There is no one way to internationalization at home: Virtual mobility and student engagement through formal and informal approaches to curricula

Internationalization at Home (IaH) is the most accessible approach for internationalizing education, as it does not involve mobility or considerable investment. This article discusses the results of two distinct IaH initiatives: a 4-week collaboration between students from a Portuguese university and a Mexican university, and a set of activities conducted throughout one semester in a multicultural classroom in one Portuguese university. The analysis shows that, despite the clear differences between the two initiatives, they provided very interesting outcomes, with students recognizing the development of intercultural communication skills and other soft skills, which were perceived as adding value to the learning process and to their future professional careers. Keywords: internationalization of higher education; internationalization of the curricula; classroom collaboration; multicultural classroom

Involving Immigrant Latino Farmers in Local Food Systems A Community Capitals Approach

Presentation made at Latinos in the Heartland (10th : 2012 : Kansas City, Mo.) and published in the annual conference proceedings.Using the community capital framework, this study analyzes two projects that engage immigrants (Latinos) in gardening. The first project focuses on creation and implementation of a farm incubator program for both immigrant Latino farmers and beginning native (Anglo) farmers and the subsequent organization of a local foods group in a non-metropolitan Iowa community. The second project revitalizes a community garden by involving immigrants (Latinos). The paper uses multiple sources and methods to document the successes and shortcomings in building a multicultural food system. These include focus groups with Latino/a farmers and organizers of the program, participant observation, notes from steering committee meetings, analysis of participatory evaluations, and content analysis of documents from meetings and classes. Human, social, and cultural capitals are essential elements for these programs to succeed. The interaction among these three capitals mobilizes other community capitals for program improvement. However, in a multicultural situation, these capitals can inadvertently challenge continuity and success. The intergroup relations that emerge from the interaction among these capitals can be unpredictable. Recommendations center on how to reduce risk in mobilizing the most critical community capitals

Una Relectura de Fotovoz como Herramienta Metodológica para la Investigación Social Participativa desde una Perspectiva Feminista

In the context of a growing presence of visual methods in social research, photovoice is positioned as a participatory methodological strategy combining photography production and community action, with an explicit influence of the feminist perspective. However, the links between the photovoice methodology and feminist thought have not been sufficiently elaborated and have been mostly limited to the task of identifying community needs for women and other subjects considered marginalized. In this paper we propose a re-reading of the photovoice methodology in the light of conceptual tools coming from the post-structuralist feminism framed in the third wave. We argue that such redefinition allows updating the links between photovoice and its feminist imprint and broadening its methodological scope. To illustrate this, we present a study conducted with photovoice methodology in a Mexican province, whose objective was to explore the relationship between gender and social action in the experience of activist women. In contrast with its traditional definition, we argue that photovoice can be conceived as a methodological strategy that allows: a) emphasizing the agency of participants; b) diversifying and expanding the social actors to which the methodology is directed; c) critically examining politics of representations and intervene in the cultural and symbolic order; d) privileging the emergence of “situated knowledge” and the connections between different perspectives; and e) implementing in the methodological level the feminist principle according to which ‘the personal is political’. We conclude by proposing that this particular re-reading of photovoice allows to enrich its methodological potentialities as it enables a renewed articulation between feminist epistemologies, participatory perspectives, exploration of subjectivity and action-oriented research. En el marco de una creciente expansión de los métodos visuales en la investigación social, la fotovoz se sitúa como una herramienta metodológica participativa que hace uso de la fotografía en combinación con una descripción verbal que favorece la acción comunitaria, reconociendo en su planteamiento la influencia de la perspectiva feminista. Sin embargo, los vínculos entre la metodología de la fotovoz y el pensamiento feminista han sido en general poco elaborados y se han circunscrito particularmente al ámbito de la identificación de necesidades comunitarias para las mujeres y otros sujetos considerados marginados. En este artículo proponemos una re-lectura de la metodología de la fotovoz a la luz de herramientas conceptuales provenientes del feminismo post-estructuralista de la tercera ola. Argumentamos que tal redefinición permite actualizar los vínculos de la fotovoz con su impronta feminista y, además, ampliar los alcances metodológicos de la misma. A través de un estudio realizado en la provincia mexicana cuyo objetivo ha sido explorar la relación entre género y acción social en la trayectoria de mujeres activistas, ilustramos la manera en que la fotovoz puede ser proyectada como estrategia metodológica que, en contraste con su planteamiento inicial, permite: a) hacer énfasis en la agencia de los sujetos participantes; b) diversificar y ampliar sus interlocutores y destinatarios; c) interrogar políticas de representación dominantes en el imaginario social e incidir en el orden simbólico; d) privilegiar la emergencia de “conocimientos situados” y las conexiones entre los mismos; y e) vehiculizar en el plano metodológico la consigna feminista según la cual ‘lo personal es político’. Se concluye proponiendo que esta particular re-lectura de la fotovoz permite enriquecer sus potencialidades metodológicas en tanto posibilita una articulación valiosa entre epistemologías feministas, perspectivas participativas, exploración de la subjetividad e investigación orientada a la acción.In the context of a growing presence of visual methods in social research, photovoice is positioned as a participatory methodological strategy combining photography production and community action, with an explicit influence of the feminist perspective. However, the links between the photovoice methodology and feminist thought have not been sufficiently elaborated and have been mostly limited to the task of identifying community needs for women and other subjects considered marginalized. In this paper we propose a re-reading of the photovoice methodology in the light of conceptual tools coming from the post-structuralist feminism framed in the third wave. We argue that such redefinition allows updating the links between photovoice and its feminist imprint and broadening its methodological scope. To illustrate this, we present a study conducted with photovoice methodology in a Mexican province, whose objective was to explore the relationship between gender and social action in the experience of activist women. In contrast with its traditional definition, we argue that photovoice can be conceived as a methodological strategy that allows: a) emphasizing the agency of participants; b) diversifying and expanding the social actors to which the methodology is directed; c) critically examining politics of representations and intervene in the cultural and symbolic order; d) privileging the emergence of “situated knowledge” and the connections between different perspectives; and e) implementing in the methodological level the feminist principle according to which ‘the personal is political’. We conclude by proposing that this particular re-reading of photovoice allows to enrich its methodological potentialities as it enables a renewed articulation between feminist epistemologies, participatory perspectives, exploration of subjectivity and action-oriented research