If you read last month's post and walked away wishing for more actual Ph.D. content, you're in for a treat. This month, I wrote up my research topic in a 1000-word paper and read more academic papers than I thought possible. In this post, you'll get it all! |
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It has been interesting to feel myself learn how to better articulate my research ideas over the past few months. I think many of us would say that we're usually able to explain our ideas, but even thought I thought that I was doing that well in March, I realize now that I really had no idea how to talk about what I want to study. I suppose that's the point of these papers. Good on you, CHEI. Well played. Here's how I'm explaining it at the 30,000-foot level in my paper:
"If the field of international education is to adopt virtual exchange methodologies long-term, it must move beyond structural design and development to examine the underlying variables which impact the success or failure of these programs. My research will explore two notable and under-examined variables: power dynamics and asymmetry among institutions, faculty members, and students engaged in virtual exchange."
Now, I realize that "power dynamics" and "asymmetry" are extremely vague terms in relation to my research thus far - we'll get there eventually, just not for a while. From my reading and personal experience, there are myriad obstacles to successfully developing and implementing virtual exchange, but most of the research thus far focuses on obstacles like time zone, cultural differences, etc. I'm proposing to study imbalances present in the process by asking questions such as:
- Are all the students in this course earning credit?
- How familiar are students with online learning and this LMS in particular?
- Which institution initiated this partnership? Is there a leader-follower relationship which impacts student outcomes in unexpected ways?
There is some solid research out there that touches on some of these issues, but I'm hoping to swing the ship broadside and fire all my brain-cannons toward the questions over the next five years. Please note that the term "brain-cannons" will likely not feature in my dissertation - that one's just for you folks :D
The Reading
As I mentioned earlier, I wound up reading a metric tonne of papers in writing these 1000 words. Some of what I read was valuable, some was not. But, for those of you who are interested in some "light" reading in the evenings, these are the papers that I read over the past month that I ended up referencing in my paper. Enjoy the list!
- Roy, B., 2021. Cultural Identity and Third Space: An Exploration of their Connection in a Title I School. [ebook] Arizona State University. Available at: <https://repository.asu.edu/attachments/191105/content/Roy_asu_0010E_17220.pdf> [Accessed 28 June 2021].
- Bhabha, H., 1988. The Commitment to Theory. New Formations, [online] 5(Summer). Available at: <http://banmarchive.org.uk/collections/newformations/05_05.pdf> [Accessed 28 June 2021].
- Brighton, C., 2020. Training for Virtual Exchange. Journal of Virtual Exchange, 3 (SI-IVEC2019), pp.69-79.
- Chang, S. and Gomes, C., 2021. Digital experiences of international students. 1st ed. Routledge, pp.3-24.
- Fairclough, N., 1989. Language and Power. Longman. Cited in Jørgensen, M., Mason, A., Pedersen, R. and Harrison, R., 2020. The Transformative Learning Potential in the Hybrid Space Between Technology and Intercultural Encounters. Journal of Studies in International Education, pp.3, 5.
- Guth, S. and Rubin, J., 2015. Globally networked teaching in the humanities. Routledge, pp.15-28.
- Jørgensen, M., Mason, A., Pedersen, R. and Harrison, R., 2020. The Transformative Learning Potential in the Hybrid Space Between Technology and Intercultural Encounters. Journal of Studies in International Education, pp.3, 5.
- King Ramírez, C., 2020. Influences of academic culture in Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL): Differences in Mexican and U.S. students' reported experiences. Foreign Language Annals, 53(3), pp.438-457.
- Koseoglu, S. and Bozkurt, A., 2018. #DigPed Narratives in Education: Critical Perspectives on Power and Pedagogy. Online Learning, 22(3).
- Marcillo-Gómez, M. and Desilus, B., 2016. Collaborative Online International Learning Experience in Practice Opportunities and Challenges. Journal of technology management & innovation, 11(1), pp.30-35.
- Stevensinitiative.org. 2021. 2020 Annotated Bibliography on Virtual Exchange Research. [online] Available at: <https://www.stevensinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/2020-Annotated-Bibliography-on-Virtual-Exchange-Research.pdf> [Accessed 28 June 2021].
