What is college for, beyond learning more of what one already knows and is focusing on? Well, thanks to the efforts of some key groups on campus, an education at Elizabethtown College can provide the time to explore not only one’s identity and career options, but also the world.
The Center for Global Understanding and Peacemaking (CGUP) at Elizabethtown College held an open house Jan. 31 in several Nicarry Hall classrooms in order to increase visibility among students.
“We wanted to have an open house so people could be a little more familiar with all the center does, and especially highlight not what the center does, but what students involved with the center have been doing,” director of CGUP Dr. David Kenley said in an interview.
As it turns out, the students involved with the center have been doing quite a lot. A CGUP information sheet dedicated to student accomplishments listed short blurbs on what 11 Etown students in different majors and years have accomplished through the center recently.
All the listed accomplishments have taken place within the last 12 to 18 months. According to Kenley, there is no need to search through graduates’ accomplishments for something to talk about, due to the continuous nature of students’ achievements through CGUP.
These accomplishments include internships abroad, attending international conferences, conducting, presenting and/or publishing international research and more.
Beyond diversity of work experience, students affiliated with CGUP have been working in largely varied global environments including, but not limited to, France, Spain, India, the Philippines and Japan.
Many of the students who work with CGUP are a part of the Global Scholars Program run by the center. According to the Etown website, the program “provides an enriched learning opportunity designed to go beyond the traditional college experience and prepare its participants to work in an increasingly global world.”
The Global Scholars Program was started two school years ago and first offered to certain applicants to Etown College in the graduating class of 2020.
While in the program, students work with a faculty mentor to complete a directed study in the international and peace related area of their choosing. Students who graduate the program are awarded a certificate and honored with the Global Scholars medallion.
However, CGUP is helpful to students beyond those who are Global Scholars.
Senior Political Science major Marc Unger enrolled at Etown before the creation of the Global Scholars program, but his interests in world musics, travel and global politics led to his becoming involved with CGUP. He was one of four student representatives at the CGUP open house.
Unger received an International NGO/IGO Internship Scholarship which allowed him to complete an internship in India during the 2018 summer, after he first traveled abroad there during fall of 2017.
Unger has been able to vastly expand his professional network, even on an international level. He has had his research published, and will be presenting at several upcoming conferences including the 2019 National Student Research Conference held by Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honor Society, the 2019 Annual Conference held by ASIANetwork and the 80th Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania Political Science Association (PPSA).
Unger has been able to achieve as much as he has due to his motivation and personal talents, but also due to the assistance and support offered by CGUP.
According to Kenley “Students often don’t consider opportunities because they’re not aware of them. They key to success as a student is to keep an open mind and take that path you initially didn’t consider.”
Some of these opportunities exist in the form of grants, such as those received by Unger, or guidance from faculty such as Kenley. However, students first need to be aware in order to explore their options.
One of CGUP’s most well known efforts is seen in the annual Judy S. ‘68 and Paul W. Ware Lecture on Peacemaking, more commonly referred to as the Ware Lecture. Each year, CGUP hosts the lecture and brings interesting individuals and groups with diverse experiences to the campus. According to the College website, in previous years the Ware Lecture has featured Nobel Peace Prize recipients, influential journalists and political leaders from around the world.
The Ware Lecture this year will be April 11 at 7:30 p.m. in the Leffler Chapel and Performance Center.
This Ware Lecture will feature members of Silkroad, previously titled the Silk Road Project, a non-profit arts organization created by cellist Yo-Yo Ma in 1998.
The concept was inspired by the historical silk road, a trade network spanning from China to the Mediterranean. Even though this globalization led to spread of conflicts and disease, it also allowed for great collaboration and innovation.
Thinking of the wonders created by cross cultural collaboration, Ma brought musicians from the different regions along the Silk Road to co-create a musical group unlike any previously seen. CGUP Program Manager Kay Wolf is responsible for helping organize events for the center.
According to Wolf, every year there is a Ware Lecture planning committee made up of different people chosen based on the focus of the lecture for that year.
Because of the musical focus of the Ware Lecture this spring, the department of Fine and Performing Arts has been involved with the organization.
It’s important “to try and bring in students from different disciplines, and spread the interest [in global understanding and peacemaking]” Wolf said.
“[CGUP has] more opportunities than I can count, and all you have to do is drop in and say ‘Hello.’ This world is all about connections, and they‘re just trying to make it a little easier to have those,” Unger said.
Students interested in making these connections and exploring unexpected opportunities should stop by Nicarry Hall room 121, or look at the CGUP page on the College’s website.
