Growing Learning Understanding Everyone (GLUE)

GLUE is a curriculum developed by the teaching and learning specialists at Purdue University's CILMAR: Center for Intercultural Learning, Mentorship, Assessment and Research in order to provide content and mentorship to Purdue students as they engage across cultural difference--on study abroad, in international research teams and virtual exchanges, and here on our diverse campus. GLUE features experiential learning, dialogue and reflection built on a solid theoretical basis.

Annual institutional licensing will soon be available 

The GLUE curriculum will soon be available to those not affiliated with the Purdue University-West Lafayette campus through cost-effective and scalable institutional licensing, which allows our partners to use the curriculum with an unlimited number of learners for one annual fee.

With its easy-to-adapt modular organization and capacity for co-branding, GLUE is a turn-key solution for intercultural development without the hassle and cost of per-administration purchasing.

Through this course, learners will be able to:

  • Identify more about themselves as cultural beings.
  • Unravel their own biases.
  • Consider new or more nuanced perspectives.
  • Form better connections with peers and communities.
  • Build a more inclusive and just world together with others.

GLUE Content

The GLUE curriculum was created through backward design and content mapping processes by a team of intercultural learning, global learning, and diversity-equity-inclusion-belonging experts at Purdue University from CILMAR, Study Abroad, the Center for Instructional Excellence, and various STEM colleges. Version options include a "one-credit" course with 15 contact hours and a "three-credit" course with 45 contact hours. Both versions are a combination of asynchronous self-directed modules and live sessions with peers and a mentor, organized into 8 units. GLUE is copyrighted, licensed, and will soon be distributed by the Purdue Research Foundation.

Units and Modules

Unit 1: Gearing Up
  • 1.1--Taking a look at the journey ahead
  • 1.2--Exploring your motivations
  • 1.3--Connecting to your discipline
  • 1.4--Interacting across difference
Unit 2: Self-Discovery
Unit 3: Cultural Discovery Skills
  • 3.1--Cultivating mindfulness
  • 3.2--Checking your assumptions
  • 3.3--Testing hypotheses through interaction
Unit 4: Cultural Savvy
  • 4.1--Defining culture
  • 4.2--Exploring ways of viewing the world
  • 4.3--Working through the Praxis Cycle
Unit 5: Empathy
  • 5.1--Finding common ground
  • 5.2--Empathizing across difference
  • 5.3--Examining what shapes us
Unit 6: Different Lenses
  • 6.1--Taking different perspectives
  • 6.2--Applying the Platinum Rule
Unit 7: Adaptive Communication
  • 7.1--Getting comfortable with discomfort
  • 7.2--Shifting communication styles
  • 7.3--Working through the Praxis Cycle
Unit 8: Lifelong Learning
  • 8.1--Checking in on goals
  • 8.2--Exploring your profession
  • 8.3--Measuring your growth
  • 8.4--Planning for continued learning

Pricing Information

As a land grant institution, Purdue is invested in providing accessible high quality learning resources. Pricing for GLUE will be based on a cost recovery model, designed simply to pay for CILMAR's labor in creating the curriculum. 

We welcome your inquiries at cilmar@purdue.edu.
Updated July 6, 2023