The Global Reach Area Studies Program is a new initiative of Illinois-Northwestern African Studies Consortium (CAS-PAS). Open to secondary school students (entering) grades 7-12 as well as recently graduated seniors, the program offers a diverse array of interdisciplinary international area studies courses for 6 weeks in June and July. GRASP promotes global perspectives, foreign language learning, and cosmopolitan perspectives through an intensive program of academically challenging enrichment offerings.

This new program seeks to use experiential learning, critical pedagogy, and project-based approaches to blend international area studies with STEM, the humanities, social sciences, and the arts for a challenging (credit-bearing) summer college experience that will expand perspectives and give students an advantage in the global marketplace. The program offers four types of courses:

• Intermediate International Area Studies classes across the disciplines
• Advanced Area Studies classes across the disciplines
• Practicums that combine area studies and cultural exploration learning with acquisition of research and/or skills for scientific inquiry, or training in the use of technology, grass roots organization, civic activism, etc.

Courses offered 2017:

Outbreak!

Feeding Africa: Systems Perspectives on Sub-Saharan Food Security