Running head: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS COURSES 1

International relations courses and their role in education toward global citizenry

Fernando Ribeiro

Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing (ESPM)

Running head: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS COURSES 2

Abstract

In an era where extremes seem to be on the rise again, it is important to ask what roles the

courses of international relations in different universities across the globe may play in education.

This paper argues that international relations course can play pivotal roles in two different fronts

that, if well executed, may lead to a third one. The first front is the promotion of perspective-

taking. The second front is the development of global citizens mainly through service learning

and integrative learning project. Together these two fronts can lead to more civic-engaged

citizens and more aware citizens of the context and social justice of nations that form an intricate

and complex web.

Keywords: international relations, perspective-taking, service learning, integrative

learning
THE POWER OF EDUCATION IN REDEFINING INTERNATIONAL 3

The power of education in redefining international relations

There seems to be a growing polarization in the world today. Politics seem to be taking a

polarizing view, with parties and policies taking a more tribal, group approach, fostering clans,

and an “us vs. them” view of matters. The recent political events marked by the Brexit, Trump

election, and the rise of conservative and polarized views and powers in Europe and Latin

America provide some evidence to this in-group/out-group approach (Bartlett, 2012; Tajifel,

1970; The Economist, 2016; Crowley, 2017).

Throughout history, human societies seem to evolve in waves of separation and

integration, polarizing and integrative views. In this not so-new context that we face today, it is

pertinent to ask what role education plays in fostering a more integrative view to overcome

barriers and leverage differences as a point of complementarity rather than dominance or

opposition.

Social psychology has shown that the random toss of a coin suffices to create groups and

that group formation leads to maximum differentiation, not to fairness. In such delicate times,

education at schools and universities might become a gateway to integration of different views,

to exchange of ideas and mutual respect among students, students and professors, and professors

themselves; all stakeholders that may hold different world views using such views to build up

understanding, not separation.

I will argue that international relations course can play a pivotal role in educational

settings through two different fronts: (i) as a way of promoting perspective-taking and (ii) as a

way of developing global citizens. I will then argue that these two initiatives together may lead,

in the long-term, to more civic engaged citizens, more prone to work the differences in a
THE POWER OF EDUCATION IN REDEFINING INTERNATIONAL 4

constructive and integrative way, rather than more prone to escalate the differences to create in-

groups and out-groups (Tajifel, 1970).

Education and perspective taking

Perspectives consist of individual orientations through which individuals make decisions

on how to interact with different people and situations (Martin, Sokol, & Elfers, 2008).

Throughout the lifespan of any individual, perspective-taking, i.e. the ability to take different

perspectives, is a crucial element in the cognitive and social functioning of the individual

(Martin, Sokol, & Elfers, 2008). Perspective-taking allows individuals to develop three important

skills (Galinsky, 2010): empathy and compassion to determine how someone else feels (Bloom,

2013, 2016); inhibitory control and self-regulation (Paulus et al., 2015), and cognitive flexibility

(Eslinger, 1998).

Without entering the depth of compassion and empathy and what both entail for the field

of psychology and neuroscience, compassion is an emotional response to empathetic feelings

(Singer & Klimecki, 2014). Although some argue that empathy makes the world worse to the

extent that empathy leads to defend the interests of one group over the other (Bloom, 2016),

many researchers in the field claim the opposite, i.e. that empathy is necessary to understand

somebody else’s feelings and how such feelings may impact the lives of individuals we interact

with (Eslinger, 1998; Goleman, 2010).

To make the point clearer, imagine for a second a society whose individuals are all

psychopath, incapable of feelings of empathy or compassion. They can all be very rational and

manipulative when they want, but their intentions and demeanor aim exclusively at convincing

the other person that they care rather than caring indeed for the other person.
THE POWER OF EDUCATION IN REDEFINING INTERNATIONAL 5

From such a standpoint, it is not hard to see that a society full of psychopaths who can

neither feel compassion nor empathy most likely would not be a flourishing one. Quite the

contrary, if such a society could exist, I would argue that most likely it would replicate a viral

ecosystem in which the viruses spread so rapidly that they themselves become their own doom.

In fact, through social empathy models (fig.1), which emphasize individual empathy,

contextual understanding, and social responsibility – we can create and promote more social

change, break the usual roles of dominance and subservience, and enhance civic engagement

(Segal, 2011). Nice words, but how can we achieve such a vision.

The first step is recognizing that empathy promotes cooperation and that the seeds of

empathy lie in proximity, similarity, and familiarity (Waal, 2009 as cited in Segal, 2011).

