This year, Ready for the World, our campus’ international and intercultural initiative, is focusing on “Our World in Need,” with a particular emphasis on poverty.
Economic disparity provides a relevant and challenging platform for discussing some of the most pressing problems in today’s global environment.
Our goals with this theme:
- To focus on poverty in a way that will raise awareness, consciousness, and education about the role that poverty plays in the U.S. and in the greater global context.
- To consider poverty as one type of diversity that impacts our intercultural and international assumptions and awareness.
- To use curricular-based programs and initiatives to help students understand the role of poverty not only in the world and their perspectives, but in their chosen fields of study and potential career paths.
- To help students see poverty through a lens that engages them in deep understanding of its consequences for our world as well as creative thinking about solutions.
- To create meaningful activities for our students at the department, college, and campus-level across our academic units.
For information about how to apply for Ready for the World grants for programs, see http://www.utk.edu/readyfortheworld/administration/.
In keeping with this theme, Ready for the World has launched new promotional program called “Volunteers Rock the World!” which encourages faculty, staff, students and alumni to find volunteer and service learning projects that help make our world a better place. To learn more about how you and your students can participate, see http://www.utk.edu/readyfortheworld/rock/.