Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2018

Publication Title

Issues in Interdisciplinary Studies

Volume

36

Abstract

As William Newell observed, in order to obtain an excellent undergraduate education, it is necessary for students to move between disciplinary and interdisciplinary educational experiences; additionally, he claims it is essential that "students also…shuttle back and forth between the classroom and the outside world" (Newell, 2010, p. 12). This movement, both intellectual and physical, promotes the development of the perspective-taking that can help students better understand, and potentially begin to address, complex global issues (Newell, 2001). If moving between disciplines and beyond the classroom into the physical world (and back) could have an impact on students' perspective-taking development, what might happen if that movement happened across great distances -- if international experiences and the consideration of international topics were added to interdisciplinary learning? From 2010 to the present, faculty and staff at the American College of Norway, an international college serving American, Norwegian, and other international students, have developed and instituted multiple interdisciplinary learning experiences based on Newell's theory that interdisciplinary learning enhances high impact learning experiences like study abroad (Newell, 1999). This article examines three of these learning experiences and their outcomes within the framework of William Newell's theories, describing how the potent combination of international study and interdisciplinary learning can create significant growth in students' perspective-taking abilities.

Issue

2

First Page

144

Last Page

166

ISSN

1081-4760

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