Hello!
Welcome to the 2019-2020 Alumnx newsletter! We’re excited to provide you with updates about the program and about our alumnx around the world. As our GSP alumnx network grows every year, we hope this newsletter will serve to keep you in touch with GSP’s expanding network. We would also like to invite you to join our 10 Year Anniversary Celebration Weekend on April 10-12, 2020. This newsletter includes a link to a brief itinerary of the weekend, and we will soon announce travel stipend opportunities!
Join the Global Scholars LinkedIn
Please request access to our GSP LinkedIn Group where our community shares opportunities for professional development, international travel accommodations, and personal achievements in global awareness and travel. We would like to encourage you to ask your GSP friends to join the group if they have not already!
GSP Turns 10! #GSPX
This year, the Global Scholars Program celebrates ten years of global scholarship, inclusive leadership development, and cross-culture collaboration to promote meaningful social change. From our first cohort of 32 students and one RA who boldly joined our pilot program in 2009, GSP has grown into a global community of over 130 students each year, more than 600 alumnx, and nine partner organizations across the world!
We hope you will join our celebration on the weekend of April 10-12, 2020 with main events on Saturday, April 11.
Our celebratory weekend includes dinner and performances from GSP alumnx Dante Michael and student groups Persian Club and Revolution! For more details, check out the brief itinerary.
RSVP today!
Your official invitation, including an opportunity to apply for a travel stipend to attend, is coming soon - watch your inbox!
In this newsletter:
Alumnx Spotlight
Fall Semester Highlights
Alumnx Spotlight
Melanie Keulawala
GSP Alum from 2016-2015
GSP significantly impacted my life but I did not make that realization until several years later. GSP was my very first exposure to foundational concepts in global health, sustainable development goals, human rights, and reflection as a tool for improvement. After GSP, I interned in Sri Lanka and helped to create one of the first breast cancer awareness programs. I then interned in South Africa working to teach an HIV health education module to at-risk populations.
This prompted me to pursue my MPH in Health Behavior and Health Education at University of Michigan. For my master’s internship, I had the opportunity to go to Ethiopia to research still-birth rates and to help create an intervention for a family planning clinic. After I graduated, I spent a couple of months in Ghana researching the distribution and impact of OB/GYNs on maternal and infant health.
As my experiences indicate, GSP was the foundation that paved the path for me to understand and develop a passion for global health. I am grateful to have studied global health through GSP before going abroad. Currently, I am a medical student at the University of Toledo hoping to continue helping mothers and children both domestically and on a global scale.
Nick Ferraina
GSP 10 Year Anniversary Planning Committee
This past summer, I was one of the 13 students who went on a month-long trip to India. On this trip, we lived with two NGOs, Jeevantirth and SKSN. Jeevantirth is an organization based in Ahmedabad that supports slum villages around the Gujarat area. One of my favorite destinations on the trip was the sun temple, shown in the picture. This temple had extremely intricate carvings of Gods, and it was an incredible sight.
The second NGO we worked with was SKSN, a school located in Jodhpur that teaches and houses students with physical disabilities. This school was hands down the best part of the trip, for me. At SKSN, we taught English with the students, which was a great deal of fun, but the most valuable engagement we had with the students was when we would hang out and play sports. We played volleyball in the pouring rain, cricket, and a southeast Asian sport called “kabaddi.” The joy that these students felt by interacting with people from another country was such a pleasure to be a part of, and it will stay with me for the rest of my life.
Fall Semester Highlights
This fall, eighty-two students in GSP’s signature fall class, “Defining Critical Global Issues,” focused on the themes of human rights, peace, and nationalism. Some of our lessons included the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Law, the Science of Sustaining Peace, Costa Rica’s Peace Constitution, Nationalism & Gender, and Transnationalisms & the Politics of Representation, and we also welcomed two guest lecturers, Kristina Daugirdas (Michigan Law) and Debotri Dhar (LSA Women’s Studies & Center for South Asian Studies).
In addition to participating in the weekly class, GSP students also attended Dialogues on related topics and worked together in Collaborative Groups through which they are completing Global Engagement Internships with our NGO partners.
This year’s partners are:
SKSN (India), Amnesty International (Detroit, USA), Warm Heart Worldwide (Thailand), Inkululeko (South Africa), Peace Boat (USA/Japan), We Help War Victims (USA/Laos), Apne Aap Women’s Collective (India), Alpha Education (Canada), the High Atlas Foundation (Morocco), and the Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation (Costa Rica).
None of this would have been possible without the two Graduate Student Instructors and twenty-three student leaders (Dialogue Facilitators and Collaborative Group Facilitators) who directly support the students in the class. Thank you, everyone, for a great semester together!
Chai Chatter
Chai Chatter is a great place to let go of stress, network, study, or just be around amazing humans!
Culture Show
GSP is a place to meet new friends from across the globe and engage in culture, friends, and food. Pictured at the top center is this year’s Advisory Council with their Instructor and GSP Associate Director, Ashley Wiseman, at Culture Show.
The GSP Culture Show is the perfect place to express one’s cultural heritage while learning about cultures from around the world.
Cider Mill Trip
Michigan weather only allows for so much outdoor fun and the fall festivities are a perfect time to venture outside. The RAs planned a Cider Mill trip.
