Two South Piedmont Community College instructors have earned grant funding to bring the world into their classrooms through new global learning modules that will expand students’ international perspectives.
Business Administration faculty member Antowanna Carpenter and English and Humanities faculty member Brendan Walsh have each received UNC World View Scholars of Global Distinction grants. The grant provides support and resources to help recipients develop globally intensive course modules. Recipients receive $750 in recognition of their efforts.
Carpenter and Walsh learned their proposals had been selected for the program at the end of October.
Carpenter will add a global module to her BUS 137, Principles of Management course.
“This course teaches students about management, leadership, and decision making, as they relate to business. In the global module, we’re going to look specifically at how management varies in Europe and Asia compared to the United States,” Carpenter said.
Specifically, students will learn how communication, governmental regulations, cultural customs, and even tastes in food affect how businesses operate around the world.
“A good example is McDonald’s. The menu for a McDonald’s in America is much different than a menu for a McDonald’s in Japan because the menus are built for the taste of the customers,” Carpenter said.
“Students are going to benefit from gaining a broader understanding of how other cultures function in business. The world is big, but it’s actually quite small. They’re going to learn that the world isn’t just the U.S., and that other countries do things differently. They’re going to learn what it takes to become a global leader,” Carpenter said.
Walsh will add a global module to his ENG 111, Writing & Inquiry course.
“My module is going to focus on Africa and Southeast Asia. Students will study how these places are described by Western media and other sources. We tend to paint them in broad brushstrokes, and we kind of write these places off as being completely different than America. By learning more about the languages, cultures, and beauty of this region, my hope is that students will be able to humanize these places, that they’ll realize when they watch stories in the news, they’re only getting small snippets about a place, not really learning about the place at all,” Walsh said.
Walsh’s students will finish the module by writing a rhetorical analysis about an issue or problem in their country of choice.
Both Carpenter and Walsh have traveled abroad and are excited to offer students – who may not have traveled internationally – a chance to experience globalized education. Their modules will be made available to other community college instructors across the state.
“I’m very humbled and honored to have this chance to share my work,” Carpenter said.
The Scholars of Global Distinction grants are part of the Global Scholars of Distinction program, which South Piedmont offers to students through a collaboration between UNC Chapel Hill and several other community colleges across the state. Learn more here.