Internationalizing General Education: The First-Year Seminar on Political Self-Determination and Internet-Based Political Research

摘要

This article explores ways by which first-year students develop global awareness, discover the academic expectations of college life, and confront moral issues that emerge from political conflict. Specifically, it describes the model of a first-year seminar on political self-determination, developed at Elizabethtown College, in which students prepare case studies of contemporary conflicts and present research at an undergraduate research conference. Moreover, attention is given to how students can perform effective research on global affairs through the Internet, how Internet resources can enhance teaching of introductory courses in international relations, and how research assignments are best evaluated through an assessment rubric.