Written by Nancy Erbstein, Aliki Dragona and Zak Frieders
The Global Learning Hub, a part of Global Affairs, was established in Fall 2019 to support the University of California Davis’ goal of Global Education for All. The Hub aims to be a one-stop shop where students can find global learning experiences that help them build global awareness, engage with global diversity, and pursue collaborative and equitable global action– abilities that support career development, civic engagement and leadership. Our diverse Latinx students, who comprise approximately 25% of UC Davis undergraduates, often come to the university with advanced skills in these areas, so alongside building these abilities, we also support them to recognize and tap those that they might have developed through lived experience.
To meet our students’ varied interests and circumstances, the Global Learning Hub offers four types of opportunities: Community Engagement; Global Skills and Leadership; Internships and Research; and Study Abroad. We offer free and low cost options, and collaborate with Financial Aid and Scholarships and university fundraising to offer financial assistance for programs that carry fees. Partnerships with the AB540 and Undocumented Student Center, as well as Services for International Students and Scholars at UC Davis and the UC Immigrant Legal Services Center, provide resources and support for undocumented, immigrant and international students interested in participating in programs that involve travel. Advisors help students reflect on their interests, identities, and needs and identify academic or co-curricular options that are a fit.
The Global Learning Hub links students to campus-based, regional, US-based, international, and online global opportunities and then helps launch their next steps beyond graduation.
UC Davis students bring tremendous cultural wealth to the university, so the Hub offers global leadership programming that underscores, celebrates and connects people across cultures right on campus, as well as online and elsewhere. For example, we encourage student engagement in the Global Engagement Living and Learning Community, the Global Ambassadors Mentoring Program and The Pal Program. We also offer an online program with UC Davis peers and students from Pacific Rim universities.
Many UC Davis undergraduate majors help students learn about the world and take on global challenges. Academic programs offered via partnerships between campus units and the Global Learning Hub complement them.
For example, through the Global Studies minor, students across majors learn about global issues and gain first-hand experience locally and/or internationally. Students prepare digital portfolios reflecting their experiences to share with potential employers or graduate school programs. The Hub collaborates with Avenue B and Avenue E programs to highlight the valuable intercultural skills and knowledge that Latinx and other community college students can bring to our campus, and to the fields of Biology and Engineering, as transfer students. First year Global Learning Seminars allow students to explore cultural diversity and/or learn about global challenges and how they are being addressed; limited to 19 students, they promote intellectual exchange, critical thinking, and community-building. Other instructors involve their students directly with professors and peers internationally through virtual collaboration. Hub summer courses introduce key professional skills and global frameworks used to advance the global good through scholarship, careers, and civic engagement.
Study Abroad and internship and research opportunities are pathways to satisfy academic requirements and learn by doing. The Global Learning Hub sends over 1,300 students to locations in the US and abroad annually through faculty-led or system wide programming.
Students study directly at universities in other countries through UC system wide programs. Through UC Davis Study Abroad, groups of 25-30 students study with UC Davis faculty for an academic quarter or four weeks in summer. For example, through our quarter abroad program in Oaxaca, Mexico, students may take UC Davis classes on transnational health and participate in internships. Or they may satisfy requirements in Biology by taking a four-week program in Belgium or Thailand. We are exploring programming with a shorter travel period.
Summer Abroad and Virtual Summer Internships are also popular. UC Davis internship faculty teach courses remotely to deepen their students’ experiential learning. Through internships, students can spend six weeks either in Barcelona, Spain, engaged in Business and Communications internships, or in Milan, Italy, in Design and Fashion internship, while others may work as education interns in Oahu, Hawaii. Virtual interns can work across the world in fields such as Engineering and Computer Science and Environmental Sustainability, and with organizations ranging from multinational companies to social impact non-governmental organizations.
The proportion of Latinx students that participated in our study abroad programs in 2018-19 slightly exceeded the percentage of our overall student population that identifies as Latinx. Students work closely with faculty and often build deep friendships and collaborations with peers.
UC Davis also helps students use their global education to support post-graduation employment and further education. Related programs include the Global Career Development Series and the Global Learning Conference.
The Global Career Development Series helps students learn about global careers and how to pursue them and connects them with professionals in various fields. The annual Global Learning Conference involves students in listening to speakers who work on global issues, developing their digital presence, fine-tuning their resumes and elevator pitches, and networking with professionals in their fields.
As an emerging Hispanic Serving Institution, we strive for inclusive excellence. To this end, we offer various global education options. We are working with Latinx student advisors and focus groups to guide us in expanding and deepening global programs to further address community needs and aspirations.
Even during COVID-19, our Latinx students have sustained their global engagement. For example, Global Aggie Christal Juarez is a recent first generation college-going graduate from Los Angeles who studied in Switzerland, Argentina and Chile. During the pandemic, she described listening to online programming from the world’s leading climate experts as part of a Global Affairs internship, noting, “The fifth session was actually in Spanish as it was led by SDSN South America, so I felt delighted to engage in global learning in my first language.”
Authors’ bios:
Nancy Erbstein, faculty in the School of Education, and Associate Vice Provost for Global Education, Global Affairs, oversees the Global Learning Hub where Aliki Dragona, faculty in the University Writing Program, serves as Faculty Director of Academic Programs and Zak Frieders is Executive Director.
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