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The Program for Education in Global Stewardship

A note about the original proposal: The following was submitted to the Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation and was awarded a three year grant of $525,000 for the academic years 2002-2005. The proposal was subsequently approved by the Committee on Courses and Degrees and the Faculty with minor alterations: one, that the concept of "Certificate Program" be in keeping with our current practice in which students who complete a "Program" receive a notation on their transcripts upon graduation; and secondly, the core courses listed below were modified and re-titled as "The Geography of Human Culture" and "Contemporary Global Issues". (JB)

Washington and Lee University, as an institution, is both mindful of its past history, traditions and leaders and its firm commitment to the ideal embodied in its motto, non incautus futuri, and the necessity to be responsive to a rapidly changing world with bold and innovative plans. To this end, the University has designed a new program in global education whose core is Global Stewardship defined as a commitment to the responsible management of world resources (natural, human and economic) through informed leadership. This carries with it the necessity for a broad perspective on issues of central importance transnationally and an ability to think and act interculturally. The Program for Education in Global Stewardship does not seek to create “instant experts” but rather to lay a foundation upon which students and faculty may develop their skills, knowledge and understanding of the world within a global context.

The program is designed along two tracks: first is a Certificate Program in Global Stewardship, and second is a complementary program in Global Learning Across the Campus and Curriculum. Each program serves differing needs and aspirations of students, but equally instills within all persons the vision, tools, knowledge and experience to become stewards of global citizenship.

I. Program Overview, Goals, and Objectives

(a) Overview:
A rapidly changing world requires a dynamic perspective on the interdependence not just of nations and peoples but also issues and concerns which unite and divide them. It might be argued that providing a vision for students on global stewardship must inevitably become a central feature of our evolving notion of what a liberal arts education is meant to be. Certainly, we believe it is a responsibility which students, as citizens of the 21st century, must necessarily cultivate and which Washington and Lee, as a primary vehicle for education, must seek to instill.

A program which defines itself as providing a basis for “global stewardship” must combine a values-based examination of our role in accepting such a responsibility with a practical knowledge some of the approaches used. To this end, the program is structured to offer a basic introduction to and background in some of the most vital problems and issues that will confront humans in the coming decades and the tools being used or invented to manage them. Our program will provide a broad framework of understanding while encouraging students to utilize and apply this broader understanding within the more specific context of the discipline in which they are majoring. It is through such an integration of values and practicality that the most meaningful education and engagement for our students and faculty on a global basis can be achieved. For this reason, the Program for Education in Global Stewardship is proposed by Washington and Lee.

The program is designed along two tracks. The first is a Certificate Program in Global Stewardship which will enable students to pursue a focused course of study with classes, seminars and internships in global stewardship alongside their major. This study will examine central themes and problems confronting the world at the dawn of the third millennium. The second and complementary component is the Program for Global Learning Across the Campus and Curriculum, a broader effort aimed at both students and faculty to increase a campus-wide exposure to and education about the world and issues of global responsibility. We believe this dual thrust is very timely for Washington and Lee and is uniquely consistent with the ethos of the University.

(b) Program Goals

Introduce students to the ideals of global responsibility.
Provide an overview of central themes and problems confronting the world at the beginning of the 21st century.
Educate students about the interconnectedness of transnational problems and solutions.
Encourage students to apply this exposure of the global community to a specific area or discipline.
Offer educational opportunities to increase a practical orientation toward global stewardship.
Provide students with exposure to a variety of approaches for global stewardship.

(c) Program Initiatives

Initiative I: Certificate Program in Global Stewardship
Initiative II: Program for Global Learning Across the Campus and Curriculum

Initiative I: Certificate Program in Global Stewardship

The Certificate Program would highlight the University’s commitment to and provide a clear vehicle for a select number of students to pursue their interests in international affairs. Students from any academic discipline would be invited to apply to the program at the end of their freshmen year or midway through their sophomore year. A faculty director would be appointed to oversee the program and coordinate the several courses specific to it. The Certificate Program will consist of four learning levels.

