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Northern Illinois University

International Student & Faculty Office

Brown Bag Series

Faraday West, 300 Conference Room
Sessions begin at noon

Sign-up to present at the series
We are currently accepting proposals for presentations at our brown bag series. The expected presentation time is about 30 min with additional 10 min Q&A. The topics are quite open to the speaker and may be related to diverse cultures/international/study abroad experiences, a specific subject matter in a certain field of study, and others.

Fall 2009 Brown Bag Series

September 17
Rey Ty presents: Orientalism and postcolonialism: Meaning, challenges & opportunities in learning, conducting research, publishing & teaching about people of other societies & cultures

September 24
Eric Hunting presents: 1.5 Billion and counting: Diversity within Islamic culture and society

October 1
Cynthia Paralejas presents: International students and online education

October 8
Kurt Thurmaier presents: Intergrating service learning and study abroad in Tanzania

October 15
Mark Rosenbaum presents: Reflections of a Fulbright Scholar in Cambodia

October 22
Lynn Richards presents: It's not just a good idea it's the law, an overview of civil and criminal law for international students

October 29
J.D. Bowers presents: Crossing the divide: Research, teaching and learning in a divided society

November 5
Siew-Sim Chin presents: Being in the world: Narrating the intersection of spirituality and global identity

November 12
Shiraz Tata presents:  Managing stress related to culture shock: Going through the transition process

November 19
Jean-Philippe Schmitt presents: The psychological effect of studying abroad

Spring 2010 Brown Bag Series

February 4
Nalika Diyadawagamage presents: Re-building the Pearl of the Indian Ocean - Sri Lanka

February 11
Soveacha Ros presents:  Quality assurance implementation at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia:  Stakeholders' perceptions, practices and challenges

February 18
Marsha Black Chen presents:  School transformation: The impact of globalization on Jamaica's higher education

February 25
Hee-Jin Han presents:  The Hydropower Development Project of the Nu River, China:  The presentation introduces the Chinese government's plan to build dams along this river and how different societal actors have been reacting to such a plan.  The presentation will also cover some aspects of Yunnan's rich ethnic culture.

March 18
this session is currently open

March 25
Andrea Buford  presents:  Improving Access to Education for Children in Forced Labor in India:  In 2006-07, I was involved in a UN-funded project to improve access to schooling for children trapped in forced labor in India.  Frequently, these children either worked in the textile industry or were sex workers.  India has compulsory attendance laws for schooling, but clearly these were insufficient.  So, our group worked with local groups to come up with a quirky model of schooling (teachers on bicycles - literally) designed to allow the children to both work and attend school where that was appropriate.  Social workers/community organizers also travel around the community helping families to free their children from the sex trade, and to find age-appropriate, culturally-appropriate employment.

In this talk, I will of course review the project and its results.  But I would like to do so in light of social work, pedagogical, and social justice principles.

April 1
this session is currently open

April 8
Maimouna Konate presents: One finger cannot lift a stone:  the aspiring women of Africa with emphasis on women of Mali.

April 15
this session is currently open

April 22
this session is currently open