The 2007 CIEE Annual Conference took place in Toronto, Canada from November 14-17 and marked the sixtieth year that CIEE has worked to develop and promote international education. CIEE has established a reputation for challenging sacred truths in study abroad and the theme of this year’s conference “Challenging Assumptions: Evaluating Study Abroad’s Past, Fashioning its Future” provided an opportunity to launch a dialogue that grapples with controversial issues such as globalization, diversity and inclusion, and student learning.
The conference venue, the Fairmont Royal York, was the site for the Opening Plenary Session and the reception that followed on Wednesday evening. The Opening Plenary speaker was Jim Gerstein, a founding partner of Gerstein | Agne Strategic Communications, offering clients experience in managing non-profit organizations, strategic planning, and communications for projects ranging from U.S. presidential campaigns to international peace efforts to crisis management. Since 2001, Mr. Gerstein has also served as the Executive Director of Democracy Corps, a non-profit that conducts public opinion research and provides strategic advice to Democrats and progressive organizations.
Three pre-conference workshops and over 30 sessions were presented during the conference.
- Millennial Gender-ation: Look Who’s Staying Home and Why
- Fluidity of Boundaries between Self and Other; Implications for Study Abroad
- Sustainability in Study Abroad: Reducing our Global Footprints
- What do we Want them to Know? Learning Outcomes in Summer Internship Programs
Click here to read the conference program which describes the sessions and workshops.
The Meet CIEE: Coffee and Conversation event was held in the Ballroom of the Fairmont Royal York hotel and provided attendees with a great way to learn more about each CIEE program and the cultures of the host countries. Also in attendance were members of the Academic Consortium Board and CIEE staff members from Enrollment Services, IFDS, Teach Abroad, and iNext.
The Annual Conference Reception was held on November 15 at the Design Exchange, which promotes the value and history of Canadian design, and is located in the old Toronto Stock Exchange building. Attendees enjoyed an evening reception on the former trading floor while celebrating the 60th anniversary of CIEE.
The Annual Luncheon was held on November 16 and featured speaker David Maxwell, Ph.D., President of Drake University since May of 1999. He was Director of the National Foreign Language Center in Washington, DC from 1993 to 1999, after serving as President of Whitman College from 1989 to 1993. Dr. Maxwell was at Tufts University from 1971 to 1989 as a faculty member in Russian language and literature, and served as Dean of Undergraduate Studies for 8 years. Dr. Maxwell has been active his entire career in international education. He served for six years as chair of the CIEE Cooperative Russian Language Program, and later as vice-chair of the CIEE Board of Directors. A member of the American Council on Education’s Leadership Network on International Education, Dr. Maxwell was also a member of ACE’s Commission on International Education, chairing the Commission from 2000-2002. He is a member of the Board for the Center for Citizen Diplomacy.
The Breakfast Plenary was held on November 17 with Stevan Trooboff and Michael Vande Berg of CIEE giving the Plenary Address which presented the results of a study entitled “Student Decision-Making and Study Abroad: Motivations, Expectations, and Goal-Setting.” CIEE carried out this study following the plenary discussion at the CIEE Annual Conference in Miami when members of the CIEE Academic Consortium identified student decision-making as one of the topics they most wanted us to research.
Click here to see a slideshow of the conference.