employed far away. Use of networking technology is important.
"We thought students would learn a lot more if they were not working with their friends," Bernard added. "And they have to work on a professional's schedule, not just a student's schedule."
For example, one time a graduate student in the course who was employed in another state was called out to work on an offshore oil rig. Students in his group had to find ways to communicate with him.
"Globalization is fueled by technological change," Bernard said. "Technology is making things possible globally that were not possible not very long ago."
To see a list of the course's speakers and access video of lectures, go to www3.me.iastate.edu/me484/.
Around LAS
October 29 to November 11, 2007
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