Meeting Global Challenges

The pandemic, a distinctly global challenge, served as a reminder of one of higher education’s public purposes: to improve society. Constructive engagement with significant, transnational problems that require global cooperation positions higher education institutions to address issues that have local and international implications. By centering global learning—integrating it across the disciplines, making it more accessible to all students, and connecting it to career readiness—colleges and universities can help ensure that the next generation of educators, researchers, community members, and leaders at all levels will recognize the local connections in global challenges and that they are well prepared for intentional, ethical global collaboration.

The 2023 Conference on Global Learning will demonstrate the power of global learning to prepare students, faculty, and staff to address global challenges. Conference sessions will focus on

• ensuring all students participate in global learning;
• making the case for global learning for all disciplines and majors;
• advancing collaborative research to address global challenges;
• preparing educators to design, assess, and implement global learning;
• focusing on global engagement in local and international settings;
• defining and framing global learning to meet global challenges;
• examining the alignment of campus inclusion efforts with global learning;
• interrogating and embedding the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals;
• engaging and exploring belonging for international students with recognition of their individuality and intersectionality.

The American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) invites students, educators, administrators, community members, and policymakers to join us for these action-oriented, forward-thinking conversations about Meeting Global Challenges.

AAC&U invites proposals for sessions that prepare faculty, staff, and administrators to advance understanding and practice by fully integrating global learning into the educational experiences of all students at all institutional types.