Education for global citizenship : an intercultural and cosmopolitan perspective

In response to the changes brought about by globalization, colleges and universities around the \Vorld are increasingly developing and expanding the 4 internationalization programs on their campuses. One important aspect of these programs that is often highlighted by institutions in their mission statements is the development of global citizenship among graduates. However, despite the rhetorical claims and apparent intemationalization activity aimed at producing global citizens, many recent reports suggest that most institutions in North America and elsewhere have not been successful in this goal. Two common issues in this failure are a Jack of clarity in the definition and purpose of global citizenship education, and Jack of appropriate assessment tools and practices. In light of these problems, this exploratory thesis examines two existing frameworks, cosmopolitanism and intercultural relations, in an effort to establish a strong theoretical foundation for the support and development of a moral, ethical, and social justice perspective of education for global citizenship programs in colleges and universities that reflects the traditions of a liberal education. Analysis of the existing scholarship in these two areas shows a commonality between the frameworks that is mostly unrecognized in the literature. Together, the similarities in these two theoretical frameworks combine to make a compelling argument for the continued development of global citizenship programs that focus on peace and social justice. In addition, these frameworks provide effective solutions for the critical problems faced by education for global citizenship programs