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GLOBAL SCHOLARS
Piloted in the 2019-2020 school year, the Global Scholars Program has seen rapid growth since its inception. From three students obtaining the Global Scholars Certificate in the first year, to one the second, the program is now on track to have six graduating seniors this year with 10 juniors and two sophomores involved as well. “We’ve seen some real growth despite the fact that the program launched and has only been offered during the global COVID-19 pandemic,” said Director of Global Initiatives Melissa Thompson. “Our first two years we were smaller, and this year we really exploded in terms of student interest and applications.” Designed to give students the opportunity to immerse themselves in globally minded pursuits, the Chatham Hall Global Scholars Program is open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Unlike programs in other schools, in which coursework alone suffices to obtain a certificate, the Chatham Hall program has myriad requirements. Beginning with the application process, students must submit a 500-word essay outlining their interest in becoming a Global Scholar. Within this essay, students must include personal experiences (or lack thereof) which have sparked their desire to become global citizens. Once accepted, students must maintain a 3.5 GPA for the entirety of their program participation; complete four years of study of a world language; complete at least 5.5 credits of courses determined to have a global component; actively participate in an internationally focused club for at least two years with one year in a leadership role; participate in community service linked to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals; and complete a 25-page capstone thesis as well as present it to the public in a symposium in the spring of their senior year. “I think something that really inspires students to join the Global Scholars Program is the fact that they can research a topic that they are really passionate about,” noted Thompson. “If you ask the students in the program to describe their research they just get so excited, a light comes into their eyes and they just go off on tangents about their topics.”
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Currently students are researching a variety of topics including women’s access to education in various countries, the use of the Confederate battle flag in countries other than the United States, women’s access to healthcare, and much more. “I was very interested in the ability to research a brand new topic, one that forced me to look at the world with a new perspective. It was really exciting to me that I could try something new, that was a big motivator,” said Catherine Malone ’22 who is researching how the ‘Korean Wave’ of popular culture has impacted socioeconomic status in South Korea. “I wanted to look at which people actually received money, and how they live today. I actually got the idea from watching the Oscar-winning film Parasite. It is a commentary on South Korean social classes, and I could see how that tied into socioeconomics. I’d seen the popularity of South Korean culture impact the world, so I thought I’d look at how it all tied together.” For Eva Melendrez ’23, the Global Scholars Program has offered an opportunity to dive deeply into her family’s history. “I realized I would have the opportunity to research more topics and issues than I would be able to in a classroom setting. Issues that are dear to my heart, that I want to be able to research more fully. I’m interested in feminism and immigration because I’m a second generation American, my grandparents immigrated from Mexico. I have been dying to research that for the longest time because in school we don’t always get the opportunity to research that history — my history,” she said. “My research is inspired by my grandmother, I see her as a feminist before her time. She came to the U.S. in her late thirties after having five of her children. She was interested in opportunities for better education and she left everyone and everything she knew, and I find that very inspirational. So my thesis at this time is how feminism has affected immigration or continues to impact immigration today.”
