GONZAGA FACULTY AND STAFF NEWSLETTER
APRIL 2023 VOL. 24 | #7
› Anniversarians
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› Debate at Nationals
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› ROTC Marks 75 Years
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› A ‘Monologues’ reflection
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DEEPENING AN INTERNATIONAL ETHOS A conversation with Christina Isabelli, academic director of the Center for Global Engagement Isabelli joined Gonzaga as a professor in Modern Languages and Literature in 2017, and in addition to currently serving as the department chair, in 2022 she took on the role of academic director for Global Engagement. We asked her a few questions about the office, internationalization efforts at GU and her role. What, in a nutshell, is the Center for Global Engagement? The Zakheim Center for Global Engagement includes three offices: the Study Abroad Office, the International Student and Scholar Services Office and the Gonzaga Global Office. The goal is to move students and scholars around the world, legally and safely, to have meaningfilled learning experiences and engagement as part of their academic career. My role as academic director was added in January 2022 to underscore the academic rigor that drives the work of the CGE and find opportunities to extend that principle to other areas, specifically with the help of colleagues on the International Education Council. This council strives to build upon and support academic and research initiatives that promote the mission to develop a comprehensive international ethos throughout Gonzaga. What does your role entail day to day? My role involves supporting where the GU community can work to address internationalization efforts via opportunities that have academic rigor and allow for intellectual engagement. The day-to-day work includes finding means for international dialogue and exchange of culture, experiences, ideas and solutions to continue to develop GU’s globally minded leaders. This happens through fostering research awards for faculty global engagement, nurturing partnerships that promote faculty/student mobility (both overseas and stateside), and continuing to develop a comprehensive internationalization plan on campus. What are some opportunities for students that people might be unfamiliar with? Some of the well-known opportunities are the study abroad programs and the international student events that provide ways to engage with students from diverse backgrounds. We
The Zakheim Center for Global Engagement includes three offices: the Study Abroad Office, the International Student and Scholar Services Office and the Gonzaga Global Office. recently signed an agreement with Mukogawa Women’s University in Japan for a firstever faculty exchange. The CGE’s Middle Eastern Culture and Language fund is used to compensate an Arabic instructor for students learning Arabic for their International Studies major/minor or College of Arts and Sciences requirements. What are Global Engagement Faculty Grants, and when is the next deadline for interested faculty? The grant’s purpose is to make opportunities available for full-time faculty to create and/or share global knowledge by developing global engagement components for their courses, pursuing scholarly and creative endeavors, or creating collaboration with international faculty and students. There are yearly calls for proposals; the next one will be sent out in early fall 2023. The Center hosted two visiting international scholars this year. Can you tell us about them? This year, Gonzaga is the recipient of two competitive visiting scholar opportunities. The Fulbright U.S. Department of State Filipino visiting teacher/scholar is Maico Aperocho, whose research focuses on linguistics. He teaches Filipino language classes, an initiative that was launched with the support of the Filipino-American Student Union on campus.
And the American Council for International Education’s Faculty Enrichment Program brought us Khurshid Botirov from Uzbekistan. He researches Constitutional Law. Will there be more visiting scholars next school year, and when will we know who they are? Besides hosting the inaugural Mukogawa Women’s University exchange faculty member, Kazudo Ueda, a professor of Japanese language and literature, we are hoping to host two Fulbright visiting scholars and another FEP scholar from Uzbekistan. We will know by mid-June. What is the best way for people to learn more about Global Engagement and its academic initiatives? The website (gonzaga.edu/academics/globalengagement), or by visiting the Zakheim Center for Global Engagement in the Hemmingson Center. The International Education Council also sponsors an Academic Research Lecture series once a semester where panelists share how they have used the Global Engagement Faculty Development grants. Our next panel will be during International Education Week in November. - By Dan Nailen Page 1