Global Partnership Scholars

Informed, ethical, and globally engaged in the co-creation of a more just, inclusive, and sustainable world, both at home and abroad.

 

The Global Partnership Scholars Program is a competitive, three-year, cohort-based academic experience centered on building sustained, mutually beneficial partnerships locally and globally. The program fosters strong relationships among cohort members, their Faculty Mentor, and the communities and organizations with whom they collaborate.

First-year students apply to join the program and, if selected, begin the academic sequence during their sophomore year. Scholars complete 18 semester hours across their sophomore, junior, and senior years. Under the guidance of a Faculty Mentor, each cohort studies a region and related social issues, identifies potential community partners, and works collaboratively to develop a partnership grounded in shared priorities, ethical engagement, and social justice.

Rather than entering a community with a predetermined project, Scholars learn to listen, build relationships, and work alongside community partners to identify appropriate and sustainable forms of collaboration. Throughout the three-year experience, students strengthen their abilities to work across differences, examine complex issues from multiple perspectives, and understand both the possibilities and responsibilities of community-engaged work.

Past cohorts have collaborated with organizations and community leaders to support equitable and sustainable community tourism in Sri Lanka; document lived experiences in Cuba; strengthen communication and outreach with partners on the Pine Ridge Reservation; promote youth leadership and development in Ghana; and support community-based health and education initiatives in India.

Although the program is now known as Global Partnership Scholars, its academic structure, cohort model, and commitment to ethical local and global partnership remain unchanged.

Find out how to become a Global Partnership Scholar

Current and Upcoming Global Partnership Scholars Cohorts

Beginning with the Class of 2029, cohorts will carry the Global Partnership Scholars name. These current and upcoming cohorts continue the program鈥檚 longstanding three-year academic model and its commitment to student leadership, cultural humility, ethical partnership, and sustained local-global engagement.

Class of 2027: Sri Lanka, partnering for economic empowerment for women, Dr. Mathew Gendle (Psychology).

Class of 2029:聽St. Kitts and Nevis, food apartheid and food insecurity, Dr. Vanessa Drew-Branch (Human Service Studies).

Class of 2030: Appalachia, USA, sustainable development, Dr. Evan Small (Wellness).

Class of 2031: Location聽TBD, Prof. Amanda Tapler (Public Health).

Class of 2032: Eastern Europe (specific location TBD), immigrant/refugee issues, Dr. Jennifer Eidum (English)

Class of 2033:聽Sri Lanka, TBD, Dr. Mathew Gendle (Psychology).

Class of 2034: Location TBD, the impact of “fast fashion”, Dr. Jessica Navarro (Human Service Studies)