Hi all, Adam here with the first "real" monthly blog post for this 5-year project of blogging my way through my Ph.D. in Internationalisation of Higher Education. If you're not sure what's going on, you can get up to speed by reading my introductory post.

​My first seminar of the Ph.D. started this week with some great presentations and a newcomer session (which I obviously attended). In non-COVID times (read as "The Before Times"), these seminars took place on-site in Milan and Brescia (a smaller town about 30 minutes from Milan). Sadly, we're all confined to Zoom windows instead of being able to enjoy the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of northern Italy. 

Alas....fingers crossed for the fall seminar, though!

This seems a good a times as any to give a bit more information about the Ph.D. program that I'll be working through over the next 5 years. Hosted by the The Centre for Higher Education Internationlisation (CHEI) at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, the Ph.D. is built specifically for working practitioners who need a less-than-full-time program. Completed remotely apart from the twice-yearly seminars, the program is a fantastic option for just about anyone globally, and indeed in the newcomer session, there were ten or so nationalities represented among about as many participants. Italy, Ecuador, The United States, Sweden, and more were represented. To be a part of such a diverse group of professionals all seeking to become real experts in internationalization was a definite excitement; the first of many that I expect as I make progress in the program. In a very real sense, it felt much like my time on-campus at SIT Graduate Institute; high expectations, intercultural learning, a dash of anxiety, and a heavy pour of knowing that by the end, we'll all be pulling each other across the finish line.

Most of the details are yet to be determined, and in fact, the first year of program is really dedicated to reading broadly and honing in on what the specific question or set of questions will be for the remainder of the Ph.D. At this stage of the process, most of us know generally what we want to look at, but not necessarily the fine details that we'll need to guide our research and populate a dissertation.

As I considered starting a Ph.D., I really debated with what broad topic to approach with my research. I've massively enjoyed reading and writing about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) topics, but I still struggle with my positionality in those spaces. My other primary interest in virtual exchange or COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning), but early last year when I was having these mental debates, I had just been laid off due to COVID and didn't have any real experience in that area.

Then, I applied to UC Santa Cruz! They talked about COIL in my first interview! Then, after a month or so, they asked if I'd be interested in pivoting to work on COIL/virtual exchange! Be still, my beating heart. 

So, my plan is to focus my research on virtual exchange. There are a few different directions in which I could take things, but I'm going to wait to decide on that after I spend some time with the existing literature. Speaking of the literature, here are the first two books that I'll be digging into over the next couple months:

Both of these books are a part of Routledge's series on Internationalization of Higher Education, which is curated by the Series Editor, Elspeth Jones (who is also conveniently on the academic board at CHEI). This series really is at the forefront of internationalization research and knowledge, so it's a natural starting point. It takes me a few passes of these sort of books before I feel that I've really absorbed the material. Partially, it's because I'm an intentionally slow reader. Reading is a truly pleasurable activity for me, and so I tend to try and not rush through things. I also like to read a book through once before I start taking notes, pulling out key sections, and so on. That's a topic for another blog, but it's something that I have found to be immensely beneficial, especially when reading through academic texts.

This week is the annual Michigan Association of International Educators (MAIE) conference, and we're virtual this time around, of course. The conference runs until Friday of this week, with sessions across all of our Knowledge Communities. It's totally free and open to everyone, so take a gander at the conference website and jump into a few sessions if you like. We've got great minds here in Michigan, so you're encouraged to avail yourselves of this excellent opportunity to hear them speak free of charge. 

This year's conference is also of special significance to me, as I'll be voted in as MAIE's Chair (unless something wildly unexpected happens between now and Thursday)! The MAIE team is a fantastic group of human beings, and it is a real privilege to work with them in supporting our colleagues across the state and region. I'm hopeful that next year's conference will be in-person again - two years after we gathered together in the days before our state's lockdown went into effect. The MAIE team and our colleagues were the last folks I saw before this whole remote thing started; it's an honor to be asked to serve as Chair.

​Well, that about wraps it up for this month's post! There are a bunch of Ph.D. sessions in the coming months, and I'm eager to share my experiences as I truly start diving into the process of working out my Ph.D. research questions and fill my office with books and articles on the topic. If you're working in virtual exchange or if you have any resources that you'd like to share, let me know! You can contact me directly through my website or through the International Educators Discord Server. 

Shameless plug complete, I'll call this one done and done.

Talk to you all again soon!

I'm generally not in favor of the "develop your personal brand" conversation that the professional world has been having for the past decade or so. I tend not to encourage people to "sell themselves" as if they were a 10-gallon vat of olive oil for $3.99, even if doing so might land them the next "big job". And yet, here I am, writing my first blog post on a website which bears my face AND my name. Mea culpa. 

That said, the point of this website (and this blog) isn't really to promote myself so much as it is to keep me honest and accountable to whoever is reading (assuredly, my mother). I recently took the first stumbling steps toward earning a Ph.D.; something that would certainly send my undergraduate self into a knee-slapping guffaw. It's true, old buddy.

Over the next five years or so, I'm going to be doing all sort of researchy things. Here's the rundown:

The degree: Ph.D. in Internationalisation of Higher Education
The program: The Centre for Higher Education Internationlisation (CHEI)
The university: Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, Italy
The research: Well....still working on that, but I have a few ideas!

As a part of the process, I thought that it would be fun to write a monthly blog post to give updates on what I've been working on, reading, writing, etc and also to share about my experience as I work toward a Ph.D. in the field of International Education. While there are a decent number of doctoral programs in our field, there still aren't hundreds of graduates walking around, and even fewer who are sharing their experience for the benefit of others who might one day consider a Ph.D. Our field is professionalizing more and more every year, and I hope that by sharing my highs and lows, others might start thinking about taking this sort of step.

I'll also continue working my full-time job as a Global Learning Coordinator at a research university, helping to run the International Educators Discord Server, doing my best to be a good husband and dog-dad, and so on. Most of those things are likely to pop up in my monthly posts as well, because it's my blog and I can write about whatever I want, so there.

​Look, I'm just getting started, and I'll be the first to admit that I'm wading into waters that are more than a little bit over my head. I've got a general sense of where I'd like to take my research, but that could change pretty drastically by the time I'm ready to start actively doing research. For now, I'll be reading a ton...probably a literal ton...of books and other folk's research.

The blog will cover a little bit of everything. I'll write about what I'm doing in relation to the Ph.D., but I'm also excited to share cool things that other people are doing both within International Education and in other contexts as well. I'm also committed to keeping this real. We all do enough pandering and putting on professional faces in other places; this isn't going to be that. I have little time for academic or professional elitism, and I can promise that you're not going to find any trace of that here. I'm going into this process assuming that I know absolutely nothing about anything.

International Education is a fantastic field in which to work, and I honestly believe that through your work, whether it's teaching an English class to Korean middle schoolers or developing high-level institutional partnerships, you are changing the world for the better. I hope that at the end of this process, I feel the same about my research.

Well, I'm going to start by reading as much as I can get my hands on. Books books books. I'll have more to say about my research topic over the next few months, but for now, I'm going to dive in to the literature and do my best not to accidentally fill my house with educational theory books.

I'll be starting off my journey with a virtual seminar here in a few weeks, after which I'll write my first "real" monthly blog post about being "in the program". From there, I'll publish a new blog post near the end of each month for the next 60 months (give or take) until I finish the Ph.D. If you're interested, you can post comments directly here on the blog or on LinkedIn, where I'll be sharing each new post. Whatever tickles your fancy.

I suppose that'll do it for now. Talk to you all again soon.