GlobalEX: Creating a Collaborative Initiative for Enhancing Cross Cultural Engagement

GlobalEx is a co-curricular program designed to enhance cross-cultural engagement at the undergraduate level at Texas Christian University. This student-designed and student-led project arose from recognition of a need to integrate the experiences of international students and domestic students, and it uses a three-step model (EXplore, EXchange, and EXtend) to allow students to discover more about themselves and each other. For its first-year participants, who carry out intercultural inquiry in teams during the fall semester, this experiential program culminates in a version of performative storytelling to share publically what each team has learned. For upper-level students, who are selected to continue as leaders after finishing the program, GlobalEX provides the opportunity to mentor new participants into the program and into intercultural learning opportunities. In this article we report on the innovative aspects of the program’s design and the use of integrated assessment to continually refine the GlobalEX model.