Mundane Mis-Adventures

The last few weeks have seen several adventures and dramatic twists and turns akin to a cross between a primetime melodrama and an adventure-mockumentary on university study abroad offices.

1. Business Trip 1: Our London / Paris program has gotten popular, like super popular--25 students enrolled, popular. Since the program only has one faculty member it was decided an administrative assistant needs to go with. Since the advisor in charge of the program can't go, I was recruited. So I'll be flying to London in early May (5/5/10) to visit partners in Nottingham and London and then picking the group up at the airport on Saturday. I'm with them through May 15 and leave them at the airport in Paris. I then take a train up to Caen to visit our partners in Normandy. I should be back from Europe around May 19 or 20. On a plus side, I should have a free day between dropping the students off and meeting our partners on Sunday May 16... I may try to venture to Mont St. Michel which I've always heard was amazing.
   Mont St. Michel: The Island City


2. Business Trip 2: Word came to us that the director for USF Polytechnic's Service Learning Program this spring break to El Salvador had to drop out of the program. I'm a potential candidate to take over and lead the trip. I doubt I'm going (because I haven't heard and they leave on Saturday) but we'll see. I'm sort of hoping I don't have to.<


3. Business Trip 3: Last October I presented at my professional organization's regional conference in Knoxville. Our session was voted best of conference and so now we're taking it to nationals. I'll be in Kansas City, Missouri June 1 - 4. Right after my 29th birthday (Eeek!).





4. Personal Drama: That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger. We'll call it all a learning experience and move on from there. :-)


5. PhD Discoveries: I don't want a PhD in Educational Leadership. It's far too meta for me and while I enjoy the topic I'm just not excited about the research like I was with Human-Computer Interaction. At least I know this now.


6. House Fire: I came home after class last Thursday to find out that my neighbors' house caught fire. Only 2 rooms seemed to really be bad. At about 4am we awoke the the entire house ablaze. It seems the fire department couldn't get to the smoldering insulation the night before and the house reignited! Friday and Saturday I was off having a different sort of adventure and heard that the firefighter made a THIRD trip to the house to drench it after one of the walls started smoking. Crazy. Everyone is ok, their stuff is gone, but they're alive. Pictures of the 4am blaze and aftermath below.

About 4am when we were evacuated. Yes, that's my driveway next door!

This was about 5am when the 4th fire truck showed up.

By 7am the house was almost out but gutted by the fire the night before. You can still see parts of it smoking. Those embers would die down but later reignite and cause more smoke.

That about wraps my life up to this point. How are you?

The Role of the Academy

Academia is in a state of identity flux. The institution itself seems to be challenged at all levels to keep up with the pace of globalization. I feel that the same external forces the academy is meant to question and monitor are those aiding in its progressive identity crisis. I fear that most public institutions are falling pray to ideological winds that boil the duties of the university to economic and financial concerns alone.

Many might argue: "What is the university for if not for preparing our students to enter the 'global' work force and become productive members of society? Isn't that why people go to get degrees? To improve their chances in the job market?"

By asking that question alone, you have already adopted the paradigm of the corporation and not the academy. The purpose of knowledge in this view is distilled using the language of economists, whose soul purpose is the study of finance and the impact it has. If you believe without question that the acquisition of wealth is a panacea for the world's ills, that it is an automatic guarantee of happiness and well-being, then the logic of the above statement makes perfect sense.

Indeed, in university administrative offices around the world, I am sure the discourse of education has taken on more commonalities with corporate boardrooms than faculty meetings. Concerns over the bottom-line, over alumnae donations, over limitations in tuition prices is an understandable concern: you can't run an institution on idealism alone. However, I feel like treating education as a commercial product cheapens what it is.

I would counter the argument that education is purely for financial gain by saying that it is about understanding, self-betterment, self-actualization and not just about getting a high paying job after your graduate.

I would say that the role of the academy is to:

• Facilitate the acquisition of knowledge in a holistic sense, as independent as possible from bias
• Help students develop critical thinking skills to analyze the world around us
• Aid in providing meaning and a context to what we know, learn, experience, perceive
• Promote a sense of social cohesion within society by examining ethics, science, governance, and law through the lens of recorded human experience
• Discover advancements that benefit the world (humanity and the environment)
• Preserve our collective understanding as a species and continue the evolution of the discourse of what we know and how we understand it
• Call into question and understand the actions and motives of agents in society (government, religion, media, corporation, social movements, academia, etc.)

These I believe are the duties of the academy. We as humans have a natural tendency to question and seek to understand the world around us. From grand ivy-covered palaces of knowledge to tribal elders telling stories, Stainless steel labs to artist studios: It is for this purpose that the academy exists as a fundamental institution of society, regardless the form it takes.

While I agree, that the increased intensity, extensity, velocity and impact of global interconnectedness(1) has agitated government concerns of global competitiveness (both of national economies and individuals) we loose our objectivity as academics when we get drawn into the the world according to the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) instead of questioning it. It is not for these agents to frame the nature of our existence, but for us to question theirs.

