GLOBIS:
A New Era of Collaboration By Caroline Paris Paczkowski
In 1995, Dr. Han S. Park and the University of Georgia created the Center for the Study of Global Issues (GLOBIS) in order to accommodate a quickly changing world and to ensure the positive impact of globalization. Understanding the importance of global education, the Center instituted study abroad programs on four continents of the world – Asia, Africa, Europe, and South America. Additionally, the Center created the Certificate Program in Global Studies to serve both educational and vocational purposes for a better understanding of global issues. Twenty years later, GLOBIS has impacted thousands of students through its study abroad programs and the certificate program. It has created a hub for research to address pressing global issues. In 2015, Dr. Park retired after 45 years at UGA. His legacy will continue through new and exciting visions for the future of the Center. Earlier this year, Dr. Ryan Bakker, an associate professor in the department of political science, became the Director of GLOBIS. To enable him to focus on
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We The People | 2016 -2017
the important research of the Center, an additional position was created. In July, Tracy Elder joined the Center as the Executive Director. With two new leaders onboard, GLOBIS is moving quickly forward with innovative ideas for interdisciplinary work and bettering the student experience. One major theme running through the new era of GLOBIS is collaboration, and on the research side, Dr. Bakker is taking care of business. “Globalization has increased to make the world a smaller place,” said Bakker. “Our policies are so DR. RYAN BAKKER interconnected and Director of GLOBIS there is a need to understand how it all works together.” He and his team have set out to do just that. They have four topics of research in the works: access to food assistance, voter apathy, human trafficking, and election fraud. The idea is to study each of these areas at the local, state, national, and international levels.
“Anything we do locally is relevant to the rest of the world. You cannot isolate what happens in Georgia or the US from what happens internationally,” he said. His plans are already underway as he partners with the Carl Vinson Institute of Government and other faculty members across campus. His goals are to improve the quality of service and affect positive change in local, state, and international policies. “One of the things I really want to keep consistent, though, is that political representation remains a key component of the research that we do out of here. So the quality of political representation, defined vaguely, right, but measured in a bunch of different ways, and how that affects the provision of different public services.” Eventually, Bakker said he would like to become THE hub for expertise in global and survey research. “We want to be the place where faculty across campus come together to talk about how we can approach global issues together.”