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Standing before international audiences is nothing new for Arthur Ellis, professor of education at Seattle Pacific University. So he knew something wasn’t quite right when, during his presentation to attendees at a conference in Russia, he saw the hands of certain individuals raised to cover their smirks while he ardently praised the conversions of bomb shelters into teacher conference rooms. Later he discovered that “the interpreter had translated the term ‘bomb shelter’ to ‘bum shelter.’” This was only one minor mishap in a grand endeavor for Dr. Ellis, who serves as program director of the International Center for Curriculum Studies (ICCS). ICCS, which opened in 1993, strives to foster connections and relationships between educators world-wide. Today it provides Educational Leadership graduate students with opportunities to attend international conferences, engage in research opportunities, and foster a mutual feeling of respect and understanding within the international community. “ICCS exists to connect our graduate faculty and doctoral students to a wider world of educational research and development,” says Ellis. As the ICCS director, Ellis spends his time traveling to Russia and Asia where, last fall, the program was invited to be part of a UNESCO conference at China’s Zhiejiang University. Graduates Cynthia Sheller, Kathy Shoop, Montani Miki, and Linda Martin participated in the conference by reading scholarly papers based on empirical research. China was not the only graduate-student destination. In May 2005, the conference “Education for the New Millennium” — also sponsored jointly by SPU and the Russian Academy of Education — was held in Moscow. “Our graduate students have the opportunity to meet colleagues from other countries who hold similar research, writing, and teaching interests,” says Ellis. On April 6, the program hosted
an international conference with scholars from all over the world. “The
theme for this year was ‘Human Flourishing: Social Theology and Education,’”
says Ellis. “Participants came from the British Isles, the U.S., China,
Russia, Israel, and Nigeria.” Besides providing the opportunity for SPU’s
graduate students to interact on an international level, the conference
also highlighted SPU faculty members from the School of Education and
the School of Theology. Ellis says, “It is our hope the dialogues were
stimulating and will result in a number of follow up publications.” |
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