Home >
Professional Networks >
International Education Leadership Knowledge Community >
International Education Leader Development Network >
Practice Resources >
Perspectives on Leadership and Management >
Practice Resources
Collegial Conversations, June 2008
Through these conversations NAFSA hopes to target the best practices and experiences of some of international education's preeminent leaders. Every month the International Education Leader Development Network will ask one of its subscribers to answer the following three questions. Over the coming year we hope to see many unique and thought-provoking answers.
Douglas Kincaid
A. Douglas Kincaid is vice provost for international studies and associate professor of sociology at Florida International University in Miami, Florida, where he has worked since 1985. As vice provost he is responsible for general leadership of the university’s international affairs, as well as supervision of area studies, study abroad, overseas offices, international agreements, and international student scholarship programs.
His research has been largely concerned with the sociology of development in Latin America, with specific focus on such issues as rural social movements, civil-military relations and democratization, and migration. He has conducted extensive field research in Central America. He has been principal investigator for contracts and grants from numerous sources, including the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Institute of Peace, and Miami-Dade County.
Dr. Kincaid holds a Ph.D. in sociology from The Johns Hopkins University, an M.A. in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a B.A. in Latin American Studies from Dartmouth College. He is active in several professional organizations, including the International Sociological Association, for which he served on the Executive Committee during 2002-06, as well as the American Sociological Association, the Latin American Studies Association, NAFSA, and the Association of International Education Administrators.
For the next month, Douglas will answer questions and offer gems of wisdom. Join the discussion now!
A Latin American studies background, moreover, proved very useful as I made the transition to international education administration. A commitment to interdisciplinary teaching and research, and especially to fostering foreign language competency, is second nature to area studies specialists, so developing and leading the broader agenda of internationalization that goes with an SIO position these days is really a natural outgrowth of that perspective. I would also say that a background in Latin American studies has become increasing valuable as immigration from Mexico and numerous other Latin American and Caribbean countries has transformed our society, such that international education can no longer be defined simply as learning experiences focused outside of our borders.
I also think that my training as a sociologist, and in political science before that, has been very important in shaping my approach to international education. To the degree that one has an informed understanding of social relations and institutions, forces for stability and change, and other conceptual tools in the social scientist’s kitbag, one should be in a better position to make good decisions about what kinds of international programs are needed and viable. Of course, there is plenty of room for miscalculations and you can still fall on your face!
In general, however, I would say that the most important quality to adhere to is a creative opportunism. Over the last couple of decades the domain of international education has become at once more vital, more problematic, and more complex. It is more vital with respect to enabling our students to navigate among the challenges of globalization, more problematic in that it faces new and often dangerous patterns of international conflict, and more complex as the range and scope of international programs pursued by institutions of higher education has rapidly expanded. In the midst of all this, an international education leader should be continuously attuned and ready to identify the openings for new programs and projects that present themselves, often unexpectedly. There are tremendous opportunities for growth in the international education arena today.
Islamic Modernism, Nationalism, and Fundamentalism, by Mansoor Moaddel. This is a stimulating work of historical sociology that helps to differentiate among the various currents of thought and ideology in the Islamic world and how they have played out in different national contexts.
Thunderstruck, by Erik Larson. A highly entertaining work of nonfiction constructed like a novel, the book juxtaposes an account of the scientific triumphs and controversies surrounding Marconi’s invention of wireless telegraphy with the unfolding of a murder mystery in post-Victorian Britain.
The Arts at Black Mountain College, by Mary Emma Harris. Between the early 1930s and mid-1950s, Black Mountain College was both a fascinating experiment in American higher education and a gathering place for numerous artists who were or would become highly influential in modern painting, music, and dance. And somehow it all transpired in a rural mountain community in North Carolina!
In the guilty pleasures department, I am also a devoted reader of George Pelecanos, whose novels are crime dramas played out in the inner city neighborhoods and suburbs of Washington, DC, with a strong dose of popular culture.
A. Douglas Kincaid
Douglas Kincaid
His research has been largely concerned with the sociology of development in Latin America, with specific focus on such issues as rural social movements, civil-military relations and democratization, and migration. He has conducted extensive field research in Central America. He has been principal investigator for contracts and grants from numerous sources, including the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Institute of Peace, and Miami-Dade County.
