Global Scholars Extended Program Description | Center for Undergraduate Research and Academic Engagement

Please review the information below for a more extensive description of the Global Scholars Program. These sections are broken up by the subjects of frequently asked questions. If you have any further questions or would like further clarification on any of this subject matter, please email CRE Associate Director for Global Programming, Warren Oliver (boliver@fsu.edu).

Additionally, please check out the blogs from past cohorts of FSU Global Scholars!

International Travel

Global Scholars is a program to be completed in an international, domestic, or remote setting. However, any international travel is subject to FSU’s wider travel policies and guidelines for students, staff, and faculty. As a result, all international travel will need to be approved by the university before the summer. This process will be covered within the Spring Theory Course.

Program Themes and Timeline

The program consists of a theory (spring) course and a reflection (fall) course, both of which occur online and explore the ethical and political complexities of attempting to ‘do good’ or ‘help others’ while crossing significant differences of culture and power. The program also introduces students to qualitative, community-based research paradigms and provides space for reflecting on larger questions about power, privilege, inequality, and diversity. Overall, the program consists of 3 distinct phases:

Theory Course (Spring 2023)

The spring coursework consists of nine 'units,' each of which is oriented around an essential question. The essential questions are as follows:

Unit 1: What do we mean by "community", and how does it relate to our understanding of "identity"?
Unit 2: How do we engage communities, and what is ethical engagement? How does our understanding of "development" help shape that?
Unit 3: What are different types of community engagement (Part 1), and how should I get involved with practice-based as well as research-based projects? (2 weeks)
Unit 4: How is our idea of "development" connected with issues and paternalistic attitudes from those intending to do good in a community?
Unit 5: How can we match our intended experiences within our skill sets, and why is this important for ethical community engagement?
Unit 6: What are some ethical issues and specific problems within development and social impact work? (2 weeks)
Unit 7: What is our privilege, and how does it affect how we serve a community?
Unit 8: Why is community representation within media relevant to our understanding of community development?
Unit 9: Where will you go from here?

Along with these essential questions, students will explore qualitative research methods (with special regards to story-telling/narrative and ethnographic methods) to enrich their understanding of community experiences and cultural perceptions of the world around them.

Student Experience (Summer 2023)

Alongside their Spring coursework, Global scholars make plans for their independent global learning experiences during Summer. The Global Scholars program offers students a wide range of resources for identifying opportunities for independent global learning experiences.

Throughout the summer, Global Scholars pursue their independent global learning experiences, and begin working on their digital storytelling projects as a way to document their ongoing observations and reflections.

Reflection Course (Fall 2023)

In the Fall, students re-convene as a cohort to share and reflect upon their summer experiences. Through an ongoing process of workshopping and peer-review, students build their Capstone Projects and prepare for their final public presentations at the Global Scholars Showcase, where they share their work with a broader audience.

Funding/Program Costs

Financial Aid/Funding

Funding will be available for students to help cover the cost of their summer experience. Students will apply for and be selected on a needs-basis as a part of their application process during the Spring Course.

For other awards, click here or look at FSU's Office of National Fellowships, the Center for Leadership and Social Changes' Moellership program, as well as CRE's IDEA Grants.

Despite these grants, it is important that students contribute to some of the costs of their Global Scholars experience. Research suggests that when students fundraise for their experience, they often feel more invested in the experience and are less likely to leave their experience early because they do not want to disrespect the donors who helped them head overseas. Writing to family, friends, and community members, as well as charities and foundations, is an effective approach to raising funds for your experience. In fact, students can often fully fund for their volunteering experience through donations. During the theory course, students similarly learn how to appropriately budget for their experience as well as effective fundraising strategies to insure their ability to afford their experience.

Students may also earn enough academic credit for their experience (a minimum of 6 hours per semester) to make them eligible to use their financial aid (Federal student loans and grants) or Bright Futures scholarship money. The amount of a student's financial aid is awarded based on the amount of credit hours taken per semester, so a part-time load (6 hours) will result in less financial aid for that semester.

Students may use funding from IDEA grants, Moellership, or other university awards to fund Global Scholar Projects.

Costs

All students pay tuition for a one credit hour Global Scholars Training Course (INS 3006) during the spring semester and a one-credit hour Global Scholars Re-entry Course (INS 3005) during the following fall semester. Other costs vary, depending on field site and type. Some field sites include accommodation and food; airfare and visa fees vary by country. Additionally, remote opportunities can all be done from home.

Independent projects arranged can be significantly less expensive than the pre-arranged small group summer projects. However, these independent projects take more initiative, and may have less on the ground administrative support and structure. Additionally, any independent opportunity would need to be approved through the appropriate FSU channel (such as the SIEP, for international opportunities, or ERP processes) before students would be able to complete such an experience.

At a cost of $500 (and with grants available) plus the two credits for the theory and reflection courses respectively, Global Scholars is one of the most affordable ways for you to gain authentic global experience during your tenure at FSU. If you end up traveling as part of your experience, you will occur additional costs.

Academic Credit/Recognition

Credit

Students may earn 1 academic credit for each semester (Spring and Fall). In the summer, students may earn additional credits (up to 6 credits) in the form of internship or directed independent study. Students should work with individual faculty members to arrange for DIS credit. Additionally, by completing the fall course, students can use their experiences for the formative experience requirement for graduation; and students may also apply to the university’s Experience Recognition Process (ERP) for further recognition of their summer experiences.

Students completing any in-person international experience would need to register their summer credits through FSU International Programs’ Independent Internship office. Here are the forms.

Recognition:

In addition to becoming part of the new Global Scholars network of program alumni, participation in Global Scholars can be used to fulfill some requirements of the Global Citizenship Certificate. The Global Scholars program could help you complete the internship, service, or international sections of program. The same experience can be counted for up to two areas of Garnet and Gold Scholars Society.

Students may also gain internship recognition through the University Experience Recognition Program. This would then allow students to count their summer opportunity as formative experience for graduation.

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