Global Reach

Atrocities can start with seemingly insignificant acts. UNC Charlotte students have learned this painful, yet powerful lesson through their in-depth study of the Holocaust. As scholars in the course “Bearing Witness to the Past: A Journey to Auschwitz,” they have traveled to the death camps of Auschwitz and Krakow. They have studied the photographs of the dead and read their names. They have seen the mute mountains of surrendered belongings – the shoes, the battered suitcases, the eyeglasses.

Allegations of brutal torture and abuse of suspected terrorists by the CIA and the U.S. military have heightened the debate about the effectiveness, morality and frequency of torture in the face of terrorist threats. Research centered at UNC Charlotte offers important insight into the agencies that engage in torture and the conditions under which they do.

A cadre of UNC Charlotte students this summer worked alongside homeowners and local masons in Ahuachapán, El Salvador to build foundations for new homes, through a partnership with Habitat and with support from donors. The program offered hands-on experience building affordable housing, integrated with academic course content designed to develop deep understanding of complex social problems.

UNC Charlotte undergraduate students Keegan Cary and Emma Franz will deepen their knowledge and understanding of the world through an immersive semester-long study abroad experience in Spain, as the 2015 Odyssean Scholarship recipients.

In his work with The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, UNC Charlotte alumnus Andy Morimoto draws upon skills he honed at UNC Charlotte, as he works on a broad range of international, political, and economic issues.

UNC Charlotte students will present both live and recorded scenes from a 2014 London production of Shakespeare’s Pericles and Cervantes’ The Sultan’s Queen, as part of an extensive experience that involved a visit by a British team to UNC Charlotte, a study abroad experience last summer and this culminating performance.

Fourteen UNC Charlotte students experienced London and Stratford-upon-Avon as part of the Shakespeare in England spring study abroad course, exploring places and events that shaped the playwright’s personal and professional life.

Sustainability is an international concern, and for one UNC Charlotte professor the challenge is to bring new understanding to how Nigerians can view sacred groves as secular green spaces, through in-depth research with global implications.

Students at UNC Charlotte are partnering with students in Russia to promote healthy living, through a collaboration created by program director Yuliya Baldwin and funded by the U.S. Department of State.

Masks have served as a symbol of cultures around the world for centuries. Masks are unique and through their appearance, they can communicate about the unique people and cultures they represent. A student-created exhibit in the Languages Resource Center communicates about cultures while using visual and digital features.