Global Citizenship Certificate: Overview

What will the Global Citizenship Certificate do for you?
Earning Eastern’s Global Citizenship Certificate will help you to develop and apply the skills, appreciation and knowledge you need to become a productive citizen of the 21st century. You will develop an increasing awareness of the complexity and interdependence of our global society. You will learn to understand, communicate with, and collaborate with fellow human beings from different cultures. You will explore the world—through your education and through meaningful experiences. Your experience will be documented, providing evidence to future employers of what you have to offer in this increasingly globalized world. 

A global citizen has critical knowledge. 

Stage One
The first stage of your journey to global citizenship provides you with knowledge and insights you’ll apply in the second stage. At this stage (usually in your sophomore and junior years), you are expected to do both of the following: Pass two college-level foreign language courses in the same language (6-credits); Complete a global field course or semester abroad which includes at least 3-credits of coursework in the history, culture, literature, environment, etc. of the host country. You are also required to do one of the following: Complete a multidisciplinary cluster of three courses, focusing on a particular region (e.g., Asia, the Middle East) or language group (e.g., Francophone, Spanish-speaking); or Complete a cluster of courses within a disciplinary focus but with a global perspective (e.g., 3 political science courses dealing with global politics). 

A global citizen has meaningful experience. 

Stage Two
Moving forward, you will collaborate with and lead others in a project that makes connections, builds relationships, and betters lives. At this stage (usually in your junior and senior years), you are required to: Identify a faculty member who will advise you in planning and completing your independent project; Take an active role in global or intercultural activities (e.g., a leadership role in a student organization dedicated to such activities or completion of a relevant internship or service project); Propose, complete, and document an independent project in which you apply, synthesize, and reflect on what you have learned and experienced in your courses and activities thus far. 

Worthy projects will require sustained, direct, and productive involvement with a specific community, organization, or group working in global and/or intercultural contexts.