Overview
Covid-19 has a vastly disruptive impact on higher education. One area where this is particularly felt is an institution’s internationalization strategy. As international mobility has come to a standstill, there is a significant gap in meaningful international academic experiences and in impactful international engagement.
Now, more than ever, we see it as a core part of our mission to enable our academic partners to increase their institutional footprint in Africa and Southeast Asia. Our Virtual Opportunities provide faculty, staff, and students multidisciplinary and fully customizable global experience options. They are curated and facilitated by our Global Academic Team in collaboration with our on-site experts at our GEI campuses in Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, and Vietnam.
GEI’s purpose is to unleash the catalytic impact of international education, engagement, and exchange to address key challenges set out by the SDGs. To do so, we blend research, education, training, and innovative practical solutions that support transformations toward sustainability.
Virtual opportunities for students and universities include internships, practica, online courses, and integrated custom programs that are similar to on-site faculty-led programs. Contact Coralie (coralie@global-engagement.org) for more information, to request a proposal, or to schedule a call.
GEI Virtual Social Impact Internships offer undergraduate and graduate students the unique opportunity to engage in GEI’s social impact projects in Mental Health, Maternal & Newborn Health, Education, and Economic Empowerment.
Students join a multicultural and multidisciplinary team that carries out concrete project and research tasks. The internship is further enriched with topical introduction modules that focus on key SDGs and their application in Africa and Asia, interdisciplinary training on cultural intelligence, storytelling, and career development, carefully planned intercultural activities, and assignments.
GEI Virtual Social Impact Practica offer master’s and professional level students a structured, supervised, and evaluated professional real-world experience. Participants complete a minimum of 200 clock hours and benefit from the mentorship of a qualified GEI preceptor. Virtual Practica are most common in the field of Global Health.
GEI Online Social Impact Courses are 10-week long virtual trainings on social impact modules such as Global Mental Health, Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship, or Women & Leadership. Participants enjoy a mix of self-paced and synchronous components, intercultural orientations, various international peer engagement elements, and assignments.
Custom Virtual Programs & Modules
GEI works with faculty and staff to support desired learning outcomes by curating and facilitating integrated custom programs and modules, similar to an on-site faculty-led program. Options include:
- Academic modules provided by GEI lecturers and guest speakers
- Interactive local site visits
- International peer engagement (case studies, concurrent small group
discussions, project and research collaboration, etc) - Destination deep dives – culture, history, society, SDG topics
- Intercultural workshops and ‘Connect by Storytelling’ sessions
