Educating Globally Competent Citizens

A Tool Kit for Teaching Seven Revolutions

It is increasingly difficult for leaders to act in the short term in ways that will yield positive, long-term results. Instant information flows are bringing planning horizons closer and clos­er to the present; pressures from multiple stakeholders are eroding prospects for consensus. Are we preparing our students, the next generation of leaders, for this kind of flat world?

In exploring the world of 2025, the Seven Revolutions project identified seven areas of change expected to be most “revolutionary”:

  • population
  • resource management and environmental stewardship
  • technological innovation and diffusion
  • the development and dissemination of information and knowledge
  • economic integration
  • the nature and mode of conflict
  • the challenge of governance

Each of these seven forces embodies both opportunity and risk in the years ahead. Together, they will transform the way we live and interact with one another. That is why we call them the “Seven Revolutions.”

This Tool Kit, a part of the Seven Revolutions (7 Revs) initiative to educate globally competent citizens, is the product of a collaboration among the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and the New York Times. The Tool Kit provides background and content on the 7 Revs from CSIS, case studies on how seven AASCU campuses have used 7 Revs in their curricula, and teaching materi­als and resources that can be used to educate globally competent citizens using the 7 Revs frame­work. This introductory chapter includes background on the project partners and their activities, clarification of the project’s goals and objectives, an explanation of the context of the project, and an introduction to the 7 Revs framework.

Dennis R. Falk is a professor and director of graduate studies in the Department of Social Work at the University of Minnesota at Duluth. Susan Moss is a professor of art and women’s studies at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. Martin Shapiro is an associate professor of psychology at California State University, Fresno.

George L. Mehaffy, Erik R. Peterson

Dennis R. Falk, Susan Moss, Martin Shapiro

Scott Aughenbaugh

Former Fellow, International Security Program