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.

Global Affairs invites expressions of interest from UC Davis faculty interested in developing an international virtual course collaboration with partners at universities abroad to support the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

UC Davis Professor Beth Rose Middleton, chair of the Native American Studies Department in the College of Letters and Science, has long had an interest in the Caribbean. A 2020 Global Affairs Seed Grant has allowed Professor Middleton to develop courses on the Indigenous Caribbean and to develop exchanges and collaborations with Garifuna leaders.

In the remote learning environment, students in a UC Davis University Writing Program engineering writing class have a new way to engage in global collaborations. Ten small-scope, high-impact projects offered by companies based in Germany, Austria, Spain, Ireland, and Mexico are giving undergraduate engineering students in UWP102E the opportunity to put professional writing and communication skills into practice.

In the field of global education, change is inevitable. The COVID-19 pandemic reminds us how interconnected the world is, how global challenges manifest themselves locally and across borders, and how crises exacerbate other challenges such as poverty, inequalities, climate change, political tensions, and educational needs. The multiplicity of challenges reinforces the critical need for students to develop global awareness, skills, knowledge, and sensibilities – all of which make global education more important than ever.

UC Davis is the lead institution on a global classroom pilot project, partnering with Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico and Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China to create a framework for teaching the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) using a global classroom model that has been developed and utilized by Tecnológico de Monterrey and will be enhanced by UC Davis and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Global Affairs at UC Davis offered its Curriculum Enhancement Through Global Learning program this year, but like many things in the spring quarter, it concluded remotely.

During a UC Davis Global Affairs panel “Integrating Global Learning in the Classroom—Lessons from UC Davis Faculty” three faculty, who participated in the Global Affairs  Curriculum  Enhancement  Through Global Learning  2018–19 cohort, shared how they are integrating global learning outcomes, activities, and assessments into their courses and teaching techniques. 

I am pleased to announce that we are now accepting applications for the second cohort of the Curriculum Enhancement Through Global Learning program. This faculty development program, set to run in fall 2019 and winter 2020, aims to engage faculty members in infusing global learning into the classroom, aligning with the campus goal of Global Education for All students.

Through its newly launched Curriculum Enhancement Through Global Learning program, Global Affairs offers a professional learning opportunity for faculty looking to ensure their course content and teaching is preparing students to become global citizens. The program sparked a virtual classroom collaboration for one such faculty member.