SST for Faculty Advisors

Faculty advisors play an important role in nurturing students’ intercultural competence and interest in the wider world.  This page provides current information on advising your students. Also see our newsletter, Global Connections.  The newsletter provides language for explaining why SST is more important than ever and describes our progress in making it available to all students.

Sign-up instructions: Tell students to go to myGC and look for the SST form in the lower right corner.

Can’t see it? That’s because you’re faculty. It’s part of the student portal.

Current offerings

May/Summer 2020-21 SST units have been cancelled due to COVID-19 challenges. We are still planning for:

• A new Native American unit May/Summer 2020-21
• China and Ecuador units in fall 2021-22
• Ecuador and Indonesia units in spring 2021-22
• Ecuador and Senegal units in May/summer 2021-22.

Website overview

The following web pages will help students decide how to earn their SST credit:

• Intercultural requirements reviews the three ways to fulfill Goshen College’s expectations. They are an international SST unit, short-term courses in the U.S. or abroad and outside study abroad programs.
• Preparing for SST covers language requirements, costs, the orientation process and other basics students need to know to make an informed decision about a semester abroad.
• SST Current Destinations: Scan the pages for China, Ecuador, Indonesia and Senegal. This will acquaint you with the opportunities and themes unique to each country.

China: Education in a communal culture

Ecuador: Indigenous cultures and sustainability

Indonesia:  Interfaith dialogue in a religiously diverse society

Senegal: Post-colonial peacebuilding in a Muslim society

Tanzania: Migration of resources, people and ideas

• Overcoming Barriers addresses student hesitations about SST, including scheduling, the value of international education and identity concerns such as fears about racism.

Individual U.S.-based courses

Please be aware of NEW courses that we are piloting. They provide experiential options for students here in the U.S. May Term offerings include working with Mennonite Disaster Service and From Chicago to Amish Country. In addition, the first two courses of the May/Summer 20-21 Native American unit can be taken separately.  Students are traveling to the Navajo and Hopi reservations in Arizona during the last two courses, so these are a package.