1. At the first level, typically undertaken during the freshmen or sophomore year, students would gain exposure to background issues on global stewardship through two foundation courses. These courses would be open first to students registered with the program, then on a space available basis to other students. The courses would utilize selected examples from a broad historical and geographical range. The first of these foundation courses would focus on: Human Geography and Culture, including an examination of such topics as human migration and mobility, the historical background and contemporary realities of social organization and interaction, the impact of environment, both rural and urban, on global life forms, the impact of humans in particular on the environment and the role of culture in defining values and motivating human action. Through this course, students would also receive a basic introduction to the role and use of geographic information systems. The second foundation course would examine in more detail:
The Global Environment, providing an overview of some central themes and problems confronting the world at the dawn of the third millennium which may include the environment, global warming, population growth, poverty, global food supplies, health and healthcare, nationalism, global economic interdependence and natural resource management. The course would also introduce students to existing agencies concerned with and strategies being directed towards these problems (successfully and unsuccessfully). Use of and a growing familiarity with geographic information systems technology would continue in this course.

2. At the second level, undertaken during the sophomore and/or junior years, students would be asked to choose a field of interest focusing on a global theme and often a particular region of the world. This field of interest must be approved by the faculty program director and may or may not coincide with a student’s declared major. It is not intended that the field of interest would be simply a geographical region though such geographical focus may likely be a part of it. Students would then proceed to acquire a more in-depth knowledge of at least one area of the world and one central global issue relevant to this field of interest by taking at least four courses at the 200 level or above appropriate to the field, working primarily within existing curriculum at W&L.

For example, a student may state a field of interest which focuses on Latin America and development economics and decide to focus on developing markets in Central America and their impact on local poverty.
In this example, courses to meet the four-course minimum requirement could be selected from departmental offerings in economics, Spanish or history and from the Poverty Studies Program. These would develop background knowledge appropriate to the field of interest. Students could also arrange an independent study and/or complete some of this course work while abroad (see below) although at least two of the courses should be completed before the student leaves campus.
In addition, each student would also be enrolled in a program of language study which would result in a high degree of competency in at least one foreign language, demonstrated by successfully completing at least one language course at the 300 level.

3. The third program level would consist of a study abroad or overseas internship experience with demonstrated relevance to the declared field of interest. In either case, it must be planned in consultation with the faculty program director and the Office of International Education.

If a study abroad experience, it would be: undertaken for a minimum of one full academic term; provide maximum integration into the culture of the host country; allow a direct and purposeful study in the field of interest, preferably at a level more advanced than that possible on campus; offer experience through direct enrollment at a foreign university, through a study abroad program or, more rarely, through a specialized research program; receive prior approval for the program and course of study from the Office of International Education and the faculty program director.
If an internship experience, it would: be planned for a minimum of eight weeks; provide direct exposure to a working environment relevant to the student’s field of interest; designate an on-site supervisor who is informed of the purpose of the Global Stewardship Program at Washington and Lee and agrees to oversee this internship experience with the program’s goals in mind.

4. The fourth level would be completed after the return to campus following the overseas experience described above. It would consist of:

Participation in a Studies in Global Stewardship capstone seminar utilizing case studies of global projects in various fields which have been developed to address some of the issues discussed in the foundation courses.
Student presentations of capstone papers in which they will outline their particular field of interest, in most cases using their abroad experiences for illustration, which papers and experiences may or may not be part of a senior honors thesis being completed for a departmental degree.
Further training in geographic information systems applications and an introduction to other appropriate technologies.

CERTIFICATION Upon successful completion of the program, a student would receive a certificate of accomplishment from the Education for Global Stewardship Program along with his or her degree. It is hoped that for some of these students at least, the program will be an initial stage leading to more advanced study with a view towards meaningful professional engagement in the area of global citizenship.

Initiative Two: Program In Global Learning Across the Campus and Curriculum

Working as a complement to and in support of the Certificate Program, but intended to have a much broader impact within the W&L academic community, The Program for Global Learning Across the Campus and Curriculum initiative would establish a number of key opportunities for faculty and students to expand their knowledge and understanding of the world. While less specific in its intent than the Certificate Program, it would be based upon a strong conviction that commitment to the ideals of global stewardship would inevitably grow out of a greater exposure to and understanding of different cultures and peoples. Various aspects of the program would be designed to increase international access to members of our community beyond those in the Certificate Program and to build a base upon which the intentions of the global stewardship program could naturally be developed.

It is crucial to the success of the program and its aims that it engage both faculty and students through an educational compact offering obvious benefits to both. The Global Learning initiative, therefore, would create program agendas targeted to serve specific needs of both. While largely independent of each other, each will have implications and advantages for the other.

1. Faculty

For faculty, an emphasis would be placed on international development seminars, a Visiting Scholars Program, and international travel for course development. Each of these could be developed into highly visible elements in our strategy to enrich our teaching and research, with clear administrative support.