I close this entry of my blog by offering a quote to those that look at students and see a labor market instead of world citizens. It comes from the report of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-First Century to UNESCO, Learning: The Treasure Within.

"There is every reason to renew emphasis on the moral and cultural dimensions of education, enabling each person to grasp the individuality of other people and to understand the world’s erratic progression towards a certain unity; but this process must begin with self-understanding through an inner voyage whose milestones are knowledge, meditation and the practice of self-criticism."

1. My favored definition of Globalization - Held and McGrew: http://www.polity.co.uk/global/globalization-oxford.asp

Getting all organized

My class last night was too cool. It’s called Globalization in Higher Education and centers around the impact of globalization on higher ed and what changes may occur in the future; fascinating stuff!

While I’m the only non-PhD candidate in the class I feel like I actually have something to contribute just from applied experience working in the Education Abroad Office. Half-way through the class we introduced ourselves and we had to list our international experience among other things—while I may not the intense research and pedagogical theory that the others have, I realized I’ve spent the last 8 years become a subject area specialist just through practice. I think this is going to be an excellent course. Since I’m only taking one, I think I can keep focused and organized despite all the other stuff I have going on at work.

Organization is going to be key in the next few months. In addition to loads of reading and research I’m going to have to do for this course, I’ve picked up some of the more time consuming elements of a vacated position in our office. I was originally entertaining the idea of taking this other position (which would have been a sizable a pay raise – haven’t had one of those in about 3 years) but it really removes me from student interaction and tosses me deeper into the land of red-tape. While I’m sure I’d love working more closely with our Dean’s office, I’m going to stick to study abroad. Still, until the position is hired, I’m taking care of the Florida France Linkage AND all international agreements between USF and the rest of the world. Time consuming is really just a nice way of saying it, I think I spent nearly all of yesterday back and forth with one of the regional campuses and General Counsel, but honestly I know that these agreements are going to make a difference in the lives of at least 7 students, so it’s worth it. :-)

I’m helping organize some content for Dr. Mark Orr’s memorial service on the 2/1. He had such and amazing life, I think I’ll speak more about that close to 2/1.

I’m also helping organize our students to impress a visiting international delegation from INTO, which is some huge consortium of universities.

Oh! I also applied to teach in the fall. If I get accepted, I’ll go more into what that entails.

I'm also merging my internet presence. Next step, my twitter account now has the same name as this blog. You can follow me by clicking on the right of the screen OR search for @daidaloslost

Ok, lunch is wrapping up! So back to work I go.

There and Back Again

This is such a great and slightly emotional time of year. My students who were abroad last semester are all returning to campus and dropping in to make sure everything is set for them to restart life at USF.

This is when I get to hear how they enjoyed their time, what their experience was like, and see first hand how much their exchange changed their lives. I’ve seen shy and nervous students become confident strong individuals and I’ve seen adventurous souls expand their horizons beyond their imaginations. I feel so lucky to have played a part in that, in shaping this new and wonderful person I now hardly recognize.

Sometimes the return is harsh, students experience reverse culture shock as intense as friends and family try to force them back into the tiny shells they left behind months before. Like culture shock to a new environment, they feel alienated and out of place, but it’s almost worse with reverse culture shock because now they feel like an outsider in the place that they once new as home. But with time they adjust, adapt, and continue their growth—but never revert. It can be painful, but they have a support network that’s here help and I’m proud to be part of that group of people.

The mantra study abroad advisors often use is “Changing the world, one student at a time” and it’s really true. I have post cards and letter written by students in my desk that I take out to read when the stress of bureaucracy, misunderstandings, or other issues get to be too frustrating. It helps to remind myself why I’m here in the first place.

“Changing the world, one student at a time”

Honduras is not our business

Political leaders keep jumping up saying how the military coup in Honduras is wrong and the original president should be returned to power.

They need to butt out of shit that doesn't concern them. The three branches of government of Honduras say that the old president was acting illegally, that he was misusing government funds, abusing power, aiding drug trafficking, and attempting to remove re-election limits on the Honduran constitution with an illegal ballot that only his branch of government would have control over. The courts, the legislator, and the military all said no to him and yet he continued pushing so then they arrested him, removed him from office, and exiled him.

None of this is Chavez's business, Castro's business, or Obama's business. This was an internal act, done in accordance to Honduran law.

Chavez is a wind-bag that spouts bullshit non-stop. He hates not being the pretty princess of Latin America and is pissed off one of his flunkies and member of his "I'd rim Chavez if it would make him happy" club was removed from power.

Obama is trying to avoid the criticism he got from waiting too long to say anything about the situation in Iran. So he choosing to speak out against a banana republic trying to avoid become the next Venezuela instead of taking a stand against a possible nuclear power (Iran).

This is all stupid and making my life more difficult as I have student in Honduras.

This summer has sucked. Between student deaths, student anxiety attacks, partners not quoting my the right information / prices, swine flue in my region and threatening my programs, Survivor-esque games being played, and military coups this summer has made my shoulders become knots and my hair to go grayer. I'm over this shit.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090701/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_honduras_coup