Focused Discussions (Asynchronous Session)
Fostering Intercultural Competence Among Undergraduate Students: Course Design for Growth View Digital Media
Focused Discussion Elizabeth Sandell, Ryuto Hashimoto, Lauren Lindmeier
Tertiary education can provide students with experience with and understanding about other cultures, toward the goal of intercultural competence (ICC). This investigation examined the impact of two undergraduate courses on students’ ability to understand and adapt their behavior to cultural differences. The two courses were: (1) Introduction to Critical Race Theory (CRT) and (2) Human Relations in a Multicultural Society (HRMS). Researchers reviewed archived data of students’ scores on the Intercultural Development Inventory during the Fall 2021 semester. The hypotheses included: (1) students who completed the CRT course (called CRT group) will begin the HRMS course at a higher developmental stage of ICC compared to students who did not complete the CRT course (called non-CRT group) and (2) students who completed the CRT course will make larger gains in their ICC during the HRMS course compared to the non-CRT group. Data analysis found statistically a significant difference between groups at the beginning of the HRMS course (Hypothesis 1). In other words, the CRT course may have had a statistically significant impact on students. Analysis also found that there was no statistically significant difference between groups by the conclusion of the HRMS course (Hypothesis 2). The initial difference between groups seems to have dissipated; the non-CRT group caught up with the CRT group. The investigators report course instructional strategies that may have led to this development. Universities may use this information to consider the effectiveness of course design for growth in ICC among undergraduate students.
Latin American Development from Populism to Neopopulism: A Multidisciplinary Perspective View Digital Media
Focused Discussion Magda von der Heydt
The research analyses patterns of development in Latin America from the mid–twentieth century through the first decades of the twenty-first century through successive waves of its historical processes. Based on similar patterns of development, this book examines: populism, military dictatorships, democratic neoliberalism, and neopopulism. This research analyses the general trends, scrutinizing paradigmatic cases. Employing a world systems perspective, the book discloses the effects of foreign influences upon Latin America by examining the roles of successive hegemonic countries—England, the Unites States and most recently China. Thus, the book shows both the forest and the trees.The question of development runs like a common thread throughout the periods covered in the book. The book answers the complex question of why Latin American countries, blessed with a bounty of natural resources and capable of industrialization, could not escape their role as producers and exporters of primary goods. By taking a step back to analyze the complex and evolving impediments to Latin America’s development over the past seven decades, it becomes possible to envision paths to a different future. Understanding the past allows us to imagine how Latin America, condemned to one hundred years of extractivism, might have, at last, an opportunity for real development.
