Reimagining international graduate student orientation -University Affairs (original) (raw)

2023, University Affairs, Global Campus

Reimagining international graduate student orientation We need to be better at relating to and learning from each other, while also taking into account all of the complexities and power imbalances. Based on our study’s findings, we suggest six interconnected principles for orientation programming design: 1. Embrace all students as complex beings 2. Recognize the inseparable interconnectedness between international students, their families, the broader (university) community and global entanglements 3. Facilitate sober conversations about historical/ongoing (settler) colonialism, racism and other forms of violence and discrimination, including higher education institutions’ complicity and responsibility 4. Foster and model values of empathy, care and mutuality –without paternalistic or salvationist motives 5. Prioritize a cohesive sense of belonging through two-way/mutual orientation opportunities 6. Make space for critique, self-reflexivity and honest conversations about inequities and power imbalance within institutional structures