Interdisciplinary Sustainability Education: Collaborative Intercultural Learning for Positive Change

This volume calls for a reevaluation of internationalization, focused on faculty and curriculum design of interdisciplinary perspectives on sustainability education. The contributing authors reflect on the transformative intercultural experiences that drove their internationalized course redesigns. The chapters provide a blueprint for interdisciplinary course designs--many of which employ Collaborative Online Intercultural Learning (COIL)--which embed intercultural experiences into their pedagogies. Building on Zhang and Gee’s (2023) theory of learning as a Design Experience, the contributors describe active pedagogies which create a culture of community and caring to address perspectives on global and local issues. Chapter topics include intercultural collaborations with West Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Central and South America, Australia, and Asian Pacific Rim countries. From sustainable marketing and communication design to conversations on water, the authors reflect on intriguing course designs which engage intercultural collaborations for solving real-life issues. These chapters situate disciplinary knowledge within a global mindset and provide a roadmap for internationalization at home. Aligned with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) call to educate citizens to honor inclusiveness, peace, and sustainability, the contributions to this book present considerations for university coursework supporting internationalization, which build respect for both the Earth and our global inhabitants.

Ondine Gage is associate professor of education at California State University, Monterey Bay.