Global Engagement: Educating Globally Competent Citizens (Opening Essay: March 2015 Special Issue of the eJournal of Public Affairs)

Global engagement is a multi-faceted concept, and there are many components to educating globally competent citizens (Falk, Domagal-Goldman, & Hoerrner, 2014; Hartman, 2014). This second special issue of the eJournal of Public Affairs, along with the first special issue released in December 2014, reflects the breadth of activities related to internationalized engagement for fostering global competence among students, educators, and institutions. Indeed, colleges and universities, particularly those affiliated with the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), are engaged in a range of such activities, drawing upon a wide variety of valuable resources.

The December 2014 special issue included articles on the AASCU Global Engagement Initiative, an assessment of the AASCU national blended-learning course on Global Challenges, an examination of moral development and study abroad, and a narrative description and digital story about service-learning in Costa Rica. The teaching and learning essays provided reviews of TED Talks on global issues, a review of a global studies reader, and a consideration of how of literature can be used to increase global engagement. This content explores many approaches to educating globally competent citizens, and we encourage you to delve into the December issue if you have not done so already.