Dr. Kincaid holds a Ph.D. in sociology from The Johns Hopkins University, an M.A. in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a B.A. in Latin American Studies from Dartmouth College. He is active in several professional organizations, including the International Sociological Association, for which he served on the Executive Committee during 2002-06, as well as the American Sociological Association, the Latin American Studies Association, NAFSA, and the Association of International Education Administrators.
For the next month, Douglas will answer questions and offer gems of wisdom. Join the discussion now! How does your background influence your position as a senior international education officer at your institution?
It is certainly the case that the varied characteristics of SIO positions at different institutions can make a particular background more or less advantageous. I think I have been fortunate in that my background has been especially well suited to both the institution and my current position. In particular, my experience in Latin American studies, which goes back to my undergraduate years and continued through my graduate training as a sociologist, was apt for taking on a combined faculty/administrative position in a Latin American center at Miami’s public university, where two-thirds of the students are Hispanic, nearly one-third are non-U.S. citizens, and every hallway interaction is a multinational experience. That is a major reason why I am still there almost 25 years later.A Latin American studies background, moreover, proved very useful as I made the transition to international education administration. A commitment to interdisciplinary teaching and research, and especially to fostering foreign language competency, is second nature to area studies specialists, so developing and leading the broader agenda of internationalization that goes with an SIO position these days is really a natural outgrowth of that perspective. I would also say that a background in Latin American studies has become increasing valuable as immigration from Mexico and numerous other Latin American and Caribbean countries has transformed our society, such that international education can no longer be defined simply as learning experiences focused outside of our borders.
I also think that my training as a sociologist, and in political science before that, has been very important in shaping my approach to international education. To the degree that one has an informed understanding of social relations and institutions, forces for stability and change, and other conceptual tools in the social scientist’s kitbag, one should be in a better position to make good decisions about what kinds of international programs are needed and viable. Of course, there is plenty of room for miscalculations and you can still fall on your face!
Looking back at your career thus far, what is the single most important quality that you think every international education leader should have? Why?
On some days the most important attribute for an international education leader is patience. A feature of most such jobs, one that is alternately exciting and confounding, is the unpredictable interaction that you have with all segments of the university community. In the space of a few minutes you can bounce from an international student struggling to meet a tuition payment deadline to a dean needing an agreement approved yesterday, with time out for a phone call from the president with a sudden inspiration.In general, however, I would say that the most important quality to adhere to is a creative opportunism. Over the last couple of decades the domain of international education has become at once more vital, more problematic, and more complex. It is more vital with respect to enabling our students to navigate among the challenges of globalization, more problematic in that it faces new and often dangerous patterns of international conflict, and more complex as the range and scope of international programs pursued by institutions of higher education has rapidly expanded. In the midst of all this, an international education leader should be continuously attuned and ready to identify the openings for new programs and projects that present themselves, often unexpectedly. There are tremendous opportunities for growth in the international education arena today.
What are you reading or do you plan to read to further your professional/personal development?
Before I took on a full-time administrative role, I devoted most of my reading to works that were important for my research and teaching. Now, however, with less time available for reading, my preferences are more eclectic. I still read professional journals in sociology, area studies, and international education in an ongoing, possibly futile battle to stay up on current thinking. But with books I like to branch out. Those that I have enjoyed most recently are:Islamic Modernism, Nationalism, and Fundamentalism, by Mansoor Moaddel. This is a stimulating work of historical sociology that helps to differentiate among the various currents of thought and ideology in the Islamic world and how they have played out in different national contexts.
Thunderstruck, by Erik Larson. A highly entertaining work of nonfiction constructed like a novel, the book juxtaposes an account of the scientific triumphs and controversies surrounding Marconi’s invention of wireless telegraphy with the unfolding of a murder mystery in post-Victorian Britain.
The Arts at Black Mountain College, by Mary Emma Harris. Between the early 1930s and mid-1950s, Black Mountain College was both a fascinating experiment in American higher education and a gathering place for numerous artists who were or would become highly influential in modern painting, music, and dance. And somehow it all transpired in a rural mountain community in North Carolina!
In the guilty pleasures department, I am also a devoted reader of George Pelecanos, whose novels are crime dramas played out in the inner city neighborhoods and suburbs of Washington, DC, with a strong dose of popular culture.
