Globalization, Diversity
and
Higher Education
Anantha S. Babbili
College of Mass Communication
SHOWCASE SERIES
Learning, Teaching & Innovative Technologies Center
Middle Tennessee State University
February 22, 2007
What we will do in this session
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Intended to be engaging & interactive
Examine boundaries of Globalization
Analyze changing realities in
American Diversity
Probe prospects for cultural competence in:
Learning
Teaching
Innovative uses of technology
Globalization:
Contents & Discontents
The World Outside & Pictures
in our Heads
The World Inside & Pictures
in our Heads
Globalization
Elusive Definitions
Multi-layered Phenomena
Oppositional Views of
History
Ideologies
Economics
Cultural Imagination
Snapshot History of
Globalization
Philosophical/Theological Study
Expansionist Regimes
Manifest doctrines
Trade and Markets
Loss of indigenous narratives
Globalization Now
U.S. View of the World
Tourism
Missionary
Business Intelligence
Ideological Struggles
Scholarly Intelligence
Constructions of Globalization
and the Flow of Information
Representation
versus
Self-Representation
Knowledge
and
New Technologies
Old Patterns & New Information
Technology
Colonization and the
Monopoly of Knowledge
Centralization of Power
Orientalist Discourses
in Globalization
Diversity:
Stretching our Imagination
Cultural meaning of “Diaspora” -the new immigrants in the U.S.
Understand the “invisible diversity” -of ethnic groups within the U.S.
Understanding
Diversity
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Total Hispanic population in the U.S. is 41.3
million (as of June 2005)
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28.4 million immigrants now live in the U.S. -the largest number ever recorded
in history.
Understanding Diversity
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Immigrants now comprise 12.8% of the
nation’s workforce
7 million unauthorized immigrants
Politics closely linked to religious beliefs
Immigrant voters divided on issues like
abortion, gay rights, gender roles and
religion in public life
Top ten counties in Tennessee
with Hispanic population
& Projections
County
2000
2005
2010
Davidson
Shelby
Montgomery
Hamilton
Rutherford
Knox
Hamblen
Williamson
Bedford
Sumner
26,091
23,364
6,960
5,481
5,065
4,803
3,299
3,197
2,811
2,291
37,796
34,696
8,306
6,706
7,409
6,191
4,866
4,601
4,418
3,321
50,397
46,594
9,653
7,621
9,873
7,594
6,460
6,084
6,163
4,448
Profile of Muslims
in the U.S.
Ethnic Origins of the Muslim Community
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Middle East 26.2%
South Asia 24.7%
African American 23.8%
Middle East (not Arab) 10.3%
Other 11.6%
East Asia 6.4%
Profile of Muslims
in the U.S.
Regional Distribution
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East Coast 32.2%
South 25.3%
Central/Great Lakes Region 24.3%
West 18.2%
Profile of Muslims in the U.S.
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There are 1,209 mosques in U.S.
3,000 informal places of prayer and
congregation on Fridays
Mosques are the main social unit of
Muslims.
Majority of mosques are run by doctors,
engineers and businessmen.
1200 Muslims in custody today
Profile of Muslims in the U.S.
Vocations and Income
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1/3 of the Muslims are in engineering and
medicine.
Average income for Muslims is higher than
the U.S. national average.
Profile of Muslims in the U.S.
Political Party Preference
Democrats 46%
Republican 15.8
Independent 26.4%
Other (party) 11.9%
Profile of Muslims in the U.S.
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80,000 of America’s Muslims are of
European origin.
10,000 Muslims serving in the U.S.
military.
Arab Americans in the U.S.
Ancestry group
Lebanese
Syrian
Egyptians
Palestinians
Moroccan
Iraqi
Jordanian
All other Arabs
Number
408,851
189,532
93,854
48,480
31,565
29,115
23,423
185,537
Percentage
40.5%
18.8%
9.3%
4.8%
3.1%
2.9%
2.3%
18.4
Arab American in the U.S.
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Arab Americans now number more than 3
million, Muslims roughly 6 million (though
estimates range from 3 million to 10
million.)*
*Source: Shibley Telhami, Brookings Review, Winter 2002,
v20 p14(2) “Arab and Muslim America: A Snap Shot.”
Diversity & the New American
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35.2 m New Americans-- the largest
number ever recorded in the U.S. history
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New Americans now 14.7% of the
U.S. population
Asian Americans
Political profile
Registered Voters:
Japanese 88.0%
Filipino 85.8%
Chinese 84.3%
Asian Indians 82.5%
Koreans 67.1%
Political Inclinations of
Asian Americans
Asian Americans Democrats Republican Ind.
Asian Indians
Chinese
Filipino
Japanese
Korean
52.5%
26.95%
35.8%
35.0%
30.0%
23.8%
27.7%
23.3%
41.8%
41.8%
20.0%
27.7%
22.5%
19.0%
19.0%
Total Population of Religious
Ethnic Groups in the U.S.
Adherent
Nonreligious
Jewish
Muslims
Buddhists
African American Muslims
Hindus
Atheists
Baha`is
New Religionists
Tribal Religionists
Sikhs
Chinese Folk
Other Religionists
Population
(in numbers)
24.5 m
5.5 m
3.95 m
2.0 m
1.65 m
1.1 m
1.3 m
750,000*
95,968*
350,000
220,000
70,000
1.11 m
% of total pop.
8.8%
2.0%
1.4%
0.7%
0.6%
0.3%
0.3%
0.3%
0.2%
0.1%
0.1%
0.0%
0.4%
1 in every 5 Americans speak
language other than English
47 m. use language other than English
Spanish
 Chinese
 French
 German
 Tagalog
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28.1 million*
2 million
1.6 million
1.4 million
1.2 million
(Native language of Philippines)
*2000 U.S. census data
Tennessee as a Case Study:
Top home countries of
foreign-born population
Mexico
 Germany
 India
 Canada
 United Kingdom
 China/Hong Kong/Taiwan
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Source:The Tennessean
Information Literacy &
Higher Education?
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Critical Thinking Skills (to judge content)
Understanding how Information comes to be
Knowledge of IT consequences/impact
Strategies to analyze messages
Messages as cultural “texts”
Becoming aware of the global/local intersections
Technological fluency
Cultural Competence &
Information Technology
Three Spheres of Information
Literacy
1. Information Retrieval/
Gathering & Storage
2. Information Processing
3. Information Dissemination
IT Pedagogical Tools
for Cultural Learning & Instruction
Global Emailing
Instant Messaging
Skype (Voice)
Video Conferencing
Virtual Field Trips
Augmented /Virtual Realities
Digital Games for Foreign Language
Acquisition