EPP/GEO 238S - Forest Bathing (Oct. 2021)
- EPP/GEO 238S - Forest Bathing (Oct. 2021)
In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic closed campus, UMF was fortunate to receive an Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Program (UISFL) grant from the United States Department of Education to support its “Global Classrooms” Initiative. The purpose of the program is to encourage the further internationalization of UMF’s curriculum through the development of two new programs: Virtual Global Experiences (VGE) and Global Seminars (GS) that combine the Collaborative Online International Learning of VGEs with student mobility.
In 2023, UMF received a second UISFL grant to build upon its initial VGE and GS pilot programs by targeting students in disciplines that typically do not take ISFL courses or study abroad, in particular Education and Natural Science majors. Moreover, the new UISFL grant supports a new program to include asynchronous World Language & Culture modules into pre-professional seminars to enhance the global competency skills of UMF students as they embark on internships and student teaching. The overarching theme of the current UISFL grant is to “Find the Right Balance” in a Global Classroom between promoting virtual learning that can increase access to and the quality of international and foreign languages studies, and the value of in-person experiential learning in the classroom and beyond.
The Global Classrooms Initiative provides unique opportunities for UMF to:
- Foster the internationalization of its curriculum
- Increase student interest in international and foreign language studies
- Provide professional development support to faculty in order to achieve the above goals
Virtual Global Experiences (VGE)
The Virtual Global Experiences (VGE) program is designed to provide students with opportunities to collaborate with students around the world through virtual exchanges, commonly referred to as Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL).
UMF faculty develop a VGE module in one of their courses with an international colleague who are teaching a similar or related course at their university. The UMF and international students learn about each other’s country — their culture, history, political and economic systems — and collaborate through virtual platforms to conduct a joint research or creative project that relates to their courses. The final product is presented by the students in a classroom setting or for the UMF community to enjoy.
Through collaboration on a small group project, the students learn key skills sought after in our global economy, including:
- Gain new global perspectives
- Develop cultural self-awareness
- Strengthen their intercultural competencies
For more information about our VGEs, please visit our VGE page.
Global Seminars
An important component of the Global Classrooms Initiative is the development of a Global Seminar that permits students in a course with a Virtual Global Experience to meet and collaborate with their international classmates in person by adding a student mobility component.
UMF has modeled several different types of Global Classrooms beginning with a Global First Year Seminar that traveled to Japan in August 2023 to meet with students from our international partners at Akita International University, permitting these incoming students to have a global experience before they even arrived on campus!
The following spring, a group of students from two music conservatories in Pescara and Venice, Italy traveled to Farmington to perform musical pieces that they had composed in collaboration with music and creative arts students in UMF’s Honors Program. Co-sponsored by Eurasmus+ and UMF’s USIFL grant, the mobility component deepened their exchange of ideas and culture, and equally important their blossoming friendships.
In May 2024, the Virtual Global Exchange on Global Challenges & Solutions between UMF students and their French counterparts at the Université de Le Mans culminated in a dual mobility component with the UMF students traveling to France followed by a group of Le Mans students visiting Maine.
For information, visit our Global Seminars page.
Japan (2023)
Cross-Cultural Programming
Each semester, the Office of Experiential & Global Education (OEGE) organizes various co-curricular activities to promote global experiences. Under the Global Classrooms initiative, the OEGE offers cross-cultural programming directly connected to the Virtual Global Experiences (VGE) to enhance the students’ understanding and appreciation of the countries and cultures of their international partners while exposing the entire UMF community to these cross-cultural experiences.
For more information, visit our Cross-Cultural Programming page.
UMF Global Competency Micro-Credentials
Students who participate in different globally-focused activities, events, training(s), and experiential opportunities can earn Global Competency Micro-Credentials from the University of Maine System.
Students looking to earn the micro-credential will:
- Increase their awareness of global issues and cultural diversity
- Enhance their understanding and appreciation of other cultures and perspectives on global issues
- Understand how their actions can affect both local and global communities, and
- Gain intercultural fluency, resilience and adaptability through shared experiences that permit you to participate in international dialogues on the world’s most pressing and enduring issues collaboratively and equitably.
To earn the Global Competency Micro-Credential, students must complete all three levels in the Global Competency Pathway. To learn more, visit the UMF Global Competency Learning Pathway page.
Faculty Development Opportunities
Under the UISFL grants, UMF faculty and their international partners are also provided with professional development opportunities to assist them with the creation of these new programs.
COIL TRAINING: In fall 2020, eight UMF faculty and staff participated in a workshop on Global Learning Experience with DePaul University, a leader in Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL). The following spring, another 14 UMF faculty and staff members along with six international partners participated in UNICollaboration workshops to familiarize them with COIL and to help them develop their Virtual Global Experience modules. Drawing on her training from both DePaul and UNICollaboration UMF Instructional Designer Mary Dindorf developed an in-house training program for UMF faculty members and their international partners that she has been offering as needed since she first piloted the workshop series in spring 2022.
PROFESSIONAL CONFERENCES: The UISFL grants also provide funding for faculty-staff participation in professional conferences. They have participated in conferences organized by the Educators for a Multilingual Maine (formerly the Foreign Language Association of Maine) and Modern Language Association. In an effort to share their experiences and initial findings with colleagues, UMF faculty and staff have presented at the American Association of Colleges & Universities, and the Universidad de Alicante. The Associate Dean of the OEGE has also presented at the Association of International Education Administrators, the Forum on Education Abroad, and NAFSA, focusing on the ways in which Virtual Global Experiences can increase access and equity in Global Learning, a critical factor motivating the Global Classrooms Initiative at UMF given that approximately 50% of the student body
UMF VGE WORKSHOPS:
For more information, visit our Virtual Global Experiences Conference page.
Faculty attending the Virtual Global Experiences Conference at UMF (2024)
For more information about Cross-Cultural Programming, contact:
Office of Experiential & Global Education
University of Maine at Farmington
106 Fusion Space
117 South Street
Farmington, Maine 04938
UMFGlobalEd@maine.edu