2012 Annual Conference - 30th Anniversary Celebration!

NEW FOR 2012: ONLINE NETWORKING COMMUNITY

All registered attendees received an email invitation to join our new online community, enabling you to connect with each other before and during the conference, view attendee profiles and interests, discover which contacts from LinkedIn and Twitter were attending, build a personalized conference schedule, schedule 1:1 meetings with other attendees and join online conversations.

2012 AIEA Conference Program (5114 KB)

2012 Conference Summary (349 KB)

2012 AIEA Conference Information (350 KB)

2012 Conference Participants - by Last Name (March 5, 2012) (288 KB)

2012 Conference Participants - by Organization (March 5, 2012) (284 KB)

2012 Conference Postcard Announcement (754 KB)

2012 AIEA Conference Press Release (503 KB)

Read The Times Higher Education article on leading international peacekeeper Abiodun Williams, who spoke at the 2012 AIEA conference.

2012 AIEA Annual Conference
February 19-22, 2012
JW Marriott, Washington DC

Building a Secure World through International Education

Institutions of higher education have an important role to play in addressing the global forces that now threaten to destabilize and diminish our communities. Many are actively engaged in programs that further environmental and energy sustainability, broader access to health care and education, resolution of conflicts, pursuit of fundamental human rights, economic development, and greater cross-cultural understanding in the US and around the world. The 2012 AIEA Annual Conference provides a forum to reflect on the relationship between the internationalization of our institutions and institutional responses to these important global challenges. How do our systems, approaches, resources, and collaborative work support the efforts of institutional players to address local and global challenges? How do we promote, support, and sustain the modes of internationalization that address these far-reaching issues while remaining engaged with the cross-cultural development of students and faculty? How can we maintain our efforts to teach about discrete cultures and geographies while also taking up these world-wide issues? How can student internships and service learning contribute to this work (or not), and how do these new modes fit with our traditional approaches to overseas study, faculty exchange, and the research agenda of our institutions? Panels that create a thought-provoking conversation on these topics, particularly when they engage speakers from more than one nation, are especially invited.

Under this general umbrella, the following special subthemes are especially encouraged:

Administrative and logistical needs of colleges and universities as their international commitments grow: What new approaches to higher education administration are needed to provide appropriate engagement in public health, conflict resolution, human rights, and other issues that often unfold in logistically challenging settings or in settings that pose unusual security and health risks? To what extent are our institutions only rhetorically supportive of international work, and how can we overcome continuing barriers in resources, procedures, and strategic unity?

Defining our values in internationalization: What do we mean by global citizenship? Do some of our messages signal that experiences in established institutions located in thriving countries among relatively healthy populations are no longer truly “cross cultural”? Do we assume that students who travel to more challenging sites to engage in “service” are learning more? What are the underpinnings of these assumptions? How do we communicate our values?

Recognizing and managing impact: How do an institution’s actions reverberate beyond its own national boundaries? What are the responsibilities of those who oversee international education in shaping and assessing institutional impact on communities in another country? How has the phrase “hands on learning” translated to overseas settings, and what have been the effects (both positive and negative) of such initiatives?

Partnerships, consortia and networks: How can partnerships and multi-institutional alliances enable institutions to collectively tackle the challenges of our time and succeed in problem-solving?