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Home>About Bergen>Community Outreach / Centers of Excellence>Center for the Study of Intercultural Understanding>Mission & Goals

Mission Statement

MISSION STATEMENT

Working collaboratively with the entire College and Community, CSIU promotesteaching and learning for intercultural understanding and global awareness in ourincreasingly diversesociety.

To achieve its mission,CSIU seeks to:

  • Facilitateand coordinateintercultural initiatives and activities.
  • Encourage faculty, through discussions on curriculum and teaching, to make students aware of global interdependence.
  • Fund and develop pedagogy that engages our students in the critical issues of our day.
  • Involve students in community issues that enhance racial, religious, and ethnic understanding.
  • Build partnerships on campus and throughout Bergen County that foster harmonious communities as well asan appreciation of diverse perspectives.

A Vision:

We envision the Center for the Study of Intercultural Understanding as an essential "home" - a resource, advocate, broker, and arbiter - for intercultural teaching and learning at Bergen Community College.

  • CSIU connects existing intercultural learning experiences on campus.
  • CSIU brokers partnerships and alliances among and between members of the campus community, the Bergen County community, and the global educational community (including the United Nations).
  • CSIU strives to help BCC members explore and draw frombest proven practices to foster innovation.
  • CSIU leverages the rich diversity of the College's student populations to create new educational synergy.
  • CSIU encourages the exploration and study of cultures, both on campus and abroad.
Perhaps most significantly, CSIU promotes meaningful Dialogue across differences, serving the College as a resource to promote civility, conflict resolution, and ethical decision-making. CSIU's guiding principles are inclusiveness, empathy, and respect - the foundations of Dialogue and a solid basis for intercultural teaching and learning.