Graduates Create Distinctive Careers by Preparing Themselves with Global Studies Degree
Students from Saint Leo University acquire high-level skills and international knowledge that can be applied to many different fields.
Recent graduates of Saint Leo's Global Studies Program are forging career paths as wide-ranging and intriguing as the degree program itself.
The global studies major is based in the Department of Social Sciences. Students take required courses involving the understanding of complex systems, globalization, ethics, conflict resolution, sustainability, program evaluation, plus foreign language study and an internship. For electives, students select from a broad range of courses that fit their interests, from business to criminal justice, international relations, world history, and global development. Students leave with a Bachelor of Arts that can prepare them for careers in international business, diplomacy, military service, international aid, or teaching English as a second language.
Some students combine global studies with a second major to pursue their interests in a specific discipline while exploring its global dimensions. Another option is to pair a major in a field such as history or biology with a minor in global studies, requiring 18 credit hours of work. Students also participate in experience-based learning opportunities such as the Global Studies Club-hosted Oxfam Hunger Banquet at University Campus, or the Model Arab League conference in Tampa, in which students take on assigned roles of government delegates of nations in the Mideast.
For Dr. Patricia Campion, who directs the Global Studies Program, it has been rewarding "to see our graduates flourish in incredibly diverse fields and locations, for instance, in the Peace Corps in Senegal, or working as an English teacher in China. Few other majors offer this kind of flexibility and opportunities for our students to spread their wings."
A graduate from 2017, Shelby Grosvenor, went on to earn a master's degree in finance from the University of Miami and will start her business career in Houston.
Ashley Reynolds, a graduate from 2016, also pursued a major in English and is an online content editor. She will study next in Venice, Italy, at the European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation for a master's degree. She ultimately wants to put her writing and communications skills to work in the human rights field.
Grace Lederer graduated in 2018. She stayed beyond the traditional four years because she added an economics major to her Saint Leo education. She is now at work in the private sector in Washington DC, employed at a global company in the media analytics field.
Jeff (Sable) Wilson just graduated in 2018 and has been accepted with financial support into the PhD program in global and sociocultural studies at Florida International University in Miami. He will work as a teaching assistant, as well. He is interested in pursuing possibilities in media analytics or a governmental agency.
For more information on the program, contact Dr. Campion at patricia.campion@saintleo.edu.