Globalization is radically transforming technical communication (TC) both in the workplace and in higher education. This article examines these changes and the ways in which TC programs position themselves amid globalization, in particular the ways in which they use emerging global partnerships to prepare students for global work and citizenship. For this purpose, the authors report on a Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication-supported exploratory study of current partnership initiatives in TC programs. The study indicated a high level of activity, planning, and interest in global partnerships and revealed a range of creative and innovative partnerships that systematically integrate new opportunities for experiential learning, collaborative international research, and civic engagement in a global context into programs and their curricula. Partnerships also emphasize cultural sensitivity, equal partner contribution, and mutual benefit, thus offering alternatives to emerging global trade visions of higher education. The article also identifies key challenges that partnerships face, suggesting implications for programs and the field as a whole to facilitate successful partnerships.Certainly the top global concern for technical communicators in the United States is the notion of sending TC work offshore. (Giammona, 2004, p. 355) We are at the beginning of the era of transnational higher education, in which academic institutions from one country operate in another, academic programs are jointly offered by universities from different countries, and higher education is delivered through distance technologies.As these quotations attest, technical communication (TC) in both the workplace and higher education is undergoing powerful change as a result of globalization. As TC manager Giammona (2004) found in her survey of influential TC practitioners, globalization is one of the key issues technical communicators face in the workplace. At the same time, as TC programs respond to these changes, they find themselves positioned in what higher education researcher Altbach (2004a, 2004b) described as a profoundly changing environment.In this article, we explore these changes in both the workplace and higher education and examine how TC programs position themselves amid these changes. In the first part of this article, we analyze globalization trends and their influence on TC in the workplace, specifically noting the literacies technical communicators need to develop for global work and citizenship. As we show, these changes increasingly call for new program partnerships to facilitate learning environments that immerse TC students in global digital networks with professionals, peers, citizens, and experts from diverse contexts; challenge students to negotiate and build shared learning cultures across diverse boundaries; and provide students with new opportunities for civic engagement in a global context. However, these are not the only changes calling for new partnerships. These partnerships also play an...
