The Global Citizenship Curriculum Project is an initiative of the Task Force on Global Citizenship of the International Association of Jesuit Universities (IAJU).
In his address to the first assembly of the IAJU in Bilbao, Spain, in 2018, Father Superior Arturo Sosa, S.J., emphasized the importance of “education for world citizenship.”
The IAJU Global Citizenship Curriculum Project, launched during the second IAJU assembly in Boston in 2022, connects students and faculty across the Jesuit network of some 200 colleges and universities worldwide through a shared Global Citizenship Course Module.
Global Citizenship Course Module
The course module is a set of four recorded lectures (about 20 minutes each) and accompanying readings (about 20 pages each). The lectures address:
Global citizenship as a mindset and practice
Contemporary challenges and opportunities
Global citizenship and care for our common home
Jesuit universities and global citizenship
A pilot semester in spring 2023 had participation from over 500 students and 36 professors at 20 institutions in 12 countries. Faculty across the network were invited to incorporate the course module into their classes during the fall 2023 semester. Over 700 students across almost 50 courses at 31 Jesuit universities in 17 countries participated in the fall 2023 semester.
Global Student Dialogues
Students taking classes with the course module are required to participate in at least one global Zoom dialogue with peers around the world to discuss global citizenship. Registration for the student dialogues for fall 2024 will open on August 15, 2024.
Global Citizenship Fellows Program
The Global Citizenship Fellows Program is an annual aspect of the Global Citizenship Curriculum Project. Each year, students participating in the project are eligible to apply for the program. This year, the program will bring 12-14 students from around the world to Bogotá, Colombia for an in-person dialogue and study tour from June 30 through July 3, 2025 during the IAJU International Assembly. Selected fellows will meet several times on Zoom in advance of the study tour to develop concrete ideas about advancing global citizenship across the global Jesuit network. In Bogotá, they will have an opportunity to continue their conversations, present their ideas, and take part in site visits. On their return, fellows will share their reflections about the experience on the project website.
To be eligible, students must participate in a Global Student Dialogue and fill out this application form by December 8, 2024. This application will be open in September 2024.
The Global Citizenship Fellows Program first took place in the 2021-2022 academic year, with online dialogues culminating in an in-person meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, in August 2022 on the occasion of the IAJU assembly. The second iteration of the program took place during spring 2024 semester and concluded with an in-person study tour in Rome, Italy, in June 2024.
To find out more about the Global Citizenship Fellows Program, please visit the project webpage.
Contact
The Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University is serving as a secretariat for the project.
Please direct any comments, questions, or suggestions to Thomas Banchoff, co-chair of the IAJU Task Force on Global Citizenship, or contact globalcitizenship@georgetown.edu.