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Part 1: Active learning and intercultural competence
Action research reform of a US study abroad programme in Seville, Spain
in Learning and Teaching
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Eva Infante Mora
Eva Infante Mora
Director, CASA-Sevilla, USA
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Davydd J. Greenwood
Davydd J. Greenwood
Professor, Cornell University, USA
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Abstract
CASA-Sevilla is a study abroad programme for US university students with an advanced level of Spanish. In recent years, new patterns of social behaviour among students (mainly the use of technology and low-cost flights) aggravated their difficulties in establishing contacts with the local society, which often resulted in the perpetuation of stereotypes. The programme goals of cultural immersion and language improvement were therefore at risk. Through an action research and a participatory organisational development process, CASA-Sevilla stakeholders carried out a profound reform of the programme, based on the principles of active pedagogy, mentoring and community-engaged learning. This section illustrates this reform process, with its highlights and shadows.
Contributor Notes
Davydd J. Greenwood is Goldwin Smith Professor of Anthropology Emeritus at Cornell University, where he taught for forty-four years. A Corresponding Member of the Spanish Royal Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, his work centres on action research, general systems and evolutionary theory, political economy, ethnic conflict, community and regional development and neoliberal reforms of higher education. He is the co-author with Morten Levin of Creating a New Public University and Reviving Democracy: Action Research in Higher Education (Berghahn Books 2016). Email: djg6@cornell.edu
Eva Infante Mora, Director of the CASA-Sevilla study abroad programme, is responsible for overall administration of the centre, including day-to-day management of the programme, student advising, liaison with the University of Seville and supervision of programme faculty and staff. A native of Seville (Spain), she holds a PhD in Arabic and Islamic Studies from the University of Seville, and an MA in Modern Middle Eastern and North African Studies from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. She has been with CASA-Sevilla since 1997. Email: eva@sevilla.casa.education