Global Studies Begins a New Year

Despite international travel currently being on hold, St. Andrew's Global Studies is back in full swing for the 2021-22 school year. Travel Thursday — a weekly gathering during lunch in which Upper School students hear from our global partners as well as their peers and teachers — kicked off on August 26. Over the course of two gatherings, St. Andrew's students Emma Stokic, Stella Brewer, Stanley Qu, Caroline Snedeker, Eesh Majithia, and Unsh Majithia shared about their summer travels to Serbia, Italy, and Puerto Rico. And most recently, this week, students heard from Coordinator of Together Saints Przemek Tokarski on his trip home to Poland and Upper School art teacher Claire Whitehurst's work on cave paintings in France. These three meetings are just the first in an exciting lineup of Travel Thursday offerings that will continue throughout the year including speakers from Germany, Japan, Italy, and more.

 

Additionally, as part of the Global Studies curriculum, students have the opportunity to hear from international speakers during community time with their advisories. Most recently, students heard from Major General Walter Givhan. Currently the Senior Vice Chancellor for Advancement and Economic Development at Troy University, he spoke with students about the current events in Afghanistan as well as his time spent with the US Military in Afghanistan where he led the effort to rebuild the Afghan air force as Commanding General of the Combined Air Power Transition Force.

 

An upcoming opportunity for students to engage with our Global Studies program and celebrate the International Day of Peace will be a virtual summit that St. Andrew's will host on Saturday, September 18. Students will have the opportunity to hear from keynote speaker Dr. Jacob Bauer from the International Peace Museum, virtually tour the Peace Palace in The Hague and the Peace Trail in Washington, D.C., and participate in activities led by St. Andrew's faculty. Each of our partner schools will have a cohort of students participating and all students in grades 9-12 are encouraged to sign up for this free event by emailing Director of Global Studies Emily Philpott.

 

To stay up to date of all the exciting opportunities our students will have through our Global Studies programming throughout the school year — including through the perspective of our faculty and students themselves — follow @standrewsmsglobalstudies on Instagram.