The Nelson Institute at Drake University is proud to announce a new, three-year initiative focused on building the intercultural capacity of our campus community.  To that end, the Nelson Institute is sponsoring the “Facilitating Intercultural Learning” program, a development opportunity for select faculty from across campus. The endeavor is designed to create intercultural self-awareness and to prepare faculty to begin integrating intercultural learning into their courses, programming, or other work. It is a 12-week cohort training and coaching program, with a new cohort of faculty coming in each semester. This initiative will allow Drake to continue to foster intercultural learning and development in service to our students and local, national, and international constituents.

The Facilitating Intercultural Learning program is designed to help participants engage more effectively with difference by developing four core intercultural competencies:

1. Increasing awareness and understanding of their own characteristic ways of making meaning and acting in familiar and unfamiliar contexts;
2. Increasing awareness and understanding of others’ ways of making meaning and acting in familiar and unfamiliar contexts;
3. Responding mindfully in contexts that disorient or challenge them;
4. Bridging cultural gaps in those contexts: Shifting perspective, attuning emotions, and adapting behavior in effective and appropriate ways.

Learn more about the program, its curriculum, and read testimonials from others who have completed the program.

The Nelson Institute plans to sponsor a cohort of up to eight faculty each semester in fulfillment of this initiative. Participating faculty will receive a $1,000 stipend upon completing the program and will be designated as “Nelson Fellows.”

For the inaugural cohort, the program will begin on Sept. 22, 2020. We are inviting interested faculty to send a brief expression of interest to Dr. Jimmy Senteza (Jimmy.Senteza@drake.edu), director of the Nelson Institute, by noon on Sept. 16, 2020. Please highlight how you think this might benefit your work at Drake University, and contribute to your overall intercultural development.

— Annique Kiel, Executive Director of Global Engagement and International Programs