WISE workshop set for February

WISE_header1This is a guest post from the Center for Global Programs & Studies:

Wake Forest University’s Center for Global Programs & Studies recently received the Senator Paul Simon Spotlight Award for Campus Internationalization from NAFSA for the development of WISE: Workshop on Intercultural Skills Enhancement. Initiated as a small workshop in 2009 for Wake Forest professors and staff, this annual event has developed into a comprehensive conference hosting more than 250 attendees from our community and across the U.S.

The eighth annual WISE event will be held Feb. 4 and 5 at the Winston-Salem Marriott hotel downtown. Registration is free for Wake Forest faculty and staff (register now through Eventbrite for one or two days).

The WISE Conference features a keynote address on the important role faculty play in students’ development of intercultural communication skills and competencies. Thirty concurrent sessions will be presented by experienced faculty and administrators in the field of international education. Session topics include comparison of models for study abroad programs, practices to develop intercultural competencies, role of language in cross-cultural engagement, pre-departure planning, assessment methods for students’ intercultural competencies, and much more.

Faculty new to study abroad programs will hear the basics, while there are new and advanced topics for veteran faculty. Associate Professor of Anthropology Steve Folmar, who has been taking students to Nepal since 2001, remarked, “Getting involved in these ongoing conversations and hearing other people’s approaches makes you pay more attention to what you’re doing. You put a much more discriminating eye on what you’re doing yourself.”

Pre-conference workshops are offered on Wednesday, Feb. 3. Explore opportunities to delve deeper into important topics on the WISE website: http://global.wfu.edu/wise/. Standard rates apply for pre-conference; WISE has a limited number of scholarships available for Wake Forest faculty/staff to participate in a pre-conference workshop. Contact Nancy Metcalf at 758-5994 with questions.

Visit the WISE website at http://global.wfu.edu/wise/ for session descriptions and how to register. Registration for the main conference, Feb. 4-5 is free for Wake Forest personnel.

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