嘿嘿视频

Educating the Global Citizen

Cultural learning experiences abroad and closer to home prepare students for their futures.

Liz McAllister didn鈥檛 have to wait for the elaborate welcome ceremony of a rural Nepalese village to get firsthand experience of that country鈥檚 culture 鈥 she got it from a dog barking in the background of a Skype call last fall. 

The Nepalese student on the other end then explained she was responsible for making sure the dog wasn鈥檛 too loud, because her family had given her permission to adopt it. To McAllister, it sounded a lot like something that could happen in the United States.

College students in Nepal with facepaint
Above: Senior Emily Nguyen was all smiles during the village welcome ceremony where Nepalese villagers adorned the students with flowers and face paint. (Liz McAllister)

鈥淲hen you鈥檙e getting to know someone, it鈥檚 a relief to know that there are shared experiences that you often forget about,鈥 McAllister said. 鈥淭hese little things really united us.鈥

By the time she and 14 other students made their trip to Nepal last December, they had already spent an entire quarter at 嘿嘿视频 planning projects to preserve cultural artifacts, improve irrigation, help plan new small businesses and more.

The combined class and trip, one of 嘿嘿视频鈥 first seminars abroad, is one of many new opportunities envisioned as the university moves toward a goal of giving every student some global exposure before graduation, an initiative dubbed Global Education for All.

The Nepal Seminar Abroad鈥檚 basic structure was different from a traditional study abroad program. Students were split into teams with different goals. McAllister, a design major, was part of a group helping local mothers plan a cultural museum so the village can preserve its history as more young residents leave for jobs in other countries. They planned their approaches throughout fall 2017 with Nepalese university students and a professional mentor from that country, as well as 嘿嘿视频 faculty and staff.

McAllister marveled at the insight she gained while still in Davis 鈥 like a student turning the camera around to show the nighttime Nepalese street 鈥 and her class鈥檚 ability to sit in a conference room at 嘿嘿视频 and talk with people they probably wouldn鈥檛 have had access to otherwise, like a candidate for Nepalese political office.

鈥淭here were all these amazing people doing all these amazing initiatives, and we could just ask them a question on the screen,鈥 she said. 鈥淣ot very many people get that opportunity, so I count myself as being very lucky.鈥

Once they arrived in Kathmandu and met the Nepalese students they knew through video chats, they traveled to the village of Machhapuchhre and got to work. When McAllister and her team of museum designers met the group of mothers who wanted to preserve the village culture, they agreed on a photo exhibit to showcase their variety of clothes and jewelry. They photographed the mothers wearing traditional garb and hung prints in a room of the group鈥檚 community center. And because they were only in Nepal for winter break 鈥 fewer than three weeks 鈥 they discussed ways the museum could be expanded later, where previous exhibits could be stored and how future visiting students might help. In the end, the mothers were so grateful they dressed the Aggies in traditional clothing for their final presentation to the village. McAllister said she was honored to feel so accepted by the group.

鈥淲e felt like we were one of them,鈥 McAllister said.

Students share Nepalese doughnuts and a fermented and dried vegetable dish. (Liz McAllister)
Samrat Katwal, left, and Bijaya Poudel, founders of the educational nonprofit Hands-On Institute, served as instructors for the Nepalese students and helped the 嘿嘿视频 students navigate local culture during the trip. (Liz McAllister)

McAllister said she came away from the trip with the satisfaction of having made an impact and developed skills she could share with the 嘿嘿视频 community back home. But the trip served another role: showing how 嘿嘿视频 can provide international exposure to students who might not be able to commit to a full quarter or summer abroad because of a job, family commitments or other reasons. 

鈥淥ften our go-to is study abroad,鈥 said Nancy Erbstein, director of the Global Education for All initiative in Global Affairs. 鈥淏ut if you live in the Central Valley, you鈥檙e globally engaged.鈥 

Finding ways to give students global experience through trips to other U.S. communities, local internships with multinational companies or diverse living arrangements on campus will play a major role in the Global Education for All initiative, said Joanna Regulska, vice provost and associate chancellor of Global Affairs. 

鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to go abroad to have an intercultural experience,鈥 Regulska said. 鈥淭here are a number of different ways through which students can gain a certain level of global competency, global understanding and intercultural competency, and we should be open and not force one model on everybody.鈥 

Global experience increasingly is a requirement for success after graduation, Erbstein and Regulska said. For example, chemistry labs aren鈥檛 run the same way around the globe, and a student who has worked with international scholars before graduating would know to anticipate differences, Erbstein said. 

鈥淎s we鈥檙e training students, if we want them to be leaders, scientists, health care providers, educators, artists or simply engaged community members, there鈥檚 a good chance they鈥檙e going to have to navigate cultural differences,鈥 Erbstein said. 鈥淲e want to be cultivating that curiosity in our students.鈥 

Global Education for All signifies an ambitious goal. Some aspects of the plan are already underway, while others will be years in the making. 

One of the most tangible changes on campus if the plan is to succeed is an expansion to the International Center, the home to 嘿嘿视频 Continuing and Professional Education, Global Affairs, community and study spaces and classrooms that opened just two years ago. The additional space would serve as a hub where students could have access to global learning resources across campus, and faculty and staff members could find resources to add global aspects to curricula and programs. 

In the meantime, the campus is taking stock of existing programs that give students exposure to various cultures, like a student-run veterinary clinic in Knights Landing, a small community north of Woodland. 

Many of the animals treated there belong to migrant farm workers who primarily speak Spanish, said Monica Figueroa, a veterinary student and co-director of the Knights Landing One Health Center. 

A college student receives a scarf
Liz McAllister is wrapped in a scarf during a New Year鈥檚 ceremony at a monastery in Pokhara, as the group headed back to Kathmandu to leave Nepal. (Simon Han)

鈥淭his provides our veterinary students, pre-vet students and even our faculty veterinarians with the opportunity to learn how to communicate with clients across language and cultural barriers without having to travel to a different country,鈥 Figueroa said. 

But 嘿嘿视频 will need more options if all its 39,000 students are to have global learning experiences. Regulska estimates the university would need somewhere north of 7,000 such options; it鈥檚 unknown how many currently exist. 

Students are involved in the work to plan the overall initiative, but have also laid the groundwork for a project to get the entire campus thinking globally. A group of 15 undergraduates spent this fall serving as U.N. Millennium Fellows, planning events to be held during the 2019鈥20 academic year to spur discussion about ways to reduce hunger locally and around the world. That topic will rotate in the future, as part of a new program under Global Education for All. 

The fellows had access to professional development, U.N. mentors and peers from the 29 other campuses selected for the program, but the planning process itself gave those involved exposure to fellow 嘿嘿视频 students with varied global backgrounds and experiences. 

Nehal Jain, the fellowship鈥檚 campus director and a junior managerial economics major, was born in India and said she got involved with the fellowship because international exposure is important to her. 

Rina Singh, a senior triple majoring in international relations, economics and Italian, was born in Italy to Indian parents who closed their jewelry factory three times in anticipation of emigrating to the United States, only to be rejected or delayed. She finally moved to California in 2012, and said global exposure has given her more empathy. 

鈥淵ou see people from all walks of life, but you don鈥檛 feel any different from them,鈥 she said. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e lived some aspect of what they might be going through.鈥 

Maria Arteaga, a senior majoring in managerial economics, said she鈥檚 glad to be exposed to the Millennium Fellows (McAllister and another student who went on the Nepal trip are also fellows) because she isn鈥檛 able to study abroad. 

She said being involved in the initiative鈥檚 planning process has taught her more about herself and others. 

鈥淐ollaboration among people who are different from you is important,鈥 Arteaga said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really about enriching your life. You鈥檙e exposed to other people鈥檚 problems, other people鈥檚 joys.鈥 

The students who have been gaining global exposure have benefited in other ways, too. McAllister is currently working on a University Honors Program thesis with Origin Materials, a startup based in West Sacramento focused on developing renewable alternatives to plastics and other materials. When the company asked if she had experience working with international projects, she had an answer ready: 鈥淲ell, this one time when I was in Nepal 鈥︹ 

This is one of several , forward-thinking, interdisciplinary programs and projects that will build upon the strengths of UC Davis to positively impact the world for generations to come. .

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