Global Symposium to Discuss Future of Higher Education

Auburn will attract some of the brightest minds from around the world as the Office of International Programs and the Biggio Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning host the Global Perspectives on College and University Teaching Symposium April 7-9.

James Groccia, director of the Biggio Center, said the symposium is expected to draw an international audience of college and university teachers, graduate students, faculty developers and academic leaders.

"Our hope is to create a forum for teachers and administrators to discuss the issues facing higher education in the 21st century," Groccia said.

The featured speaker of the weekend will be Ben Wildavsky, author of "The Great Brain Race: How Global Universities Are Reshaping the World."

"The Great Brain Race" studies how the international competition for the brightest minds is transforming the world of higher education and why this competition should be welcomed and not feared. Wildavsky is a senior scholar in research and policy at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and is the former education editor of U.S. News & World Report.

Andrew Gillespie, assistant provost of the Office of International Programs, said, "This symposium offers a unique opportunity to showcase Auburn to a large audience of global scholars and to absorb a wide variety of expert perspectives on the future challenges and opportunities of an increasingly-globalized higher education system."

The symposium continues a series of international education symposiums held in both Auburn and Tuscaloosa over the past three years.

"It will be an extension of an effort to understand teaching and learning from a global or international perspective," Groccia explained. "We want to increase cross-cultural understanding, enable Auburn faculty to enhance their teaching as a result of this understanding and also increase Auburn's networks with other international universities."

For more information about the Global Perspectives on University and College Teaching Symposium, please click here.