Student Activist Global Seminar: Racial Justice in South Africa and the US – August 16-20, 2021

• This opportunity is open to all undergraduate ranks and majors who anticipate graduating after Spring 2022
• Exceptions may be made on a case by case basis Applicants must demonstrate a strong interest in leadership, activism, social justice, and racial justice

Note: Leadership and activism take many different forms, therefore we welcome applicants with a multitude of experience, including no positional leadership experience.

• Applicants must be available for the ENTIRE duration of the seminar

EDGE has partnered with SIT World Learning (an international study abroad organization) to offer an interactive five-day virtual seminar created specifically for Ohio State undergraduate students who are interested in racial justice and student activism on both a local, national, and international scale.

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Students selected for this seminar can expect powerful lectures, dynamic discussions, and interactive workshops that compare and contrast historical and modern activist efforts in South African with the United States. Students will also be able to reflect on their own definitions of activism and leadership, and integrate these definitions with the seminar content. The seminar will conclude with students identifying and submitting their own commitments to student activism leadership.

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This seminar’s topics include:

• Racial justice activism by incorporating relevant historical/modern activism issues happening nationally in the US, and in South Africa.
• The structural formation of race, class, and gender and its particularities in South Africa
• Historical impact of apartheid (nationally sanctioned system of racial segregation) on South African activism and how apartheid remains a threat to South Africa’s constitutional democracy.
• The ways in which the current generation of activists have taken on old politics and ideas in their own response to current injustices such as the #FeesMustFall movement.
• The space to draw connections between the topics and to compare with lived experiences in the United States.
• At the conclusion of the seminar, OSU students will be able to identify their own commitments to student activism leadership and how they wish to implement their commitments into the greater OSU community.

This seminar will be conducted over Zoom.

August 16th – 20th, 2021

9:00 AM – 2:30 PM EST

• Gain first-hand understanding through social, cultural, and historical context of South Africa with a particular focus on issues of race, racism, and activism
• Cultivate your activist leadership skills to make a meaningful change in the Ohio State community and beyond
• Expand and diversify your network of peers on campus through a small group virtual experience
• Additionally, students who successfully complete the seminar may be eligible to receive $500 in external scholarship funds for a future OSU-approved education abroad experience

• Students can apply online: https://go.osu.edu/studentactivistglobalseminar
• Students will be required to write a short essay on the following prompt:
  In approximately 500 words, please describe your interest in this program and what you hope to gain from the experience. Please also explain how this program relates to your aspirations as a future activist leader.
• One Ohio State reference is required (This can be an Ohio State instructor, someone you report to in a campus-based job or internship, coach, or director of a club or extracurricular activity that you participate in. It is advised that you notify them in advance. These references will only be contacted in specific cases where the committee needs additional information in order to make a final decision).
• Application Deadline is May 10, 2021
• Decision notification is May 11, 2021