Spherical thought: Over, above, beyond things flat!

Abstract

Spherical thinking comprises the notion that academic objectives, as well as human interests in general, lie on a curved plane as points equidistant from a center. Spherical thought crosses standard disciplinary boundaries as well as geographical or demographic ones, thereby comprising transdisciplinary dynamic, continuous interactivity. In the twenty-first century, such thought is commonly carried out, often enhanced, with the Internet. Exemplarily, European Union educators have proposed programs promoting Internet-enriched spherical thinking. And an EU-style curriculum has been effectively emulated in electronically delivered French language and culture courses at Coastline Community College, in California, USA, exploiting a simple four-phase template of praxis applicable internationally: Leap inside, jump outside, discuss dynamically, and conceive and achieve actionable results. Besides honing their language skills, Coastline’s intermediate-advanced learners of French online have come to understand how to examine in a spherical, transdisciplinary fashion certain questions formerly classed within defined cultural, professional, or academic domains and how to profit from such examination techniques to become responsible global citizens.