Global Engagement Studies Institute (GESI)

Student Instructor applications are open! GESI alums, please consider applying to be leaders for the 2019 cohort! Apps due March 15.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfybejh9UxnPbExGBddppC8bnO__r7XF-7MUeANmNQ5QE3fzQ/viewform

"When Caleigh Hernandez picked up a pair of beaded sandals in a Ugandan market, she was in awe of the delicate bead work and craftsmanship." Proud of GESI Uganda alum being featured by Forbes for her company RoHo!

How This Millennial Created A Stylish Solution To Address Poverty A trip to a craft market in Uganda changed this Millennial's life and turned her into a social entrepreneur

Our partners in Uganda received the 2019 GESI brochures!

Big news: GESI is integrating with Northwestern University Undergraduate Learning Abroad! We are excited to merge into one office that will serve as a comprehensive resource for all undergraduate study abroad. (Students, don’t worry – this doesn’t affect your study abroad plans!) Learn more about the integration:

The GESI program and ULA merge to offer “one-stop shop” experience for study abroad: Buffett Institute - Northwestern University The Global Engagement Studies Institute (GESI) program and the Office for Undergraduate Learning Abroad (ULA) have merged into one unit. Led by Director Sara Tully, this new office will make study abroad services even more accessible to Northwestern students interested in international academic exp...

We love to see what GESI alums are up to after the program! Congrats to Hannah, who is studying music education in six countries this summer thanks to her research and the Circumnavigators Travel-Study Grant.

Northwestern senior Hannah Whitehouse awarded grant to study El Sistema worldwide Hannah Whitehouse had never left the United States before she started school at Northwestern. The Bienen and SESP senior said international travel always seemed like a far-fetched idea, but the Circumnavigators Travel-Study Grant is making it possible for her to study music education in six countrie...

We're so excited to kick off our partnership with organizations like this in Vietnam, starting with our cohort in a few short months. Congratulations to Ms. Khanh and GreenID!

Nguy Thi Khanh of GreenID wins Goldman Environmental Prize | Student Exchange Vietnam| Internship & Study Abroad in Vietnam Five out of six of the world’s top environmental prize went to women this year and notably one of them …

Next week, our team is convening a panel of our community partners from around the world (including some GESI site leaders) to facilitate conversation around aligning values and improving community outcomes in global service learning.

A Preview: Putting Shared Values into Practice in University-Community Partnerships - Campus Compact Corey Portell and Emory Erker-Lynch, of Northwestern University’s Buffett Institute for Global Studies, are convening a panel of community partners, Margaret Amanyire​, Foundation for Sustainable Development, —Uganda; Julio Arze Balderrama​, Tukuy Pacha —Bolivia; Daniel Bryan​, Pachayasa...

Congratulations to alum Karolina Skarzynska, whose case study was recently published in the International Undergraduate Journal for Service Learning, Leadership, and Social Change!

Income Generation in the Nakanyonyi SACCO Community: Case Study of Community-Based Development in Jinja, Uganda By Karolina Skarzynska, Published on 02/25/18

¿Te enteraste? The deadline for Bolivia, Costa Rica, and Guatemala has been extended to MARCH 26! Learn more and secure your spot for this summer: http://gesi.northwestern.edu/apply/application/

"People who live in popular voluntourist destinations are already doing the hard work to create systemic change...yet these voices are underrepresented in our media. Many of them are critical of foreigners’ efforts because their interventions fail to understand the drivers of the very problems voluntourists hope to address. The critical point is this: Context matters. Communities don’t passively wait for foreigners to fix things."

Noelle Sullivan, assistant professor of instruction in global health/anthropology and a GESI pre-departure instructor, contributed her thoughts on on the Huffington Post .

Opinion | When Volunteering Abroad Does More Harm Than Good Sometimes the best way to help isn’t to volunteer but rather to “shut up and listen.”

Noelle Sullivan, assistant professor of instruction in global health/anthropology and one of our pre-departure instructors, recently had a great conversation about voluntourism on WGN Radio.

Saturday Night Special 2.3.18 | Volunteering and Non-Profit This week on a slightly shortened Saturday Night Special, host Amy Guth looks at the topic of volunteering, non-profits and the often complicated nature of trying to help those in need. First, Amy talks with Lisa Dietlin, President/CEO of the Institute of Transformational Philanthropy. They discuss....