Summer Seminar in Global Issues: Creating Tomorrow’s Global Leaders
By Veronica Dristas
 |
|
|
For most students, summer is a time to take a break from classes. But for 36 globally-oriented high school students, summer became an opportunity to expand their knowledge of global issues. In mid-July, the 36 students gathered for the two-week Summer Seminar in Global Issues. The Seminar was led by Ms. Michael- Ann Cerniglia of Sewickley Academy, who had students examine issues of Urbanization, which included health and sanitation in refugee camps; water accessibility in Africa; illiteracy, education, and unemployment; environment and sustainability; domestic and foreign security; refugee migration; and conflicting goals of ethnic and religious groups. To aid the students in their discussions and problem-solving activities, speakers who work in the international community were invited to share their experiences and expertise. Expert speakers included Dr. Scott Kofmehl, Senior Vietnam Desk Officer at the U.S. Department of State; Carolyn Miles, president and CEO of Save the Children; and Debra Lam, Pittsburgh's Chief Innovation Officer. Students also spent 75 minutes each day studying Arabic or Chinese with instructors from the University of Pittsburgh.
The students participating in the Seminar represented 23 Pittsburgh-area high schools, and included three visiting students from Islamabad, Pakistan. The Pakistani students brought new perspectives to the dialogue while dispelling stereotypes about their country. Upon completion of the program, students received a certificate of participation.
One of the highlights of the Summer Seminar was a Q&A session with Steve Inskeep, co-host of NPR's Morning Edition. He also signed copies of his book Instant City: Life and Death in Karachi, which students had used during the seminar as a means to study the pertinent issue of urbanization. The chance to speak with the author in an animated dialogue really enlivened the issue of urbanization for the students. Other activities included a field trip to the RACE exhibit at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and lunch at Conflict Kitchen to learn about Venezuela with Dr. Scott Morgenstern, Director of the Center for Latin American Studies.
The program was developed for rising juniors and seniors by Pitt's Global Studies Center and the University Center for International Studies in partnership with the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh (WACP). The Summer Seminar builds students' international content knowledge, world language skills, and college readiness. Participating students looking to build their global skills resume welcomed the language component of the Seminar. Overall student reaction at the conclusion of the Seminar was quite positive, as suggested by Siddarth Narayan, a rising junior in the North Allegheny Senior High School, who indicated "the seminar has been great; and the enthusiastic staff and variety of speakers have been some of the best parts. No matter what you're interested in, there's a speaker from your interest area." The Seminar may be expanded in Summer 2015 to a four-week residential program with on-campus housing at Pitt.