SLUH’s Global Education program offers many opportunities for international travel exchange to learn about other cultures and languages. Even though the experience of traveling abroad can’t quite be matched, the pandemic given Director of Global Education Robert Chura and Spanish teacher María-Paz Erker the chance to foster many virtual exchanges, including the Modern Languages Summit, to make linguistic and cultural exchange more accessible for all students but still equally effective.

When the pandemic began in early 2020 and travel exchanges weren’t an option for the time being, Chura and Erker brainstormed and decided to piece together a meeting with as many of SLUH’s international partner schools as possible. This meeting set the standard for what virtual Global Education at SLUH could look like, as an incredible opportunity for real-world language experience and exciting cultural exchange. 

“We realized that we can really do this on a much larger scale even though it's unfortunate that we're unable to go and visit each other,” explained Chura. “For the time being, we can visit each other online. So we got this idea of, ‘How can we expand this’?”

Not long after, numerous other faculty opted in to take part in virtual exchanges like these. Now, over the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school year, all five modern languages taught at SLUH have created opportunities for their students. In fact, other departments have become involved as well, with World Religions and Economics classes Zooming with partners from Russia, China, and more.

Even now, while travel opportunities have opened up once again, the presence of virtual exchanges still offers many of the benefits of global education but increases accessibility.

“Reastically, not everybody's going to travel abroad this summer, because we don't have that many spots for people, and it’s also expensive,” said Erker. “Even though we help you bring the cost down as a Jesuit network, it still is an investment. So it's our responsibility to help develop opportunities for everybody to open their mind to different perspectives and to interact with others. So that's the bright side of the pandemic. Now you can connect with and meet people who are in China, Russia, or France, and before we didn't have that.”

A culmination of these virtual exchanges in Global Ed was the first-ever Modern Languages Summit, which took place over four Saturdays this past month. The Modern Languages Summit is a chance for SLUH students to talk virtually with students from Catholic schools around the globe and broaden their cultural perspectives in the process. Chura and Erker modeled this after SLUH’s Jesuit Global Activism Leadership Summit, but with the goal of giving students the chance to practice the language they study as well. 

Over 35 Catholic schools from over 20 different countries around the world participated, many of whom have also been partners with SLUH for travel exchanges. During the Modern Language Summit, students from all of SLUH’s modern language classes were given the opportunity to converse with international students in their respective languages for a time, and then speak English with the international students for the second half. Not only did this allow all the students a chance to practice the languages they study, but they were able to share their understandings of each other’s cultures and international issues. This was a great way for SLUH’s students to demonstrate and improve their global competence, and by doing so, break down American stereotypes.

“Making the effort and showing that you can develop those really important skills means a lot, not only to the native speakers, but I think it means a lot to you and how you relate to the world as an American,” explained junior Freddy Laux.

In connecting with other teenagers across the globe, there is also a sense of fun and friendship.

“Even though it's an event on Zoom, it’s still such a fun thing because you not only meet people but you make friends with those people,” added Laux.

Looking forward, SLUH Global Ed will continue to thrive this summer with the second ever Jesuit Global Activism Leadership Summit. This virtual convention will take place on July 30 and Aug. 1, 3, 5, and 6, and invites SLUH students and faculty to engage with schools worldwide, even in English. In addition, this year will expand upon last year’s and include even more global Jesuit schools—36 in total.

“Last year, we were working mainly with schools in Europe and Latin America,” said Erker. “We did not have representation from Africa or Australia, but this year, we will, so that will bring new perspectives.”

The summit has a focus on a combination of the Jesuit Universal Apostolic Preferences and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Students from different schools and countries will break into groups to create a plan of action addressing these global Jesuit goals. In this way, they can not only enjoy time with other high school students from the other side of the world, but unite in their understanding of global issues and determination to change them. In fact, all of SLUH Global Ed revolves around this concept.

“The goal is to develop leadership skills in our students and also help them develop their global competence,” said Erker. “It’s learning about issues that are taking place not only in the US but around the world.”