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Humber’s Global Citizenship Certificate: A toolbox for global impact

 

Example of a global citizenship certificate participant's e-portfolio
Example of a global citizenship certificate participant's e-portfolio

March 14, 2019

The Global Citizenship Certificate is an interdisciplinary, online program for students who want to expand their horizons and develop tangible skills and experience to make an impact on the world.

Community action and responsibility, international experience, intercultural skills and wide-reaching global perspectives. Those are some of the foundational ideas behind Humber’s Global Citizen Certificate (GCC). This interdisciplinary, online program is for students who want to expand their horizons and their understanding of the world, while developing skills, values and competencies that will help make an impact on society—and employers.

 

What is global citizenship?

Global citizens look at the world as a diverse, dynamic and complex web of connections and experiences. Being a global citizen means understanding that our choices and actions have outcomes that affect others; both individuals and communities, locally and across the globe. 

The GCC is an opportunity to build a toolbox of skills and experiences that will help students develop global consciousness and perspectives, and to actively participate in local contexts with issues and challenges that affect communities around the world. The program is open to all Humber students as an optional add-on to enhance their studies. For Humber’s GCC students, the program combines travel/intercultural experiences (for example, semester exchange; placements abroad; faculty-led study tours; and summer course abroad) and a minimum of 40 hours of local volunteer engagement, supported by online reflection and engagement with students from multiple academic disciplines.

 

The challenge to personal transformation

A central function of the GCC program is the personal challenge to embrace opportunities for self-expression, introspection and self-improvement. As GCC grad Ioana Gheorghiu says, “It has been a program that has sparked reflection about my own role in the world, as well as if or how I could take part in solving problems within my own community.” The program is an eye-opening, transformative experience that truly changes the way students think about themselves and how they perceive their place in the world.

 

Succeeding in today's global knowledge economy

GCC graduates are equipped with the skills, values and capabilities that make them globally-minded citizens of the world, but they are also career-ready citizens. Students exit the program having created an e-portfolio, to share their skills, knowledge and understanding with others. As GCC graduate Quinton Vass reflects, “The e-portfolio is a really interesting concept that I hadn’t explored before and thoroughly enjoyed creating. The GCC has been my favorite part [of studying at Humber]. It helped me grow and articulate my experiences more than I expected”. The skills and tangible experiences gained through the GCC are quickly recognized by employers and are highly valued in today’s global knowledge economy.

 

Learn more about GCC and Humber’s global citizens.