My two plus year hiatus from blogging coincided (accidentally) with the disruptions to higher education with the onset of COVID 19 as well as the recent (and ongoing) social, racial injustices, economic disparities and immigration challenges. 2020 marked a critical … Continue reading
Evolving PhD education: Trends in Europe and United States
in 2010, I was invited to speak at the European University Association – Council on Doctoral Education (EUA-CDE) conference in Berlin on a panel on doctoral education in U.S. and Europe. The 2010 report which included the update to the … Continue reading →
Effectiveness requires psychological safety: Musings for higher education
Team work is not a new concept but is likely taking on greater significance in the 21st century. Working in teams is needed not only to understand and address the complexity of the issues facing society today but to recognize … Continue reading →
International context for higher education: Opposing realities
Although I frequently travel internationally, regularly engage with international students and colleagues and ponder global issues, a recent flurry of international experiences and in contrast, some vivid examples of opposing realities in higher education has prompted me to reflect once … Continue reading →
On the eve of departure for GPP’17: 12 + 4
Once again I’m on the eve of departure for another VT Graduate School’s Global Perspectives Program (GPP) experience. This year marks the 12th year of the Future Professoriate: Switzerland (GPP’17) program. It is hard to believe that 12 years have … Continue reading →
Higher education as public good from a global perspective
International students and higher education around the world are definitely on my mind given the most recent Executive Order issued on March 6, 2017 by the Trump administration (“Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the U.S.”) (more information, … Continue reading →
Post-2016 election challenge and opportunity for higher education
Fifty years ago, Robert F. Kennedy introduced the phrase that “one may live in interesting times”. He stated that “like it or not, we live in interesting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty; but they are also the … Continue reading →
Global Perspectives Program’16 Ecuador (GPP’16): Reflections beyond
The Global Perspectives Program in Ecuador (GPP’16) occurred during the week of Thanksgiving break in November, 2016. This was the second year for graduate students to visit Ecuador in partnership between the VT Graduate School and the University of San … Continue reading →
VT-shaped individual: graduate student focus
Shortly after his arrival at VT, President Timothy Sands established an initiative entitled Beyond Boundaries and challenged the university to envision the future for Virginia Tech informed by four concepts: VT-shaped discovery, communities of discovery, nexus of discovery, and continuous … Continue reading →
