Thaler Quoted in Chronicle of Higher Education Report on Global Experience
The Chronicle of Higher Education spoke with Jeff Thaler, assistant university counsel and a visiting professor of energy policy, law and ethics at the University of Maine, for the article “Why a global education doesn’t have to mean going abroad.” According to the article, some educators believe that given the diversity of the United States, it’s no longer necessary to cross national borders to give students beneficial intercultural skills and global experience colleges. The article mentioned an immersive program founded by Thaler that places Williams College students in the homes of Portland immigrants and refugees and gives them the opportunity to volunteer in schools or with community groups. Over seven years, Thaler has placed students with families from Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, according to the article. Thaler said one student who had also studied overseas told him she was challenged more in Portland “because abroad she felt like a visitor. Here, she was still in the U.S. yet immersed in a culture not her own. It made the experience richer.”