Thursday, August 27, 2009
SESSION II - DeWitt Theatre
1:30 - 3:00 p.m.

Educating 21st-Century Students for
"Lives of Leadership and Service in a Global Society":
The Philadelphia Center, International Education, and Van Wylen Library

• Experiential Education and The Philadelphia Center:
  Helping Students Discover Their Direction in Life

As The Philadelphia Center’s managing institution since its founding in 1967 by the Great Lakes Colleges Association, Hope College has been a leader in embracing the value of experiential education for liberal arts students. Today, TPC has engaged more than 6000 students from close to 90 schools in meaningful, productive, and transformative work that fosters a desire for lifelong learning and helps students discover their personal and professional direction in life.

At TPC, we help launch students into the world of work or graduate school by providing opportunities to test and apply the foundation of knowledge, skills, and values that they obtain through their liberal arts education. With majors ranging from accounting to zoology, students find professional, research, and service-related opportunities through our comprehensive advising and unique placement process. In TPC’s structured off-campus programs, students gain substantial work experience in 32 hour/week internships, develop self-reliance and confidence as they live independently with other students on the program, and participate in multidisciplinary seminars that integrate their learning within the context of the city.

In this PCC session, we’ll discuss how TPC has partnered with different departments at Hope to tailor our program to meet the needs of diverse student interests and requirements.

• The Van Wylen Library - Curiosity, Research and Resources

  Part I. Curiosity and Student Research

  What can you assume the students sitting in your classes have learned about research in FYS and English 113? How do librarians and faculty collaborate to inspire student curiosity and creativity? What makes a good researcher and smart library user in 2010?

  Part II. New Library Resources and Support for Undergraduate and Faculty Research
  
  Ten sixty-second updates on new resources and services presented in rapid-fire format.

• International Education
  
  Global education has never been more exciting at Hope College. In 1879 Japanese students were the first international students to bring the world to Hope College. In 2009 international students represent more than 30 countries and faculty, and visiting scholars from around the world teach on our campus. Approximately 1/3 of a graduating class has some type of an off-campus study experience by the time they graduate.
  
  Faculty want students to grapple with world issues, to gain an understanding of the complexity of the world and to prepare for positions of global leadership.
  
  International education offers a menu of opportunities, tools, and resources that are complementary to the educational goals faculty have for their students. From collaborative research and performing arts opportunities, to global internship and/or service learning students can conduct research in multiple locations and across all disciplines. Recent study abroad experiences include a student who studied on the SIT Bolivia program and conducted an independent research project entitled “Local Effects of Climate Change: A Bolivian Story about Glaciers and Water Resources”; another student studied in India and conducted a research project on HIV; one student studied dance in Paris, while several other students studied in the International Business and Culture program through CIEE in Sevilla, Spain; others students taught in Liverpool, England. In the past academic year, Hope students studied in 30 different countries for a semester or academic year, ranging from destinations such as Argentina and China to Morocco, Mexico and Tanzania. Hope students have access to more than 200 off-campus study programs for semester, year or May/June term. Study abroad opportunities exist for every discipline in all parts of the world.
  
  Join our PCC discussion to learn the ways in which International Education partners with faculty in delivering a world class education at Hope and abroad.