Global Citizenship Awareness through Campus Events

Fairleigh Dickinson University-Vancouver offers a variety of programs, services and facilities that meet the needs of the FDU community creating an environment for individuals to interact and learn from one another. It also provides opportunities for student, faculty and staff involvement in campus life. The opportunities offered to students are designed to add balance to student life. One of the most integral programs developed at FDU-Vancouver to create world leaders through global education is the University’s Critical Events. Critical Events are composed of socially-conscious themes with activities where students can act on the global challenges they will face in the future at a LOCAL level in both co-curricular work and in FDU’s academic work. FDU faculty are encouraged, where possible, to integrate the themes into at least one assessment required of the courses that they teach.

FDU’s first cross-campus co-curricular project was based on the theme of Violence against Women and the University provided support for the Vancouver Rape Relief & Women’s Shelter in the Summer of 2008. FDU’s participants raised money for the cause and participated in a walkathon in Stanley Park. In the Fall of 2008, students, faculty, and staff members participated in the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup for the second year in a row. Students learned the importance of environmental sustainability through theoretical and practical applications. In the Spring of 2009, FDU-Vancouver worked with UNICEF through the Spread the Net Campaign to help end the spread of Malaria. The theme of child welfare was examined by raising funds through various activities to purchase protective bed-nets for children in sub-Saharan Africa. Coincidently, many of FDU’s international students grew up sleeping under protective bed-nets, therefore the theme was of special importance to them.

Typically, an FDU Vancouver student completes their degree over eight semesters so over the course of their studies a student would participate in eight globally-focused Critical Events. So upon graduation a student would have created a substantial portfolio of cross-disciplinary work on world citizenship, giving them an added advantage in today’s international job market.