On this episode, Stephanie talks with Dr. John Buschman about “Social Responsibility in the Hospitality Industry,” a global learning course he developed that is open to Hospitality majors and non-majors alike. John teaches corporate social responsibility and international tourism at Florida International University’s Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism in Miami. John educates current and future generations of hospitality managers on their social responsibilities toward the planet and the communities in which they live and work. He earned his Ph.D. in Social Welfare from FIU’s Robert Stempel School of Public Health & Social Work and holds a Master's degree in Hospitality Management from FIU. John’s research and extensive community engagement work is centered on food systems sustainability, food waste reduction and recovery, and the redistribution of nutrition to homeless and food-insecure populations. He is particularly interested in the role of the events industry. To that end, he serves on the boards of directors of the Florida Food Policy Council and the Sustainable Events Network, Florida & Caribbean. Originally from Michigan, John has worked all over the world serving in executive positions in leading tourism and hospitality operations in Brazil, Mexico, Spain and the Caribbean and is fluent in both Portuguese and Spanish.
Resources Mentioned
- "An Attainable Global Perspective,” by Robert Hanvey
- Florida International University Global Learning (GL) Designated Courses
- Clean the World Hospitality Recycling
Great Quotes
“It's interesting that I get really good reactions from a large number of the students because I take the challenge with them…whatever I asked them to do, I do it. So, if it's service learning in the community, they are going to see my post from whatever service I'm performing in the community. It really helps them quite a bit. They see the professor doing it and they feel more comfortable about doing it themselves.”
“I want them to understand as hospitality managers, they can be aware of the issues. They can be aware of what's going on in their own operations and find opportunities to share, to help, to contribute to the local communities where they operate.”