Global Classroom welcomes a new cohort of Fellows for fall 2022

Indiana University is proud to announce the Global Classroom Fellows for fall 2022. The five faculty members selected for the Fall 2022 semester are currently teaching courses across a wide range of disciplines, encouraging engagement with international partners, and connecting students across the world.

The Global Classroom initiative promotes global competency and international engagement from home. The program utilizes classes that are already being taught at IU and pairs faculty members with a parallel course taught at a foreign partner institution; The faculty members work together to design a project that students from both universities collaborate on virtually. The initiative aims to widen students’ breadth of knowledge regarding different cultures, norms, and points of view, and to foster global connections and understanding.

The Fellows worked closely with their international counterparts on collaborative lesson planning before the semester began, designing a project that required their students to work together then reflect on course outcomes when the semester concludes.

“The Global Classroom program provides enriching experiences for our own IU students, the students from the partner institutions, and for the Global Classroom fellows who teach those courses,” says Vesna Dimitrieska, director of the initiative. “In today’s interconnected world, being globally aware and internationally connected is no longer a matter of choice, but rather an imperative for all of us.”

Meet the Fellows

Clinical Associate Professor Kim Decker of the IU Bloomington School of Nursing is teaching Nursing Intensive: Managing Health and Illness Across Care Environments. Through the course this semester, students will explore Sir Michael Marmot’s Social Determinant of Health model and the impact of environmental factors on health. Students will have the opportunity to analyze healthcare programs of the United States and the United Kingdom and develop an understanding of social and economic disparities that affect vulnerable populations. Decker is partnered with Marianne Fairley-Murdoch of Scotland’s University of Stirling.

From the IU East School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Associate Professor Wazir Mohamed is teaching Global Society. The course focuses on global inequality as it exists through Cocoa, primarily relevant in the processing and production of chocolate. Mohamed is partnered with Siendou Konate of the International University of Grand-Bassam in Cote d’Ivoire. Students from both universities will examine the disparity and ethics of production and consumption.

Associate Professor at the IU Bloomington School of Education Martha Nyikos chose her course, Methods of World Language Teaching, for the fellowship. She is partnered with Sibel Tatar-Boun from Boğaziçi University in Istanbul, Turkey to explore current practices using ACTFL World Readiness Standards for learning languages. Through immersion, curriculum construction, lesson planning and critique, students will explore and gain hands-on experience in the instruction of world languages.

Assistant Professor Chidiebele Obichi of IU Northwest’s School of Nursing is teaching Concepts in Mental Health Across the Lifespan. The course addresses mental health through promotion, prevention of mental illness, treatment, and rehabilitation. In conjunction with students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University under Noreen Agbapuonwu in Nigeria, IU students will build on foundational nursing education and explore therapeutic communication techniques and safety issues related to people experiencing mental health disorders.

Stuart Schrader, Clinical Associate Professor at the Indiana University School of Dentistry in Indianapolis, is leading the Global Oral Health Student Research Program Elective: Intercultural Bridges. The course examines cross-cultural differences and implications in oral health care, promoting greater awareness and appreciation for health care and technology abroad. In conjunction with an international partner, Schrader’s students will develop understanding of cross-cultural communication and analysis through a team-based research project.