Capacities for Student Learning

The project to create the Global Learning Capacities grew out of conversations in the International Coordinating Council (ICC) in the 2019-2020 academic year. During the Fall 2019 semester, the three Global Bryn Mawr committees reviewed and edited the text below in preparation for sharing it with the 360 steering committee and the curriculum committee for broader consultation.

In Semester I of 2020, substantive additions have been made with the input of the Global Learning Experience (GLE) and the International Student Planning and Programming (ISPP) subcommittees and the participation of the ICC. The capacities are currently being piloted as an assessment tool for the LTT Program, and it is hoped that they may also be used for the Sijal program in the summer of 2021. This process will link student engagement in the program to the capacities to evaluate program development and student learning outcomes and understand future directions.

Developing global consciousness is one of the cornerstones of an undergraduate liberal arts education. Whether students major in the humanities, social sciences, or sciences, a profound awareness of global issues – climate change, inequalities, and migration trends, to name but a few—is critical to their development, both during their years at the College and afterward, as a global citizen. Learning the language of the nations and peoples involved, developing familiarity with their cultural norms, and interacting with them through internships, service projects, study abroad, and in the classroom are all critical steps to achieving such effective engagement. This way, the capacities are woven through every facet of global learning at Bryn Mawr College. The choice to call these learning outcomes “capacities” reflects the complexity of cultural learning, which can vary in strength with time, conditions, and context. An individual’s capacity is likewise variable.

The global capacities may be used to develop student global learning goals and assess their experiences, e.g., after study abroad programs or at the end of internships. Furthermore, they are intended to guide priorities for making programmatic decisions and using resources related to global learning at Bryn Mawr College.

The centerpiece of Bryn Mawr's education will always be the College’s exceptional academic programs in the humanities, sciences, social sciences, and arts. We will continue to be innovative, especially in fields where women are traditionally sidelined; we will enhance signature opportunities for high-impact educational experiences and advanced study.

• Capacity to respect the primary significance of language learning in global knowledge building.
• Capacity to recognize historical and cultural contextualization as important to contemporary settings and studies.
• Capacity to undertake cross-cultural analysis by identifying and developing analytical tools useful in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences.
• Capacity to contribute to global knowledge networks: academic, experiential, and interdisciplinary.

We will enhance support for the powerful cross-disciplinary skills of the liberal arts, including critical thinking, argumentation, and writing; quantitative and digital competencies; global engagement; and collaboration and leadership.

• Capacity to learn from and integrate different traditions and sources of knowledge.
• Capacity to be a global citizen, including travel preparedness, intercultural and linguistic communication, and collaboration.
• Capacity to communicate global learning effectively with/to a range of audiences.
• Capacity to nurture robust, ethical, and mutually respectful global partnerships across interpersonal and institutional contexts

We will invest in curricular and co-curricular programs that enhance students’ ability to connect what they learn in the classroom with what they will do in the world, including research opportunities, experiential learning, internships and work, global experiences, and programs of our Career and Civic Engagement Center.

• Capacity to balance taking personal initiative with accepting guidance and mentorship from people of diverse identities and experiences to enhance collaboration.
• Capacity to recognize, respect, and contribute to varied styles and structures of leadership.
• Capacity to recognize and direct personal and group strengths in cross-cultural contexts.
• Capacity to ask culturally informed questions to mobilize meaningful action and reflection.

We will help our students use the campus as a laboratory for making an impact and foster student well-being and growth through support for diversity and inclusion programs, athletics, wellness, whole-person development, and rich opportunities to develop leadership.

• Capacity to participate in evolving campus life towards forming an inclusive community.
• Capacity to engage the global network of Bryn Mawr’s community of alumnae/i and friends.
• Capacity to explore intersections between one’s values and background and new knowledge and understanding.
• Capacity to foster global learning capacities on campus and in campus-initiated endeavors.