Global Laureates Academy

A network of Faculty and Staff dedicated to making a globally-focused impact on the WFU campus community.

Congratulations to the 2021-22 cohort, our newest Global Laureates!

Claudia Valdez, Assistant Teaching Professor, Spanish

Encarna Turner, Associate Professor of the Practice, Spanish

Marian Trattner, Assistant Director, Office of Wellbing

Rowie Kirby-Straker, Assistant Teaching Professor of Communication

Jackie Friedman, Senior Associate Director, Center for Learning, Access & Student Success

Mary Dalton, Professor of Communication

Sakina Barthe-Sukhera ’22, Environmental Science major

Faculty and Staff

Deadline: Thursday, 9/21/2023

The Program

The Global Laureates Academy (GLA) is a network of faculty and staff who aim to make an impact on the Wake Forest University community by exploring topics and challenges associated with the five global learning threads.

• Intercultural Inquiry: Interpret global events, values, and practices from multiple cultural perspectives. 
• Self Awareness: Explain how their own perspectives and experiences influence their understanding of other cultures. 
• Intercultural Communication: Negotiate intercultural interactions using appropriate verbal and nonverbal communication skills. 
• Citizenship/Community Interaction: Collaborate across diverse cultures and settings to address complex global challenges. 
• Global Responsibility: Formulate solutions to global challenges through informed decision-making and reflection. 

Whether it be professional development or personal improvement, the motivation to participate may be different for each person. From the perspective of GLA, we hope members of each cohort – whether this be their first step in cultural curiosity or part of an ongoing process – will develop their cultural agility and global awareness on both individual and collective levels as they strive to implement a final project for the greater good of the Wake Forest community.

The Process

Faculty and staff may apply early in the fall semester each year. Completion of the GLA will take three semesters, and includes both collaborative learning and independent reflection.

Each fall (2023 Schedule) a new cohort will engage in a series of workshops that address relevant topics aligned with the five global learning threads. Individuals or self-selected teams will then propose and implement a final project that will positively impact the Wake Forest global campus community.

This three-semester program concludes with an opportunity for participants to share their projects with each other and the leadership team of the Center for Global Programs & Studies. Participants successfully completing all requirements will become a WFU Global Laureate, earning recognition on our website and a memento for their participation.