40 High School Students Visit Westminster for Global Issues Learning Experience

Pictured above: Westminster student David McDermott ’15 discusses global issues with Jefferson City High School students.

Forty ninth graders and faculty from the Global Studies Academy at Jefferson City (Mo.) High School visited Westminster College last week as part of their introduction to global issues and the start of the new “academy” system at Jefferson City High.

Dr. Kurt Jefferson with Jefferson City High School students

Westminster’s Churchill Institute for Global Engagement (CIGE) hosted the students who heard from President Barney Forsythe, Senior Vice President and Dean of Faculty Carolyn Perry, and Assistant Dean for Global Initiatives Kurt Jefferson.  Jefferson is also the Director of the CIGE.

Students learned about global studies, an international worldview, how colleges study global issues, and engaged in an applied workshop on how college disciplines view different global problems like health challenges, economic inequality, terrorism, climate-related issues, and energy issues.

The CIGE has forged partnerships with high schools in Missouri and China, and since 2010, the CIGE has created partnerships with universities in Britain, China, France, Mongolia, South Africa, and Turkey.

The CIGE houses the Study Abroad and Off-Campus Programs Office, the Hancock Symposium at Westminster College, the Westminster Honors Program, the Model United Nations Program, and two academic majors:  Transnational Studies and International Studies.