Familiarity, however, does not mean blood of the same blood, but rather the act of exposure and

how exposure changes perceptions, promotes proximity, and henceforth the pathways to discover

similarities. The second step is recognizing that all men and women share some aspects of

similarities and differences. I dare to say that, except in some cases of brain damage of some

sort, all humans feel hungry and fear at some point throughout their lives. Not necessarily,

though, the inputs that elicit fear in individual A are the same for individual B. Although the

inputs may differ, there is a common ground around the feeling of fear. The point is then how

societies treat people who feel fear given input A or input B. Should we treat one input as the

correct source of fear versus another? Or should we treat both inputs as different means to get to

the same emotion? The third point is to remember that even when humans are capable of

empathy and compassion, they are still capable of atrocities under obedience factors. As

Milgram (1974) showed, under factors of SIN (Wolfe, 2004) – strength, immediacy, and number

– humans can conform to policies and acts that from inception seem and sound completely
THE POWER OF EDUCATION IN REDEFINING INTERNATIONAL 6

nonsense1. If these three assumptions presented herein hold true, then what better venue for

promotion of social empathy models and perspective-taking than universities that promote

international relations via student exchanges, professors’ exchange, partnership in content? If

humankind shares some characteristics with everybody else, some characteristics with somebody

else, and some with no one else (Kluckhohn & Murray, 1953), what means and points of

application do we have easily at hands to integrate these different perspectives, elucidating what

is common ground and what is unique and particular?

Studies have shown empirical evidence that perspective-taking improves intergroup

attitudes irrespectively of prior stereotypical visions about a certain group; leads to lower

stereotypical views; increases representation of the self and other groups; and reduces the in-

group minimal group paradigm while increasing evaluations of the out-group (Galinsky &

Moskowitz, 2000; Vescio, Sechrist, & Paolucci, 2003).

Therefore, to foster and increase perspective-taking, universities and schools at large

should promote international relations programs that facilitate the inter- and intraflow of students

from different fields, areas, nations, geographies, and ethnicities. Such initiatives may expand the

capacity of students, professors, and participants to look at the same problem or consider a future

vision from multiple and diverse angles. In doing so, universities and schools will also likely

promote the social and cognitive development of most, if not all, participants as each person has

the chance to interact with different backgrounds and cultures, breeding proximity to explore

similarities that form and expand the notion of what a group entails.

Global citizenship

1
Wolfe (2004) mentions the three factors – SIN – for obedience in the following manner. Strength relates to the rank of a person giving an
individual a direct order. Immediacy refers to how visible the reactions of the person suffering from your acts are to the perpetrator. Number
refers to the number of people adhering to a certain view or code of conduct.
THE POWER OF EDUCATION IN REDEFINING INTERNATIONAL 7

As citizens in our respective nations and societies and considering the trend towards

extremism that seems to be emerging, what can we do in our micro-cosmos to better understand

different world views while increasing the sense of citizenship of the average individual? What

tools and practices can we leverage to promote citizenship and civic engagement at different

settings?

One possible answer seems to lie in integrative learning experiences and service learning

opportunities that universities and high schools conduct with partners as a means to promote

civic engagement and intercultural competence (Iverson & James, 2013; Salisbury, An, &

Pascarella, 2013).

Integrative learning experiences consist of opportunities that allow students to make

connections among different fields of study, synthetizing and transferring learning from one

domain in increasing complex situations (Kinzle, 2013). More than that, it is possible for schools

and universities to measure their levels of integrative learning experience though a nine-item

scale that gauges the integration level of skills, knowledge, and information from one context to

another environment (Salisbury et al., 2013).

Service learning opportunities, in their turn, consist of an integrated balance between

academic learning and community service where it is possible to meet and connect the interest of

both worlds (Simons & Cleary, 2006). Service learning experiences create the space for

theoretical knowledge to be applied in real world situations and demands and creates a

reciprocity in which the university and the community have at the same time assets and needs,

acting as servant and master in different interactions (Jacoby, 2015).

I assume that every country has its own share of social problems. Some may have more

of them in areas related to poverty and violence whereas others might have more of them in areas
THE POWER OF EDUCATION IN REDEFINING INTERNATIONAL 8

related to mental health and disease prevention. In my own personal experience as an

undergraduate in Brazil, I have little to no exposure to neither service learning experiences nor to

integrative learning. My first experiences on those types of approaches happened exactly in my

time abroad, either as an exchange student in Germany or as a formal student in American

universities.

Recent empirical research suggests that service learning, for instance, impact students’

social and personal development, significantly improving diversity, political awareness, and

civic engagement and community self-efficacy (Simons & Cleary, 2006). Additionally, diverse

experience in the fourth year of college seem to be statistically significantly correlated to contact

diversity, relativistic appreciation, and comfort with difference whereas integrative learning

experiences point to a stastically significant correlation to contact diversity and relativistic

appreciation (for further details on the statistical analysis, refer to Salisbury et al., 2013, p. 13).

Considering this reality, universities around the globe and more so those located in

developing countries should strive more and more to promote integrative learning and service

learning opportunities.

Interestingly, the international relations courses in any given university seem to be well

positioned to integrate both arguments: (i) perspective-taking and (ii) service and integrative

learning to their curriculum. Most college courses in international relations already explore the

theoretical frameworks of how international relations unfold and evolve as well as the

negotiation aspects entangled in multiparty, multi-country relations.