(a) The international development faculty seminars would seek to highlight a particular country or region in the world or a specific global theme, fostering knowledge of the area or the subject while also offering an exploration of issues which may extend beyond an individual culture. The seminar would culminate in a site visit by the participants, who would then be asked to evaluate how the experience could be applied to their teaching. The seminars would be structured such that:

Six to eight faculty would be invited to join the seminar, led by a seminar coordinator recruited from our own faculty or from another institution.
The subject of the seminars would be developed on a yearly basis, at least one year prior to their inception. Subjects would be chosen with reference to current and ongoing curricular initiatives on campus.
Generally, these seminars would be yearlong programs with regular meetings during the academic year, although an alternative model may be used at times to structure an intensive seven to 10-day program abroad, using a foreign university as a base of operations.

Examples: A seminar would be developed with a geographical focus on Brazil and a thematic focus on the dynamic relationship between environment and economy and the implications for poverty policies in the region. Such a seminar would utilize the regional expertise of our newly appointed director of Environmental Studies while engaging the interest of and opening new lines of inquiry for faculty participating in our Poverty Studies and Economics programs. Faculty with a more general interest in Latin America would also find such a seminar useful and stimulating to their research and teaching.

In another year, a seminar could be developed focusing on central Europe, with the thematic background of media and politics in emerging democracies as the principle subject of inquiry. Faculty from our journalism, sociology and politics departments would find common ground for discussion in such a forum; a visit to meet with leaders in these fields in Poland and the Czech Republic at the end of the yearlong seminar would allow them an opportunity to test their conclusions and make contacts with potential visitors to Washington and Lee.

(b) Visiting scholars would be invited to the University to share their expertise and perspective, participating in the courses offered through the certificate program, but also visiting classes in relevant subjects across the campus and giving open guest lectures. At the same time, we would encourage our faculty to explore options for overseas exchanges. The administration of the Visiting Scholars Program would:

Have an annual calendar, beginning with an invitation from the deans of the College, Commerce School and Law School to department heads and faculty for proposals for visitors.
Be responsive to such proposals which may include a request for either short-term or long-term visitors, the former from several days to several weeks, the latter for a term or, more rarely, an entire year.
Expect that most scholars, while bringing expertise to a particular department, would also be engaged in and be able to contribute more broadly to the Global Stewardship Program, including guest lectures in courses specific to that program (see below).
Reside under the jurisdiction of the vice president for academic affairs in conjunction with the academic deans, the Global Stewardship program director and the Office of International Education. In consultation with these, the vice president for academic affairs will nominate and invite Visiting Scholars for the following year by March 1 of the preceding year for any tenure to begin during the fall term, by October 1 for any tenure to begin during the winter term, and by December 1 for any tenure to begin during the spring term.

(c) To encourage the development of new courses with a broader inclusion of international topics and points of view and that could deal with issues of particular importance to our Global Stewardship initiative, Global Course Development Grants would be offered separate from and with a different purpose than the current options available for international research and conference attendance. It would be intended that:

Faculty would apply for Global Course Development Grants through the vice president for academic affairs by October 1 in the calendar year preceding the academic year in which the course would be introduced, after having obtained approval from their department head and dean.
All course proposals would also be considered by the Faculty Committee on Global Stewardship who would consult, as requested, with the deans and vice president for academic affairs on curricular priorities.
The proposal would detail ways in which the new course would add further global perspective to the department’s current offerings and how it would support the aims of the Global Stewardship Program.
The proposal would also outline a timetable for its development and its on-going place in the departmental course offering calendar and the personnel needed for its teaching and support.

2. Students

The program would offer students a range of components designed to enhance their global learning opportunities, both on and off campus. It would implement new study abroad options and programs, senior thesis research grants, an international internship program and new on-campus language-culture houses. Each of these would complement the offerings of the Certificate Program in Global Stewardship but also stand independently and be available to all students.

(a) Study Abroad Options
The Office of International Education would work with faculty and departments to identify specific needs for study abroad options and to implement programs to satisfy them. Approaches to new study abroad initiatives may include:

New spring term abroad programs following our existing models, or the development of new models for semester or even summer programs.
A study abroad program (or programs) specific to the Certificate Program in Global Stewardship, i.e., a short-term, spring course abroad which would follow naturally on the topics of the Certificate foundation courses but allowing some field applications to the theories discussed.
Programs which, while still supporting the general Global Stewardship program and ideal, would also be directed towards other student interests or departmental needs such as the Washington and Lee/University of St. Andrews Cooperative Program for pre-medical students currently under development, or the Washington and Lee Italian Studies Program which is under preliminary exploration.

