Internationalization for All Learners: Global Learning at Home as a Strategic Process

Internationalizing the curriculum is a 21st Century educational phenomenon, and it can be defined from various perspectives: international, national, institutional, departmental, and individual, from the points of view of faculty members. Whichever perspective one takes, it is a response to globalization, which is the combined impact of all kinds of political, economic, educational, health, environmental, and social interactions of the world's citizens. Today's institutions of higher education are at the forefront of internationalization, finding it their responsibility to equip all graduates with global knowledge, skills, right attitudes for living their personal and professional lives. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education institutions are evaluating their approach to internationalization. With the expansion in virtual modes of learning and others, institutions are reflecting on their responsibility to engage all students in global learning. An idea that is gaining presence is that students should graduate with global knowledge, skills, and the expected attitudes to effectively live their personal and professional lives. International education specialists point to faculty as being at the center of all students' global learning and argue that more attention should be focused on how faculty members can incorporate international and intercultural learning into their existing curricula. Faculty frequently turn to published works by other faculty to guide them when developing and adapting curricula, but research reveals a dearth of faculty publications on actual course-internationalization processes and implementation which this piece hopes to begin to address. Bridging an existing gap, this article describes a tried process that guides faculty members at Georgia's Albany State University in achieving global learning outcomes for all students in various disciplines. This strategic process has guided faculty internationalization of courses in face-to-face, hybrid, and online learning environments and can be replicated in other learning institutions.