Twenty-five Florida State University students were awarded the Global Citizenship Certificate (GCC), including nine students who completed the certificate with honors, during a ceremony Friday, Dec. 6, in The Globe Auditorium.
The certificate program prepares students to succeed in the global workforce by helping them develop global and intercultural fluency, which helps them adapt to different environments, as well as critical thinking, problem-solving and intercultural communication skills.
The GCC is administered by FSU’s Center for Global Engagement with academic oversight from the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy.
“We live in a time in which we need graduates to go into the world with global perspectives and skill sets,” said Tim Chapin, dean of the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy. “The planet needs people that see themselves not as a resident of a specific country, but a member of the global community. This program promotes these outcomes with great success.”
“We live in a time in which we need graduates to go into the world with global perspectives and skill sets,” said Tim Chapin, dean of the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy. “The planet needs people that see themselves not as a resident of a specific country, but a member of the global community. This program promotes these outcomes with great success.”
The certificate includes three core components: academic courses, intercultural events and a sustained international experience. Enrolled students must take Global Perspectives, the certificate’s required course that explores global issues and helps build intercultural competencies; choose three elective courses from an approved list of 500+ courses; attend eight intercultural events; and complete one sustained intercultural experience domestically or abroad.
Sustained intercultural experiences help students apply the skills learned during their time in the program. These experiences can include FSU’s Global Exchanges with one of FSU’s partner institutions, study abroad through International Programs, internships abroad, and other cultural exchanges. Alternatively, students can participate in domestic intercultural experiences like internships, volunteer experiences or international peer mentorship.
The program started in 2016 with less than 30 students and now has more than 400 enrolled. Since the start of the program, more than 300 students have earned their Global Citizenship Certificate.
Sydney Sherry, a junior pursuing a dual degree in media communication studies and social work, became interested in the GCC after spending a summer abroad at the FSU London Study Centre through International Programs. Through the process of earning the certificate, Sherry learned that being a global citizen is so much more than being able to name every country and visit some of them.
“We are all global citizens through our international experiences, but also the experiences we are offered right here at FSU,” Sherry said. “With the different social, cultural, educational and experiential events we have participated in that have allowed us to be sitting in this room today, we have gained cultural competence, cultural humility and a new or heightened curiosity about the world around us. We have learned to lead with empathy and sensitivity.”
While pursuing the certificate, every student enrolls in the IDS 2431 Global Perspectives course, which introduces students to the basic concepts, theories, functions and behaviors associated with intercultural communication and global citizenship. It also provides an informed starting point for students to build intercultural competencies throughout the certificate program.
“That class, though at times very challenging, was one of the best courses I’ve ever taken here at FSU,” Sherry said. “The discussions we had in class, the vast topics we covered, and the conversations we had with Brazilian students via the COIL project were diverse and fascinating.”
Students enrolled in IDS 2431 Global Perspectives collaborate with students enrolled at São Paulo State Technological Colleges in Brazil and other partners through collaborative online international learning (COIL). COIL is an emerging, innovative way to provide students with an intercultural experience in their domestic classroom. It provides a global learning environment similar to a study abroad program without having to leave the classroom.
“Each of these graduates took the initiative to go beyond the surface and gain as much as they could from each experience,” said Bryant Harden, instructional specialist and program director of the Global Citizenship Certificate. “We are pleased to see all of the achievements that they’ve already made and will continue to make in our world.”
For more information about the GCC, visit cge.fsu.edu/global-citizenship-certificate.
Graduates are listed by name, major(s) and FSU graduation term and year:
Graduates with a * next to their graduation year pursued the GCC with Honors, meaning they took an additional course (five in total), maintained a GPA of 3.5 or higher in all the certificate courses and completed an honors synthesis paper.
Catarina Cereja, International Affairs and Political Science, Spring 2026
Florah Charles, Computer Science, Fall 2024
Meili DiPietro, Biology, Spring 2026
Paige Elkin, Information, Communication, and Technology, Fall 2025
Caden Funk, International Affairs and Economics, Fall 2024*
Jade Gaston, Marketing and Management Information Systems, Fall 2024
Victoria Gonzalez, International Affairs, Fall 2024*
Willow Hackett, Art History, Spring 2025
McKenna Hartigan, Political Science and History, Fall 2024
Raya Hughes, Sociology and Human Rights and Social Justice, Spring 2025*
Lauryn Klostreich, International Affairs and Political Science, Summer 2025*
Joshua Liebman, International Affairs and Japanese Language and Culture, Fall 2024*
Andrea Moran-Melendez, Public Health, Fall 2024
Ajay Nehaul, Political Science, Fall 2024
Nadia Rassech, International Affairs and Middle Eastern Studies, Summer 2025*
Malissa Richardson, International Affairs and Accounting, Spring 2025*
Sydney Sherry, Media Communication Studies and Social Work, Summer 2026
Lo Stark, English Education, Spring 2026
Emily Stewart, International Affairs and Spanish, Spring 2025
Caden Stone, Media Communication Studies, Fall 2024
Sarah Tavares, Interior Architecture and Design, Summer 2025
Campbell Walker, International Affairs, Fall 2024*
Laurel Walski, Biological Science, Fall 2024
Sullivan Warren, Finance and Marketing, Spring 2025*
Eva Xioutas, International Affairs, Fall 2024