The Strong-Willed Student: Shifting Expectations and Policy Implications for Global Education

Please join us for an FPLC special event with Michelle Johns, PhD – Academic Director of International Programs at the Carl H. Lindner College of Business, University of Cincinnati.

Thursday, Oct. 28 at 6:30PM

The politics of international student mobility and global education are as chaotic as ever – yet the strong-willed student survives! The rapid shift and cheerleading behind the last two years of virtual education programming has been a testament to the true agility of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and students around the world. Two years later, those same adaptable international students are craving more, be it overseas or in the classroom. As each nation continues to manage their own approach to the COVID-19 pandemic, international student flows are slowly ticking up, with both sides of the aisle grappling with shifting expectations. Testing, vaccines, safety, freedom, rights, rigor, and leveling-up! We will discuss how international students’ expectations are shifting as they continue to acquire the global business experiences they need to remain relevant and competitive in the uncertain times ahead, and how this translates to foreign policy and HEIs as they look to meet future demand for resilient, culturally competent human capital.

Michelle JohnsMichelle Johns is an Assistant Professor of Management and International Business with research and teaching focused in organizational behavior and resilience, and leadership in change and crisis management across cultures. The past few decades have found Michelle working in the U.S., Spain, and Australia in corporate communications in the aerospace industry, as well as, tourism sustainability and IT projects with regional and local governments in the European Union and the United Nations World Tourism Organization. Michelle has served as the Academic Director of International Programs in the Lindner College of Business since 2019, and oversees the college’s growing International Business programs, study abroad programming, global strategic partnerships, and innovative international projects such as #BearcatsWithoutBorders and the Lindner Global Lounge podcast.

Michelle received her Ph.D. in Management and Organizational Behavior from the University of Wollongong, Australia, M.S. in Economic Integration from University of the Basque Country /Universidad del País Vasco, Spain, M.S. in Tourism Management from Texas A&M University – College Station, and her B.A. in Communications and Media Studies at Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi. When she is not traveling the world with her students, or husband and four kids, Michelle is consulting on crisis preparedness and recovery, volunteering, hiking, cycling, or you guessed it… planning her next foreign adventure.

 

The Current Economic and Political Challenges of the European Union

Please join us for an FPLC special event with Mr. Marius Hirte, the Director of Competitiveness for the General Secretariat of the Council (GSC) at the European Union.

Thursday, March 4, 2021
@ 6PM EST US

Marius HirteMr. Hirte will be joining us from his office in Belgium for sharing with our members a dynamic and timely presentation on the “The Current Economic and Political Challenges of the European Union”, a very important topic part of today’s global socio-economic and political context, especially following the many changes the past year of 2020 brought to the world landscape and to the European Union in particular.

Mr. Hirte holds an Advanced Degree in Political Studies from “Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)“ in Belgium and from “Université de Nancy” in France with a specialization in European Studies. He also holds a Master of Science Degree in International Relations from the University of Bucharest, Romania.

Prior to his current tenure leading the Office of Competitiveness, Mr. Hirte managed GSC’s Office for Environment, Education, Youth, Culture, Audio-Visuals and Sports (EYCS), as well as GSC’s Office of the Environment. He is the former Deputy Permanent Representative of Romania to the European Union and the former Deputy Head of the Permanent Mission of Romania to the European Union in Brussels.

The event will be will be presented as a LIVE WEBINAR, moderated by the FPLC Board President, Dr. James Buchanan and by FPLC Secretary, Mr. Joe Dehner, Esq.

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US – China: Dimensions of a Complicated Relationship

An Evening with Dr. Cynthia Watson
Wednesday, June 3, 2020 @ 7:00 p.m. EST

Please Join an FPLC Meeting Event with Cynthia Watson, Ph.D. – Dean of Faculty & Academic Programs at The National War College, The National Defense University

The U.S. and China form what has been called “the determinant relationship of the 21st century.” In this time of upheaval, where is that relationship headed? Are there areas of agreement on issues that affect our country and the world—the economy, trade, and our shared climate? Or are we entering a new Cold War? FPLC is pleased to welcome back Cynthia Watson from the National War College to give us her views on this crucial topic.

Cynthia Watson has served on the faculty of the National War College since she arrived in l992. She accepted the position of Dean of Faculty & Academic Programs in 2014. The mission of the National War College is to educate future leaders of the Armed Forces, Department of State and other civilian agencies for high-level policy command and staff responsibilities by conducting a senior-level course of study in national strategy. When she last spoke to FPLC in 2017, she was focused on military education as an instrument of statecraft as well as China’s modernizing and how that affects its security relations. She has worked on China in Latin America for the past fifteen years. Her most recent manuscript was Asia First: Reflecting or Refracting Strategy? It is an assessment of the use of strategy to achieve the rebalance to Asia and the future of the United States around the world.

She grew up in Thailand and Colombia, earned her M.A. in Economic History/Latin American Studies from the London School of Economics and has a PhD in Government & International Studies from the University of Notre Dame. Her Alma Mater, the University of Missouri at Kansas City, honored her as Alumna of the Year in 2011. She has published nine books on various security issues, including Combatant Commands: Origins, Structure and Engagements (2011), Stability, Security, Reconstruction and Transition Operations (2012), and Military Education (2007).

She was Assistant Dean for Social Sciences at Loyola University of Chicago where she also taught Political Science. Dr. Watson worked for the House Subcommittee on Government Information and Individual Rights as well as the U.S. General Accounting Office. Among other posts she is a member of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and the International Institute for Strategic Studies.


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How to start, build and run a social enterprise that changes the world

An evening with Rupert Scofield
Co-Founder and CEO of FINCA INT’L

Schiff Conference Center/Cintas – Xavier University

Thursday, February 27
5:30 reception/6:15 dinner/7:00 talk/discussion

Mr. Rupert Scofield co-founded FINCA International — the founder and majority owner of a global network of 20 microfinance institutions and banks on five continents — in 1984 and has served as President/CEO since 1994.

Rupert leads FINCA International on the next leg of its journey: supporting the rise of social enterprises delivering basic service and financial innovation. An expert on microfinance, social enterprise and impact investing, Rupert is an author, podcast presenter and frequent speaker, offering insights and guidance on market-based solutions to global poverty.

Rupert Scofield co-founded microfinance pioneer FINCA International (“FINCA”). As FINCA scaled around the world, so too did microfinance. Rupert learned what it took to start, build and run one of the original social enterprises and learned an invaluable lesson: to alleviate poverty takes a network of social enterprises that improve lives worldwide. Rupert will share why social enterprises are needed now more than ever to address the world’s pressing development challenges. He’ll ground this in firsthand experience of not only building and running a global social enterprise, but also becoming an investor in early-stage social enterprises through FINCA Ventures. Rupert will address the network effect of social enterprises and how social enterprise initiatives grew out of his recognition that access to basic services requires financial inclusion and that both are essential to poverty alleviation.

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