Examples of International Work in the Department of Human Development
Examples of International Work Related to the Adult Learning and Human Resource Development (ALHRD) Program in the Department of Human Development
Study Abroad Experiences
- A study abroad experience to India in 1999 led to a partnership with the University of Madras. Since previous collaborators have retired we are discussing a renewal of this partnership.
- ALHRD Recently re-established a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the American College of Thessaloniki (Greece) for Study Abroad, as well as other short term activities (such as exchanged of faculty or students, summer intensives, etc.). This MOU is not restricted just to the ALHR program but is open for use by other departments and colleges in the university as well.
- A study travel to Malaysia is planned for the Winter intercession, 2008-2009. Dr. Boucouvalas has a Ph.D. graduate on University faculty and a long time colleague at another University who will work in tandem to collaborate with ALHRD. On our planning team we also have graduate students. For example, one of our current Ph.D. candidates is on leave from a University in Malaysia. We are considering adding an optional extension to Thailand since the ALHRD program has a Ph.D. graduate on the faculty there and Dr. Boucouvalas has a long-time colleague (University Department Head) there.
- Options for future study travel exist in many other countries where ALHRD has program graduates and Dr. Boucouvalas has long-time colleagues (e.g. Nigeria, South Africa, Australia, and others). Moreover, Dr. Boucouvalas’ colleagues around the world are urging a study travel to Greece which students from universities in many other countries would join.
- Dr. Boucouvalas will be teaching the international course next semester and will be collaborating with Universities abroad to introduce students to each other and invite them to work together.
Other Ongoing ALHRD Initiatives
- The ALHRD Program is routinely consulted by the State Department when International Leadership Program Delegations visit the United States. We are usually their first stop on study travel trips. Such delegations are frequently comprised of University administrators, Ministry officials, faculty, and other leaders in civil society. They have responsibility for lending leadership to their country’s development efforts upon return. The ALHRD program often opens the visit to the northern VA faculty and staff from other programs and colleges for Center wide discussion and dialogues with the visitors. These activities have been ongoing for decades. Five delegations have visited from China over the years. Other countries include Serbia, Turkmenistan, Czech and Slovak republics, Greece, north Africa and middle East (Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, West Bank, and Yemen), and others.
- We are presently seeking funding for collaborative endeavors with a community based agency in Liberia to develop training of trainers. This work is in response to a request for collaboration from the country via a master’s student in our program who hails from Liberia.
- Team Mali: Dr. Boucouvalas is collaborating with colleague from University of Missouri and several D.C. based linguistic and development specialists to build an infrastructure for the development of rural citizens in Mali.
International Conference: Self-Authorship Theory Development and Assessment Across the Lifespan and Across Cultures
Location and Date: Riva San Vitale, Switzerland, May 18-21,2008
Organizing Committee: Peggy S. Meszaros, Elizabeth Creamer, Virginia Tech
Marcia Baxter Magolda, Miami University of Ohio; Patricia King, University of Michigan; Lisa Boes, Harvard University; Jane Pizzolato, University of Pittsburgh
International Co-Organizers: Lesley Parker, Australia; Cecile Marsh, South Africa, Elizabeth Van Viele, Amsterdam
Conference Information:
Dr. Meszaros and her colleagues plan a working conference that creates the context for a small, cross-disciplinary, international group of scholars to engage in intense dialogue that advances theoretical understanding of self-authorship development and its assessment from adolescence through mature adulthood. Self-authorship is the internal capacity to define one’s beliefs, identity and social relations. It reflects a holistic perspective of human development that integrates three developmental dimensions: epistemological (i.e. assumptions about knowledge), intrapersonal (i.e., assumptions about self), and interpersonal (i.e., assumptions about relationships).
An invited group of participants (25) will each prepare an original manuscript that summarizes their research, how their work has contributed to theoretical development in topics related to self-authorship and how their work is situated in a particular culture and discipline. These papers, along with other related readings, will be shared with the participants prior to the workshop/conference.
The workshop/conference will provide participants multiple opportunities to engage others in discussions that will ultimately allow them to extend their perspectives and refine their papers, and form a community of scholars to continue collaborations.
Dr. Jarrott’s 2008 Study Abroad in Sweden
Countries around the world face significant changes as their population’s age. Education, health, and human services systems must respond accordingly to demographic, political, and cultural shifts. Virginia Tech will collaborate with faculty from Penn State University and the University College of Health Sciences in Jönköping, Sweden to offer an intensive summer studies course that looks at the role of culture, history, and policy in shaping human services systems. The 2008 course takes a lifecourse perspective that focuses on the second half of life. Human services and social welfare issues to be addressed include many of the following: maternity/paternity leave, childcare, health care, housing and employment programs, the education system (including intergenerational programs), care for persons with disabilities, elder care programs, health care, rehabilitation facilities, residential long-term care, hospice, and visiting nursing services. It promises an engaging view of individual, family, and societal issues facing Sweden, the US, and countries around the world.
The course combines daily lectures and discussion with site visits to human services settings. Students will make cross-national comparisons between Sweden and the US to consider advantages and challenges to both countries’ care systems. The program includes tours of cultural and historical sites in Stockholm, Göteborg, and Jönköping. Class is open to graduate and upper-level undergraduates.
Dr. Benson’s Recent Work Abroad
Dr. Mark Benson is collaborating with a former graduate student to collect data on emotional processes in parent-adolescent relationships in Spain. Together with U.S. data already collected, the Spanish sample will test the generalizability of models developed based on U.S. families. Several important hypotheses related to authoritarian and authoritative parenting and gender will be tested using these compartive samples.
Dr. Piercy’s Partnerships with the University of Indonesia and Atma Jaya University, Jakarta, Indonesia
Dr. Fred Piercy has been collaborating with the University of Indonesia for many years. This partnership began with a World Bank funded project to improve graduate education in Indonesia and has resulted in both faculty and student exchanges, joint research and publications, and a collaborative grant from the World AIDS Foundation.
Dr. Piercy has also consulted with Atma Jaya University on several HIV/AIDS research projects, one funded by Family Health International. In addition to a number of summer consultations in Indonesia, he worked at Atma Jaya during his sabbatical year in 1998. Most recently, former colleagues from Atma Jaya University invited him and Dr. Maggie Keeling back to provide disaster mental health training to Indonesian mental health workers in early 2005, immediately after the tsunami that killed about 180,000 people in Aceh, Indonesia.
Dr. Jay Mancini Presents Research and Theorizing on Social Organization in Switzerland, England, and Ireland
Dr. Jay Mancini’s research and theorizing on social organization has been presented to audiences in Switzerland, England, and Ireland in 2007. Dr. Mancini has been focusing on social organization theory as a way of explaining family well-being in community contexts. Much of this focus is targeted toward building community capacity to support families. In the fall of 2007 Mancini presented his work at the annual meeting of the World Demographic Association in St. Gallen, Switzerland (September), where his focus was on improving conditions related to older adults. Later in the fall he spoke at the annual meeting of the United Kingdom Evaluation Association, where he demonstrated the linkages between social organization theory and collaboration among human services organizations; this meeting was held in Leeds, Yorkshire, England (November). Earlier in November he met with faculty at London South Bank University (LSBU) and at University of Leeds to discuss social organization as it relates to families and social capital; LSBU and University of Leeds are part of a consortium of universities in the UK focusing on community contexts and families. In late November Dr. Mancini spoke at Trinity College, University of Dublin, to faculty and graduate students in the School of Social Work and Social Policy. He reviewed his ongoing research on building community capacity, and drew the work toward implications for prevention science.
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