Wisconsin in the World: Internationalization at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
The Wisconsin in the World edited book explores how internationalization at the University of Wisconsin–Madison (UW) has been a decades-long, ongoing endeavor. Against that backdrop, the various chapters also provide a snapshot of how people across the UW campus were reflecting on their work amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and on the implications of the pandemic regarding the future of campus internationalization. The book is organized into four overarching sections—internationalization of the curriculum (general and language); experiential learning (co-curricular engagement and education away); establishing linkages (institutional and outreach); and administration. To highlight the expansive way campus units have been engaging in internationalization, a wide-ranging set of chapter case studies have been included. Although not exhaustive, this volume does provide a robust cross-sectional view into internationalization at UW.
The book includes the chapter, Fostering a Multilingual Mindset: The UW-Madison Language Institute, by Dianna Murphy.
The edited book can be ordered from Information Age Publishing at the following link (click here) as well as wherever books can be purchased. It will also eventually be available through UW–Madison Library (click here).
Fostering a multilingual mindset: The University of Wisconsin–Madison Language Institute (Chapter 8)
The word language appears in just one place in the American Council on Education (ACE) Comprehensive Framework for Internationalization—the study of foreign languages is included as a core component of the undergraduate curriculum, along with areas such as regional and global studies. Although not stated explicitly, the term foreign languages in this framework (and in popular U.S. discourse more broadly) refers to languages other than English. This framing of languages other than English as “foreign” and the absence of any mention of languages in areas other than curriculum in the ACE framework reveals an implicit monolingual English bias that is based on two faulty assumptions. The first assumption is that domestic undergraduate student body of U.S. institutions of higher education (IHEs) is comprised solely of monolingual English speakers. The second assumption is that languages other than English are not relevant for other aspects of institutional internationalization. For U.S. IHEs to meet the goal of the ACE framework to promote “internationalization that is anti-colonial, anti-racist, and globally and locally inclusive,” they must move from a “monolingual mindset” (Clyne, 2008) to both provide opportunities for additional language learning for all students and recognize and further promote the existing linguistic diversity within IHEs and in all aspects of institutional internationalization. This chapter offers two case studies from the UW Language Institute. The first focuses on the Wisconsin Language Roadmap, a federally funded, cross-sector initiative that developed a set of policy recommendations for the educational sector to meet the state’s future multilingual workforce and community needs. The second describes a campus-wide project to increase awareness of existing linguistic diversity in the university. Through these efforts, the Language Institute aims to contribute to anti-colonial, anti-racist, and inclusive approaches to comprehensive institutional internationalization at UW–Madison.
To learn more about this project, its numerous contributors, and events related to its launch, go to the main project page:
Wisconsin in the World: Internationalization at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
With questions, please contact the book’s editor, Dr. Elise Ahn, International Projects Office Director.