The Global Citizenship Project at Shenandoah University

I want to explain a bit about the Global Citizenship Project at SU, which has afforded me this incredible opportunity for travel and cultural exchange.

The Global Citizenship Project was inspired by long-time friend and former trustee of Shenandoah University, Dr. Nancy Larrick Crosby, who charged the university to find a way to impact across the institution in some significant way and consistent with our mission. Dr. Crosby was a tireless advocate for literacy around the world. Her model for engaging communities in the global context set the stage for what inspires with our students and community today, the Global Citizenship Project.

GCP is an opportunity to travel abroad during spring break each year with an academic focus in a group-oriented and faculty-led experience. 5-6 destinations are selected each year along with 5-6 very experienced faculty scholars to lead each group.

Full-time members of the university community - students, faculty as well as staff - submit streamlined applications that seek to identify those whose passion for the opportunity to learn abroad can be heard in a short essay (although not exclusively, the focus is on first-generation global travelers). Applicants do not know where they will be going each year and apply ready to be sent anywhere in the world (destinations not on the U.S. State Department warning list).

The university removes all barriers to participation except for one - passion! Expenses are paid apart from incidentals, logistics are handled by the institution, and anxiety is reduced with group-oriented, faculty-guided travel. Destinations are announced shortly after selection. Destination groups are formed with 11 participants each (seven students, two staff, and one faculty member plus the faculty scholar leading the group) representing the diversity of the institution on each trip.

Upon return, an intentional effort is made to stimulate dissemination of the experiences and lessons learned back into our various communities - on campus (through programs like Creative Scholarship Day), into the local community (through outreach programs into the schools as one example), and into student's home communities (through press release and media interviews).

There are 5 destination groups this year: Sweden, the Bahamas, Australia, Paraguay, and Ethiopia. I am traveling with the Ethiopia team. We leave on March 4^th, and will return on March 13^th.