Joint Russian-American Curriculum Development
by
Sergei Shanchurov and Gregory Gleason[1]
Paper Prepared for Presentation at the International Conference
Globalization and the Possibilities of Establishing Russian-American Collaboration n Business, Education, and Culture
Yekaterinburg, Russia, December 6-8, 2001
A decade of new relations between the Russian Federation and the United States of America has led to substantially improved conditions for enhanced cooperation between Russian and American institutions of higher education. Over the past decade the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation has placed increasing emphasis on improving higher education to enable Russian educational institutes to prepare a new generation for the a more highly integrated, globalized world. With funding provided by the Freedom Support Act, the U.S. government has sponsored programs that promote greater cooperation between U.S. and Russian institutions of higher education. Private business and philanthropic foundations have also sought to encourage greater conformance to international standards to enhance the capacity of universities to promote study and curriculum development suitable to the period of globalization.
Since 1995 the University of New Mexico has had ongoing research and publishing exchanges with Ural region institutes. In 1999 the U.S. State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs provided assistance for a university partnership between the University of New Mexico and the Ural State Technical University-UPI. In the context of these exchanges, researchers and teachers at the two institutions have been developing innovative approaches to educational collaboration and exchange. The starting point for this cooperation has been the recognition of the importance of globalization in the years ahead.
The transition to a borderless information and economic space on a world wide level—globalization—is transforming the way that people and organizations deal with one another around the globe. Local markets for capital, goods, services, and information are being integrated into international markets. Computers and electronic transmission technology are transforming the world into a single information field. International standards for products, services, practices, and procedures are replacing local custom and habit. Fundamental change is taking place in how societies distinguish between the public and private sectors. Globalization is opening vast new possibilities for the creation of prosperity and for the improvement of the human condition. At the same time, globalization is giving rise to unique administrative challenges. Local decision making bodies are increasingly required to conform to international demands and standards. Redesign of the private sector is taking place most significantly in the world's emerging markets and countries undergoing the post-communist transition from collectivist political and economic institutions to market economics and open political relationships.
Law and governance practices constitute the “soft infrastructure” of any society. Law and governance practices define responsibilities and obligations of the actors (individuals, collectivities, and formal institutions) within the society. Law defines the “rule of the game” of transactions among these actors. The establishment of the institutions of a modern society implies the establishment of a body of law that regulates key aspects of society. These include the protection of the sanctity of contracts, the equitable adjudication of disputes, and the protection of property rights. Laws are important in regulating individual behavior, but they are probably even more important in establishing an atmosphere that promotes stable expectations. Commerce can only take place when individuals and firms can make assessments within the confines of a reasonable band of confidence regarding their rights, the expectation of other parties and the role of the state as a protector of the stability of the legal framework. A framework that changes frequently produces greater risk. Greater risk reduces the expected income. Reductions in expected income constitute a disincentive for individuals and firms to engage in commercial transactions.
The transition to a democratically based market economy is a multi-faceted process requiring coordinated economic and political change. Economic and civil development are mutually reinforcing and mutually dependent. No significant progress toward a free society can be achieved in countries marred by severe poverty, financial instability, and manifest social injustice. Economic development is a condition of political development. Modern market-based economic relations have their foundation in an open and free society that allows for voluntary economic interactions. State-dominated commercial relations that have only superficial features of market-based economics will fail to create and sustain a level economic playing field of economic partners acting out of self-interest. Economic situations characterized by monopoly, monopsony, or dominated by lawlessness cannot sustain true market relationships. Without a foundation in democratic principles and practices, a true market economy easily gives way to distortions of official or corporate corruption.
In the contemporary global marketplace of ideas, services, and goods, a country's capacity for accommodating to international standards of practice is a determining factor in political and economic development. There is overwhelming evidence that prosperity follows requires both the will and capacity of former communist societies to adopt and implement reforms to conform to international standards. Investment follows meaningful reform. Positive reforms contribute to a virtuous circle of prosperity, citizen empowerment, and accountable government, leading to a stabilization of a civil society.
To aid in developing a framework of a modern, democratically oriented, market based society, the UNM-UGTU partnership has focused its efforts on four sectors:
· Language Arts and Linguistic Studies
· Computer and Information Sciences
· Law, Government, Economics, and International Studies
· Business and Management
The purpose of the IDL is to provide a forum that simulates decision-making processes in the context of contemporary international affairs. The goal of the exercise is to apply principles of government, economics, public administration, law, and international relations to a particular set of real world public policy problems. The exercise has the benefit of providing a forum for interaction among members of the class, enhancing group learning and peer reinforcement. The simulation is designed to strengthen three key capacities: data analysis, critical reasoning, and written and oral expression.
Each week for 12 weeks students meet with their colleagues in groups to address a specific set of problems or tasks. Students are organized into “Sector Groups”. The Sector Groups allow the students to work in a team setting to integrate their knowledge with that of their colleagues. Each laboratory session starts with an analysis of the particular problem. The problem set is linked to the laboratory schedule. Students are required to read and understand the problem set, collect information, discuss the problem with their colleagues, decide upon a set of policy correctives, and adopt policy recommendations. These recommendations are then be transferred by email to the "Corresponding Sector Group". After considering the response from the Corresponding Sector Group, each Sector group is required to submit a written response (on the "Protocol" forms provided or downloaded from the web). The weekly responses are graded and returned to the student. The written responses are posted on the web. Each student is required at the end of the course to submit a journal. The journal is a record of the student's participation in the laboratory deliberations.
Toward the end of the semester the Sector Groups compete against one another to promote the adoption of a specific set of policies to address one of the semester’s high priority problems. The Sector Group prepare and submit a Report to the instructor. The report consists primarily of the individual problem sets submitted earlier by the students as laboratory problem sets. The Sector Group Report serves as the basis for the presentations at the General Assembly. The General Assembly session features presentations by each of the Sector Groups. The entire class then ranks and votes on the most reasonable policies to adopt.
[1] Sergei Shanchurov, Vice-Rektor, UGTU-UPI, Yekaterinburg, ssm@inter.ustu.ru. Gregory Gleason, Professor, University of New Mexico, gleasong@unm.edu and http://www.unm.edu/~gleasong