What better way to further promote international relations than by bringing different

students from different backgrounds, ethnicities, geographies, and fields of study to apply their
THE POWER OF EDUCATION IN REDEFINING INTERNATIONAL 9

different knowledge to support the development of project related to the needs of a given

community?

To be relevant in the current context, universities and educators should consider their

mission in light of the complexity of planet as well as the intertwining network of competition

and interdependence that emerge among and from peoples and nations (Gacel-Avila, 2005).

Universities should crave and look for internationalization opportunities that allow them

to update and exchange academic content while facilitating the understanding of local and global

happenings from a multicultural perspective, which, in turn, fosters human development.

As Gacel-Avila (2005) puts it:

The international curriculum should therefore focus on developing in university

graduates respect for humanity’s differences and cultural wealth, as well as a

sense of political responsibility, turning them into defenders of democratic

principles of their society, and true architects of social change (p.125).

Only then will we be able to develop, through education and international exchange,

citizens that think globally and are committed to improving their civic participation while

respecting the differences of opinions.

International relations, education, and perspective-taking to global citizenry

Multicultural education seems to be an imperative given the intricate competitive and

cooperative relationship nations across the globe have woven. In such a complex environment,

integrative learning emerges as a potential solution for students to increase their understanding

and acceptance of others and their own groups in different realms: be it local, national, or global

(Powell, Fussell, Troutman, Smith, & Skoog, 1998).

THE POWER OF EDUCATION IN REDEFINING INTERNATIONAL 10

For universities at large and for those who have international relations course in

particular, one possible way to move forward such an agenda is through the promotion of

exchange programs between professors, between students, and of content.

The exchange program and the content, though, should use service learning and

integrative learning projects to foster perspective-taking and civic engagement. To exemplify,

ESPM, one of the prominent universities in international relations in Brazil, has recently

conceptualized and implemented several integrative learning experiences involving corporations.

In these projects, students bring academic concepts to solve a real issue one of the companies

might be facing. In exchange, the students integrate different areas of knowledge, e.g. finance,

strategy, negotiation, and international relations, into one single point of application and learn the

intricacies of the corporate world around communication alignment, management of

expectations, feasibility, application and theory.

To advance further, universities could partner up with NGO and local communities to

develop service learning projects. In this case, the university would have a partner that is already

addressing a specific issue, let’s say unemployment, in a given area that could benefit from new

insights that research and academia could bring to their application. Even more powerful,

universities could set up such service learning opportunities as the entry point for an exchange

program either for students to participate in that project or for professor to orient and supervise

the project. Such setup would allow participants to get firsthand practice with local realities

while better understanding the diverse background and perspective that different participants

from several regions, ethnicities, and creed bring to the table. It would be a chance to put people

from different fields and ways of thinking around a common goal to create global citizens.

Limitations and future research

THE POWER OF EDUCATION IN REDEFINING INTERNATIONAL 11

The present paper digs into theoretical frameworks and some empirical research showing

evidence of how different service and integrative learning experiences may affect aspects related

to perspective-taking and thus to the formation of global citizens.

Future research should try to empirically validate and measure how programs of study

abroad as well as service and integrative learning projects affect students’ world view and pro-

social behavior and civic engagement using pre-validated tests and questionnaires.

Empirical validation of such constructs and theories might shed light on the mechanics of

learning, how different people evolve and what it takes them to evolve in terms of worldviews

and perspective-taking. Even more importantly, empirical studies might inform policy makers

and educators all around where to focus financial resources on and the long-term road necessary

to form global citizens that might be capable of integrate and include rather than exclude.

Conclusion

I propose that international relations course might have a crucial role in educational

settings by promoting the integration of different backgrounds, ethnicities, religions, worldviews,

problem-solving strategies, races, and subjects and fields of study through service learning and

integrative learning experiences.

Both – service and integrative learning experiences – help students develop perspective-

taking, which in turn may foster civic engagement and intercultural competence. In an era where

extremism seems to be on the rise and polarization the norm, global citizens capable of

understanding that cooperation is better than sheer competition might prove an important asset

for generations to come.

THE POWER OF EDUCATION IN REDEFINING INTERNATIONAL 12

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THE POWER OF EDUCATION IN REDEFINING INTERNATIONAL 16

SOCIAL
JUSTICE

IMPACT OF
SYSTEMIC
CONDITIONS SOCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY

CONTEXTUAL SOCIAL
UNDERSTANDING
EMPATHY

EMPATHY HISTORICAL
BACKGROUND

Affective Conscious
response/ Cognitive
decision making
mirroring processing

Figure 1. Segal’s (2011) model on social empathy details how individual empathy and the

mirroring of somebody else’s emotions can lead to self- and other-awareness, perspective taking

and emotional regulation and decision making. These inputs lead to a contextual understanding

englobing the background and history that shaped that context as well as the impact of current

conditions on the system. Through contextual understanding and empathy, individuals are more

likely to incur in social responsible acts, which in turn may promote bigger social justice.