Global Engagement

May 15 2024

Our first full day in Chicago was a whirlwind! Not only did we learn how to use the public transportation there, but also about various different neighborhoods through a workshop on CHicago’s maps and growth. During the afternoon, we focused...

May 15 2024

This morning we had the pleasure of welcoming to our class Daljit Nagra, a poet whose work we’ve been reading. Nagra is a British poet whose poems relate to the experience of Indians born in the UK (especially Indian Sikhs), and...

May 13 2024

Today we began our day by visiting the National Museum of Mexican Art in Harrison Park. Art from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and current Mexican artists living in Chicago was displayed. The history, personal stories, and finding identity in...

May 12 2024

In Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, the presence of romance or lack thereof is frequently tested in various forms from friend to friend, lover to lover, and friend to lover. For many of us, Beatrice was a stand-out character in...

May 10 2024

Last week we took a day trip out to the city of Oxford to explore the city and the university, tour the Oxford University Press, and attend a lecture by Helen Oyeyemi, an author we had read in class.  We...

May 08 2024

Our class recently went to the National Gallery in London, home to over 2,300 paintings mostly from Europe, spanning from the 13th to the 19th centuries. We’ve seen art from other eras and cultures at some of London’s other museums,...

May 07 2024

On the first of May we loaded up and headed north, bound for Red Lake, Minnesota, home of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians. We went to volunteer with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS), and to learn and build relationships...

May 06 2024

Jakyra Green graduated this year as an English and Secondary Education major. I will skip summarizing boring logistics and I’ll dive straight into the heart of my short but rewarding experience in Guatemala. Despite being here less than a week,...

May 05 2024

1. “This isn’t a restaurant!” Not exactly what I expected to hear during a sung eucharist at Westminster Abbey, but this sound assaulted my ears nonetheless. My cheeks burned hot with shame and second-hand embarrassment and I lowered my eyes...

May 03 2024

We started off our day with class in the basement of our hotel. We introduced ourselves and dove right into our first book. We are reading Zadie Smith’s lovely novel White Teeth. After a productive discussion we headed to the...

May 03 2024

This year's Chicago to Amish Country course has 21 students, and they are gearing up for their trip to Chicago, May 5 to 9. Destinations include: Chicago's Little India, Pilsen and the National Museum of Mexican Art, the Swedish American…

May 03 2024

Our Summer SST Ecuador group arrived this May 1. We are all very excited to start this new term! Bienvenidos a Casa, chicos! One of the first actives of orientation was a group discussion about expectations, hopes, and how to...

May 03 2024

All 23 London students arrived safe and sound (if a bit sleepy) yesterday morning around 10am British Summer Time. I (Peter) met them at the airport, and we took a bus (“coach”) into city center. Our lodgings are at St...

Apr 10 2024

By Mackenzie M. During my life, I’ve attended protests and marches for various causes, all relating to human rights in some way. Because of this, I’ve come to appreciate and enjoy using my voice in this way to show support...

Apr 08 2024

Students are now on their way either home or to new adventures, and it feels a little unreal that 2024 Indonesian SST is over.  We spent this last weekend with a mix of activities.  We toured a Hindu temple and...

Apr 07 2024

Cleaning overgrown senderos and planting trees in the rural towns surrounding Cotacachi has been the work that Naomi Klassen and I have started on service. Oftentimes at the beginning of a work day, we know very little of what the...

Apr 03 2024

Today’s post is written by Gavin Johnson, who is serving in Ungaran.  He writes about revisiting our study setting in Yogyakarta. Study term was so much fun, from the language class and malls to the trips and the city of...

Apr 02 2024

Today’s post was written by Jacob Stoltzfus, who is serving in Melolo, Sumba, an island in the eastern part of Indonesia. During the service portion of my SST, I was assigned to the Love Sumba organization stationed in Melolo, East...

Apr 02 2024

Today’s post was written by Carlos Lichty, who is doing his service at the Laboratory Middle School at Satya Wacana University in Salatiga. For my service assignment, I was placed at a local Christian Middle School named UKSW SMP here...

Apr 02 2024

Today’s post was written by Lindsey Daniels, who is serving with Wijna, a community organization in Salatiga.   As we were coming up to our 10th week of SST, Carlos, Camila, and I decided that we wanted to explore a...

Apr 01 2024

This is our first student produced blog post, which is a poem. In the next couple of days, we will be adding more students’ reflections and images. Falling: A Poem first stop tell me what you see before i tell...

Mar 29 2024

Today’s post is written by Peri Mast-Hochstedler.  They are serving at Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana Laboratory High School in Salatiga. During my time in Saltiga, I have had the pleasure of observing classes and teaching English at the Satya Wacana...

Mar 25 2024

Today’s post is written Camila Perez-Diener.  She is serving in the Satya Wacana Laboratory Elementary School in Salatiga, Central Java. I entered my service term expecting to assist the English teachers with their classes and maybe work in the library...

Mar 25 2024

Today’s post is written by Evan King, who is doing his service in Yogyakarta. During service, I have not been given as much opportunity to interact with my host family because, during the week, I am living at Bumi Cendekia,...