Teaching, Learning and Innovation Summer Institute

1:50-2:50 - One hour session
International students bring rich diversity to campus. With the benefits of this diversity, however, there also come challenges for the students themselves, their classmates, and their professors and advisors. Despite high admission standards and the tailored training and orientation opportunities that exist for Georgetown’s international students, professors may notice performance gaps such as hesitation to express critical commentary, limited class participation, writing assignments lacking clarity and/or originality, or email requests and office-hour interactions that seem pragmatically awkward.

In this session, teaching professors from the Center for Language Education and Development (who work exclusively with international students) and an Office of Global Services (OGS) Advisor/Programming Manager share insights for faculty who desire to better understand the challenges that their international students face. Panelists also share strategies and advice for capitalizing on the diverse perspectives that international students bring and for helping these students thrive. Finally, the panel elicits input from participants about additional challenges regarding international students and leads a discussion about ways that campus units can best share knowledge and support both our students and each other in dealing with the challenges of diversity.