(b) Senior Honors Thesis Global Research Grants Program
Students would apply through and with the recommendation of their thesis advisor for a grant to undertake research abroad necessary for the completion of their thesis. Grants would normally be restricted to amounts of $2,500 or less. The application must provide:

A summary of their thesis subject.
An overview of the research they will undertake.
A statement of purpose as to why this research is being undertaken abroad.
A detailed budget of projected expenses.

(c) Global Internships Program:
An important part of preparing future leaders as Global Stewards is to allow them to begin gaining experience as transnational workers. Short-term internship assignments, for a period of eight weeks or longer, could offer them an introduction not only to the skills and means being practiced in a certain professional discipline, but also to the manners and perspectives adopted and employed by those working in these fields in different countries and cultures. To increase access to such opportunities, often inaccessible because of financial circumstances, the program proposes to institute a specific grants program to encourage and support such endeavors. These grants would be available both to students in the Certificate Program in Global Stewardship and to other students who can demonstrate a relevant need, interest in and appropriate preparation for such an experience.
The program would be structured as follows:

Students would seek out and propose a specific internship assignment relevant to their field of study and the aims of the Global Stewardship Program, in consultation with or with the assistance of the Office of International Education, the Global Stewardship Program director, and their academic advisors.
Each proposal would include a description of the internship assignment, documentation on the organization with which the student would work and a letter of invitation from the organization outlining the proposed internship duties.
The proposal would also include a detailed budget for the internship, including anticipated travel expenses and the amount of funding available to help support the internship through the student’s own or other resources, and a financial aid request form (usually not to exceed $3,000).
Students would submit an internship report upon their return to campus.

Several other initiatives would be undertaken as the program gets under way for later implementation. These would include:

A planning process for a Global Village Project on campus, centered on language and culture houses serving residential, social and academic purposes and tied to Washington and Lee’s Romance Language, German and Russian and East Asian Languages and literature departments.
A broad-based discussion on how to encourage greater inclusion in Global Stewardship Programs and objectives for freshmen, including a review of general education requirements in this respect and possible opportunities for summer or spring term programs directed specifically at freshmen.
Continuing special support for the newly founded student organization SAIL (Student Association for International Learning) and the various subcommittees operating under its umbrella–The Model UN, the International Students Group, the Study Abroad Interest Group and the Student’s International Development and Relief Committee–to encourage its role in the overall mission of the Global Stewardship Program.

II. Administration

The global learning aspect of the program would be managed by a committee composed of faculty and administration, coordinated through the Office of International Education. This committee would also form an advisory panel for the Certificate Program and its newly appointed faculty director. The committee and director would perform their duties under the general supervision of the vice president for academic affairs.

The program would not, in either of its main initiatives, seek or intend to “reinvent the proverbial wheel.” While a sequence of several new courses would be necessary for the program, there is neither need or incentive to change or create curricula where there is no pressing need; this would in fact run contrary to the basic ethos of the program and the institution. The program would seek to be supportive of rather than intrusive in the affairs of individual departments. The primary aim of the program’s administration would be to:

Educate the W&L community about global stewardship and its goals.
Facilitate discussion and cooperation across departmental lines in relevant areas.
Encourage interdisciplinarity and innovation in course development and revision.
Coordinate the planning and implementation of the various programmatic components in order to meet the evolving needs of the institution and its faculty and students.

III. Impact On the W&L Community Of Learning

Global stewardship is an ideal which may inspire the best purposes of higher education in the modern world. The immediate beneficial consequences of the program as outlined above in the lives of our students and faculty are a greater opportunity for and broader access to a meaningful and thoughtfully constructed study of the world in which we live. Such a purpose may become a prominent part of our mission statement and we would hope to enjoy its result by attracting a student body and a faculty who would recognize and share this interest and commitment. Building upon such momentum, the program would continue evolving to satisfy these interests by presenting an ever greater array of curricular and extracurricular options for global involvement. It is hoped that the primary purpose and achievement of this program would be to move this crucial initiative, traditionally if incompletely defined as international education, from the peripheral vision of many of our students and faculty to the center stage of our daily lives and academic pursuits. By doing this, our goal would finally be to make this study of the world and our commitment to its improvement inevitable and inescapable to anyone involved in the educational life and purpose which Washington and Lee University offers. If successful, global learning and stewardship would become not simply an educational choice but a natural consequence of what we do.

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