- Tjulin, Å., MacEachen, E., Vinberg, S., Selander, J., Bigelow, P. and Larsson, R., 2021. Virtual Internationalization – we did it our way. Högre utbildning, 11(2).
Did you make it through? Congrats!
Outside of Ph.D. Work
"Other than working on this paper, I've been plugging away at work, where I'm neck-deep in supporting development of a dozen faculty-led programs (which is awesome!) and thinking about our first batch of COIL courses which will launch in the fall. Exciting times!
Today, I'm also publishing the summer "State of the Server" video for the International Educators Discord Server, which has a few exciting announcements, including revealing our first two organization partners! Check that video out on my LinkedIn page if you're interested. There are some more things in that video that I'm excited for, but I don't want to spoil it all here :)
My fun project this month was fancying up a used scooter from Facebook Marketplace. I'm not a mechanically-minded person, but it turns out that you don't need to be to fix something simple like an old scooter from 2002. A few new parts, some fixed cracks, and a swanky new paint job means that my wife and I now have a retro-inspired beach cruiser to ride around on.
Here are a few pictures to show the progress and then a glamor shot for Instagram!
Today, I'm also publishing the summer "State of the Server" video for the International Educators Discord Server, which has a few exciting announcements, including revealing our first two organization partners! Check that video out on my LinkedIn page if you're interested. There are some more things in that video that I'm excited for, but I don't want to spoil it all here :)
My fun project this month was fancying up a used scooter from Facebook Marketplace. I'm not a mechanically-minded person, but it turns out that you don't need to be to fix something simple like an old scooter from 2002. A few new parts, some fixed cracks, and a swanky new paint job means that my wife and I now have a retro-inspired beach cruiser to ride around on.
Here are a few pictures to show the progress and then a glamor shot for Instagram!
Thanks for reading - see you all next month!
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I'll be completely honest from the beginning of this post - I haven't done much in the realm of Ph.D. work this month other than just a little bit of reading. But, various other things have come up that might make for interesting reading, or at least what passes for interesting reading here on the blog. Let's get into it.
The Move
Most of May was taken up with our move. Even though it was a relatively short distance, it still felt like any other move. Weeks of packing up boxes, realizing that we didn't have enough boxes (and too much stuff), finding things that we thought we'd lost, etc. As I mentioned in my last post, this was my 21st move, give or take, and at this point, I don't find the process to be overly stressful. That said, juggling a move with everything else - even a short move, still complicates life a fair bit.
But, I'm sitting in the new office as I type this, so we're all still alive and kicking. The downside is that we moved into a house about half the size of the previous place. The upside is that I now live 110 steps from the lake (of course I counted - those fish aren't going to catch themselves!). All's well that ends well, they say. So it is.
The Reading
Though I didn't read as much as I'd have liked, the few articles that I found time for were great. I spent a good deal of time with a paper titled Influences of academic culture in Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL): Differences in Mexican and U.S. students' reported experiences (Ramirez, 2020). As I continue the process of zeroing in on my Ph.D. topic, I'm finding that I'm energized by research which highlights the rockiness that come with virtual exchanges. in this paper, the author found that student preparedness and course format were hugely impactful on the lived experience of participants in the course. In fact, while the U.S. students primarily reported satisfaction with the course, the Mexican students were on the other side of the spectrum. Overall, it was a good read that helped me think through issues centered on power imbalance, student preparedness, and pedagogical bias which will all feature in my research.
I also enjoyed an article recently published in the Journal of Studies in International Education (JSIE) called The Transformative Learning Potential in the Hybrid Space Between Technology and Intercultural Encounters (Jorgensen et al, 2020). This paper highlights other limitations in the virtual space: skills and attitudes of lecturers and asymmetries in project goals. I won't go into the reason that I love this paper. That said, if you can get your hands on it, I'd recommend it. Especially if you're currently working or planning to work on COIL projects, this paper has some important points to make that you'd be well-served in considering.
