Westlake resident is Global Scholar

Adrienne Wentling of Westlake is among 16 first-year students welcomed this fall into Ohio Wesleyan University’s selective Global Scholars Program.

Students are chosen for the program in recognition of their potential for high academic achievement at Ohio Wesleyan and their passion for international issues.

The four-year program is part of Ohio Wesleyan’s Global Studies Institute, a hub where faculty and students from the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and fine arts come together to explore issues from all academic disciplines and work toward real-world solutions.

All new Global Scholars participate in a team taught course during their first semester in which they explore a single issue in depth. This year’s course, “Climate, Capital, and Culture,” is being co-taught by Nathan Amador Rowley, Ph.D., assistant professor of geography and geology, and Mary Anne Lewis Cusato, Ph.D., assistant professor of modern foreign languages.

“The course is meant to guide students through various aspects and perspectives of the global world we inhabit and introduce them to the field of global studies,” Cusato said. “Throughout the semester, we explore aspects of global significance (for example, climate change, nationalism, multiculturalism, immigration) through the lenses of the humanities, the social sciences, and the natural sciences.”

In their junior or senior year, the Global Scholars will receive a $4,000 university grant to pursue an approved international research or study project of their choice.

As seniors, the Global Scholars will complete a faculty-supervised thesis or capstone project, which they will present to one another in a yearend conference. Students who successfully complete all of the requirements of the Global Scholars Program will graduate with a Global Studies Institute certificate noted on their transcripts.