GALE fosters partnerships with diverse international institutions. We define partnership as a learning-based relationship rooted in reciprocity. We do not see ourselves as experts but rather see each partner as experts of their own experiences. It is through collaboration that we can learn from each other and work towards strengthening our institutions’ research activity. We believe effective partnerships leave all parties more informed and better equipped to meet any challenges they may encounter.
GALE provides professional development to faculty, staff, and students of partnering institutions, often in collaboration with faculty and staff at Michigan State University. This professional development is designed to provide both new and established scholars the resources and skills to strengthen their research agendas, grant applications, and publication records thus improving their institution’s research designation.
As such, GALE prioritizes two models of pedagogy:
Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) integrates writing instruction throughout a student’s university education. WAC gives students discipline-specific writing instruction and feedback and understands writing as a practiced skill that facilitates critical thinking. WAC believes that writing in different fields gives students the opportunity to become more competent and rhetorically savvy communicators.
Writing in the Disciplines (WID) takes a more narrow approach than WAC and is focused on the writing conventions typically expected in different academic fields. WID focuses on giving students field-specific knowledge about writing and prepares students for success in academic and real-world contexts.