Promoting human flourishing through international education: Pursuing a world where all can thrive

Abstract

International education and exposure to other cultures is one way to further a desire within our students to work towards a world where all people have the opportunity to flourish as human beings. Herein, I use an ecological approach (Bronfenbrenner, 1994) to map out human flourishing at various systemic levels but spend the most time focused on the Macro level. Human flourishing cannot happen if a person is merely surviving; a person must be thriving in his or her life. All ecological levels – from the micro to the macro – must support or provide opportunity for thriving across physical, spiritual, emotional, and psychological domains. I argue that the role of educators – particularly those in higher education – is to help create a space where our students are exposed to different cultures, ways of living, and even injustice, so that in turn they become passionate about ensuring that all people can flourish.