Lastly, since I spent so much time packing, I took the opportunity to get through an audiobook. I LOVED listening to Customs of the World: Using Cultural Intelligence to Adapt, Wherever You Are, a Great Courses audiobook by Dr. David Livermore. If you're active in the intercultural learning space, you've likely already heard of Cultural Intelligence, or CQ. It's something that I've been familiar with for a few years, but this audiobook in particular made the concepts come to life for me. As I think through new ways to prepare and equip faculty for COIL development, I see CQ and the research behind it as a fabulous way to bake the intercultural learning into disciplinary courses. Maybe more on that in a future post.
I also enjoyed an article recently published in the Journal of Studies in International Education (JSIE) called The Transformative Learning Potential in the Hybrid Space Between Technology and Intercultural Encounters (Jorgensen et al, 2020). This paper highlights other limitations in the virtual space: skills and attitudes of lecturers and asymmetries in project goals. I won't go into the reason that I love this paper. That said, if you can get your hands on it, I'd recommend it. Especially if you're currently working or planning to work on COIL projects, this paper has some important points to make that you'd be well-served in considering.
Lastly, since I spent so much time packing, I took the opportunity to get through an audiobook. I LOVED listening to Customs of the World: Using Cultural Intelligence to Adapt, Wherever You Are, a Great Courses audiobook by Dr. David Livermore. If you're active in the intercultural learning space, you've likely already heard of Cultural Intelligence, or CQ. It's something that I've been familiar with for a few years, but this audiobook in particular made the concepts come to life for me. As I think through new ways to prepare and equip faculty for COIL development, I see CQ and the research behind it as a fabulous way to bake the intercultural learning into disciplinary courses. Maybe more on that in a future post.
The International Educators Discord Community
If you've been following the International Educators Discord Community journey, you might know this already, but we're turning six months old in June!
It's exciting enough that the whole thing didn't crash and burn right away, but to make it to six months and showing good signs of continues growth is fabulous. I'll be putting out the second "State of the Server" video in the next week or so to update everyone and lay out the next six month roadmap, so stay tuned! Exciting things to come.
That's all for now - apologies if this one was a bit short. I'm happy to say that I've got a paper due at the end of June, so for those of you eager to have tasty Ph.D. content to read, you'll get a whole feast in the next post. Until then, let's all start practicing our handshakes again.
Alright, we've made it through the second month of this five-year mission!
In this month's post, I'll talk about my thoughts of a few of the things that I read this month, give a full (ish) list of my reading, share my continuing uncertainty about my research topic, and more.
This Month's Reading
As I continue to hone in on my research topic (more on that later), I've been reading and rereading books, articles, blog posts, reports....it's been a lot of reading. This probably goes without saying, but if you ever want to tackle a Ph.D., figure out a system of reading and notetaking that works for you. You'll be putting those skills to use pretty much constantly straight from the beginning.
I've been spending a lot of time reading three books in particular which come from the ubiquitous series, Internationalization in Higher Education, edited by Elspeth Jones and published by Routledge. I mentioned the series in my previous post, but I'm going to again for two reasons:
The three that I've been exploring this month are:
I've been spending a lot of time reading three books in particular which come from the ubiquitous series, Internationalization in Higher Education, edited by Elspeth Jones and published by Routledge. I mentioned the series in my previous post, but I'm going to again for two reasons:
- It's the best series for anyone curious about the wide variety of topics under the Internationalization umbrella
- They will undoubtedly be my constant companions throughout the next five years as more are published which tie in to my research interests (such as the newly-published Learner Relationships in Global Higher Education)
The three that I've been exploring this month are:

This books is particularly interesting to me for a number of reasons. First of all, I'm a sucker for a good case study. This book covers an online intercultural competency course for students on international exchange programs and then presents the perspectives of a handful or participants. Pretty neat, eh? To top it off, the last chapter is titled "Lessons learned: Optimising study abroad through online intercultural education". I'll admit to you all that I skipped ahead to the end - I couldn't resist that title. If you're interested in how hybrid programs can enhance global learning, this book is for you. It really is a great read, and I love how the author ends the book. The last sentence of a book about marrying mobility and eLearning? "Exciting days ahead!"

