Most of us, myself included, tend to think on a macro-level when we think about making a difference in the world—but in truth, there are so many groups and organizations in our own communities already doing so much of that work. While attending a research university is an incredible opportunity to participate in the research and innovations solving global problems, it’s equally as beneficial to take action locally.
The 2022–23 UC Davis Humphrey fellows arrived on campus with the goal of strengthening their professional development and collaborating on global challenges using their collective expertise. During the fall quarter in collaboration with UC Davis Sustainability, the fellows facilitated a First-Year Aggie Connection for new undergraduate, international and transfer students on climate change.
This month, UC Davis welcomed Prasetyo Hadi, head of mission, Mahmudin Nur Al-Gozaly, consul for information and socio-cultural affairs, and Cindy Claudia German, socio-cultural officer, from the Consulate General of Indonesia in San Francisco to celebrate the Indonesian International Student Mobility Awards (IISMA) participants and UC Davis’ collaboration with Indonesian universities.
Meet the recipients of the Global Aggies Award for LGBTQIA+ Rights! These students have been supporting LGBTQIA+ graduate students and staff from around the world through their research in the Queer Trans Lab, which they plan to visually showcase via social media and a large art installation.
Global Affairs provides a plethora of training resources that help staff support scholars and students throughout their global educational journeys by offering staff learning and development courses through Services for International Students and Scholars (SISS) and the Global Learning Hub.
Five UC Davis students have been recognized by the U.S. Department of State as 2022 Critical Language Scholars (CLS). Gurshan Rai ’23, Moriah Shih ’23, Charles Sills ‘25, Carlie Whiteman ’23, and a fifth student (anonymous) will spend 8-10 weeks this summer mastering critical languages and improving their cultural competency as part of the program.
Concerned by recent reports of official documents being destroyed at security checkpoints due to the shift of power in Afghanistan, UC Davis professor Keith David Watenpaugh found it critical to help students preserve their academic achievements under the Taliban. So this summer, Watenpaugh and a team of interns at the university quickly implemented a Dari/Farsi version of the Article 26 Backpack tool to remedy this issue.
Global Affairs Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Internship
In September 2015, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted by UN Member States. Central to the Agenda is the set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which define a plan of action for people, planet, and prosperity to be undertaken by all countries until the year 2030.
In June 2020, Universitas 21 (U21) named UC Davis among the winners of its inaugural Global Education Enhancement Fund. Through this grant, UC Davis partnered with Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China and Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico to create a framework for teaching the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through Global Classroom modules.
Meet the six Critical Language Scholarship winners (the most ever!) mastering Arabic, Urdu, Punjabi, Japanese, and Chinese this summer—and the two Donald A. Strauss scholarship recipients whose projects address systemic health inequities through community development.
