Teaching abroad made easier by Brock program
KATHLEEN DRISCOLL
To plan a research or teaching stay abroad isn’t a particularly light task for academics.
Professorsandscholarsco-ordinating a trip must ensure they acquire proper visas, sign up for international health-care coverage, find living accommodations and much more before they even book a flight.
“It can be very daunting,” said Leigh-Ellen Keating, director of Brock University’s international services. “Other universities basically leave … (academics) to their own devices, and are expected to make these connections on their own.”
In an effort to make this process easier, Brock has become the first Canadian university to launch a global studies office as a way to help connect scholars and professor to international research opportunities. The service helps academics from Brock and around the world with researching abroad.
“Our aim is to make life easier (for professors and scholars), so they can solely focus on their research,” said Keating.
The global studies office starts by assisting professors and scholars with their trip preparation. Using their network of international universities, the office matches incoming and outgoing professors and scholars for teaching or research.
The office also aids academics in securing health insurance and library and computer access and other logistics.
For academics such as Lucie Thibault, a professor in Brock’s department of sports management, the introduction of the global studies office has helped make the process of teaching abroad much simpler.
Thibault is currently teaching in Germany at Koblenz University of Applied Sciences, marking the second time she has taught abroad in the country.
For her previous stay in Germany, she applied to teach at University of Tübingen through a government program.
“I had to do a lot more leg work,” Thibault said. “I had to do all the paper work; I even had to have my contract translated from German so I actually knew the terms I was agreeing to.”
This time, Thibault was initially contacted by the global studies office about an opportunity to teach at Koblenz. After she agreed, the office took care of most of the work.
“This time it was much more seamless; it was sort of a one-stop shop,” she said. “(The global studies office) took care of the contract and was the point of contact.”
Keating said the office’s proactive approach aims to increase the university’s international collaborations.
“The more exchanges we do (between Brock and international partners) the stronger our partnerships become,” she said.
Thibault noted that the teaching stay is both an opportunity for herself and her students.
As Thibault’s courses are taught from a North American perspective her students are able to relate to the material from a broadened perspective. Likewise, her discussions with her students broaden her own analysis.
“I can actually cite examples from a German context when I come back and teach the same course at Brock.”