This is a more traditional collection of associated chapters from multiple authors, and wow is it a banger! There are a number of chapter which jumped out at me during my first readthrough; chapters like "The digital information ecology of international students: Understanding the complexity of communication" and "Cultural learning preferences, blended learning, and the internationalization of curriculum". There are so many great things to pull out of these chapters, and I'm looking forward to my second readthrough when I start marking things up. If you were intrigued by the book above, I'd suggest reading the last chapter of this one, titled "Creating an online orientation course: The journey to internationalizing the campus. Similar topics from different angles, but they pair nicely, like chocolate and peppermint. Or chocolate and more chocolate.

I'll admit that this is the book that I've spent the least amount of time with - not for lack of interest, but because I got caught up with a few articles and haven't circled back. Dialogue is a huge player in COIL, which I'm working on in my day job, and I'm eager to get a first pass through this book to see how I can work its lessons into my professional practice.
There have been a handful of articles that I've gone through as well, mostly as I try to sniff out the details of my research topic. Nothing mind-shattering to share from them, but there have been some interesting new articles published about student perceptions and preparedness relating to online global education programs that you should check out if you're in that sphere.
Research Ping Pong
Have you ever been out to eat with someone and after you look over the menu, you think "Yep, I'm definitely getting the fish and chips. I knew that's what I wanted when I came in and that's what I'm getting", but then you see that they have a Reuben with corned beef that they make themselves?
It's like that.
You might know that I've been particularly interested in DEI topics within education abroad since I entered the field, and even before that as an undergrad. It's something that I care deeply about, but also an area where I am always doubting that I'm the right person to be doing research. Should a white, cisgender, Christian man from the Midwest really be talking about diversity issues? I have two camouflage hoodies, for Pete's sake. The optics alone are enough to get the Twittersphere abuzz.
So, I've been thinking about not doing that. The other direction to go in, and there area in which I'm doing the majority of my reading, is virtual exchange and COIL. Most of my work now is focused around faculty-led and virtual programs, and as it's a relatively new area within global education research, I think that there's a niche to be found there, but I can't shake my belief that I should be researching and writing about DEI topics.
Maybe there's a middle ground? Virtual programs are often touted as being more accessible and equitable, but are they really? What issues are generated by the virtual space that are unique? What power dynamics do we as practitioners need to keep in mind as we develop and implement COIL programs? Still thinking through these ideas, but I think that there's something there...
On the home front...
My wife and I are packing up our things to move after just over a year living here - our second move in our first two years of marriage, and my....21st move I think? I've lost count at this point. Anyway, it's boxes and packing tape and pickup loads of stuff over to the new house. It's about half as big as where we live now, BUT it's right on a lake and within 5 miles of my in-laws' family farm, so it's hard to complain. This has been a great "pandemic house", but there's not a ton to do in this area, so I've spent a lot of time on my butt getting fat. The lake house will be a fantastic and important change of lifestyle. Now if I could only find that time traveling mailbox...
Well, that's about it for this month's blog post. I'll share more as things develop. As always, if you have questions or suggestions or just an article to share, you know where to find me.
I suppose I'll end this on a cute note. We've had our pandemic puppy for 6 months! He's just under 10 months old and 67 pounds. He's also the cutest dog you ever did see. Here's Charlie.
Well, that's about it for this month's blog post. I'll share more as things develop. As always, if you have questions or suggestions or just an article to share, you know where to find me.
I suppose I'll end this on a cute note. We've had our pandemic puppy for 6 months! He's just under 10 months old and 67 pounds. He's also the cutest dog you ever did see. Here's Charlie.
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.
What am I hoping to research for the next 5 years?
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.
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.
In other news:
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.
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.
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.
So, what can you expect from this blog?
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.
Great, so where do we go from here?
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.
Author
Hi, my name is Adam, and I'm currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Internationalisation of Higher Education. This blog is where I share my progress, ideas, and much more.
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