Two MGA Faculty Accepted Into AASCU’s Global Civic Literacy Initiative

Author: News Bureau
Posted: Thursday, October 14, 2021 12:00 AM
Categories: Students | School of Education and Behavioral Sciences | School of Arts and Letters | Faculty/Staff | Pressroom

Macon, GA

Photo by Greg Rosenke on Unsplash.

Dr. Laura Thomason, Middle Georgia State University’s provost fellow for international programs, and Dr. Julie Lester, political science professor, have applied and been accepted into the American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ Global Civic Literacy initiative.

The grant-funded initiative aims to increase students’ knowledge of global society and help them understand how global issues influence the lives of everyday citizens. Using the Council on Foreign Relations’ “World 101” curriculum, the Global Civic Literacy project will offer curricular and co-curricular programming to build global literacy at Middle Georgia State (MGA).

“We’re proud to be part of this initiative, which addresses a real need,” Thomason said. “The Council on Foreign Relations and National Geographic’s 2016 survey, ‘What College Students Know About the World,’ demonstrates a critical gap between what students know and what they need to know to succeed as informed and engaged citizens.”

The nationally selective global civic literacy project makes MGA one of 20 institutions chosen from among AASCU’s membership to take part.

Lester and Thomason will be working with faculty and staff across MGA’s five campuses in the coming months to bring global literacy activities and lessons to students. The MGA community as a whole will benefit because the goal is to embed global literacy both inside and outside the classroom. 

As part of the project’s implementation, MGA students, faculty, and staff will have the opportunity to participate in two upcoming discussions: “Women, Education, and Afghanistan,” 1-2 p.m. October 20, and “Championing the Global Agenda: American Higher Ed's Role in Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)," 1-2 p.m. November 17.

Learn more at the AASCU Global Civic Literacy webpage, https://www.aascu.org/AcademicAffairs/ADP/Global-Civic-Literacy/, and the MGA International Programs webpage, www.mga.edu/international. Contact Lester at julie.lester@mga.edu or Thomason at laura.thomason@mga.edu.