Developing Global Citizens

Professor of Organizational Management, Mark House and Santa Fe College student Sergio Mejia talk about the Global Solutions Project, a virtual student exchange program providing students the ability to practice cross cultural collaboration and learn about each other’s culture as they engage in the process of design thinking and discuss global issues in their communities. Sergio reflects on his experiences as a member of this bi-lingual, bi-national, bi-cultural team and how SF students joined students from Jordan using video conference and online chat to create a unified idea, business plan and pitch.  

Professor of anthropology Ann Laffey talks about her travel to Bolivia. She discusses the hospitality of a Quechuan village, mishaps in communication between non-native Spanish speakers, an encounter with a traditional spiritual healer and the profound impact of being present in Bolivia during the electoral process. 

On the 20 year anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks, host Vilma Fuentes sat down with current and former Santa Fe College students to ask them an important question - in what ways they had grown as global citizens in the last 20 years. Drawing on their common experience of enrolling at SF after serving in the military, alums David Durkee '14 and Angela Gregory '99, and current students Malia Rose and Brian Sullivan had a conversation about their life experiences, from combat to the classroom, and some of the ways the world has changed and the ways their exposure to different cultures has transformed them.

Santa Fe College Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs, Vilma Fuentes, talks with Humanities and Foreign Languages Chair, Bill Stephenson and Professor Kerri Blumenthal,   as they examine the challenges and adaptations required to internationalize virtual classrooms, as a result of Dr. Blumenthal's unexpected and extended Covid-19 quarantine in Peru. 

Vilma Fuentes talks with Jessica Cassidy, SF's International Education coordinator; Dr. Anna Ageicheva, Dean of Humanities at the National University Poltava Polytechnic in Ukraine; Dr. Regiani Zacarias, professor of English language at the Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho in Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Dr. Marcela Murillo, Spanish and Humanities professor at SF about the innovations that have transpired on international activities in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Santa Fe College assistant professor of Humanities, Dr. Sarah Cervone, talks about her work as a graduate student in Morocco and how she translates what she has learned in Africa to students here at SF.

In 2008, Brazil passed legislation to help promote inclusive education. Now, Santa Fe College has partnered with the State University of Sao Paulo to bring several inclusive projects to light. Join our host Dr. Vilma Fuentes as she speaks with Klaus and Eliza Schlünzen, two visiting professors from Sao Paulo State University (UNESP), as well as two of SF’s own instructional designers, Andy Sheppard and Jason Frank. Learn all about how Legos are leading educational innovation and what inclusivity really means in Brazil.  

What compels a person to travel across oceans and continents to enroll at Santa Fe College? Join our host Vilma Fuentes as she speaks with four students from Mali, Sweden, Venezuela and Syria whose lives have now intersected. You’ll be surprised which countries have free college but zero accommodations for disabilities, and just how far some students are willing to go to find a writing tutor. Try to guess which American phrases sound the silliest to students from abroad as you wrap your heart around all there is to love about small talk in the grocery store.  

Hold onto your heart. In this episode, host Vilma Fuentes speaks with Lila Guertin, cardiovascular technology professor at SF, one month after the passing of Lila's mother Azza Guertin. Azza, a biology professor, was "Santa Fe-mous" for her glamour, humor, and commitment to science education at the college. Hear Lila share the international love story between her Baghdad-born mother and her New England-raised father, their world travels, curious culinary experiences, and what it was like to have teaching as a core family value. Take note: four of Azza's children and four of her grandchildren have now graduated from Santa Fe College.

Join our host Vilma Fuentes as she speaks with SF's American Sign Language professor Michelle Freas about all the ways Santa Fe College has expanded its deaf culture curriculum to include the global community. With grant funding from the U.S. Department of State, she and other faculty members have been able to travel and form partnerships with deaf communities in Brazil, Ukraine and Palestine. Did you know our SF students collaborated with students in Qalqilya, a city in the West Bank, to create a virtual online dictionary of sign language? Listen here to learn more, or read our transcripts.