by Tasmiah Akter

The Global Engagement Minor (GEM) at Wesleyan is a unique opportunity for Wesleyan students to explore their academic interests, extracurricular activities, and language skills in learning how to navigate the world! The GEM provides immense flexibility by allowing students to select courses that provide a global perspective according to their interests, continue previous language study or begin a new language, and engage in culturally immersive, international learning opportunities like study abroad to = earn the minor. Recently, Anita Deeg-Carlin (Director for Intercultural Studies who runs the minor) recognized the need for student voices to help lead the programming and create community within the GEM community. As of this spring, nine GEM students have joined together to form the GEM Student Advisory Board, a group hoping to guide and improve all things GEM-related.

According to board member Kaya Waltzer ‘26, “The GEM advisory board is a group of students in the GEM major who aim to bring student voices to the process of developing the minor as it grows.” Another board member, Finn Ahrens ‘26, emphasizes the importance of student perspective as well and expresses his commitment to getting people to declare this minor. It is composed of seven other students: Dylan Campos ‘24, Macarena Barrio ‘24, Izzy Paez ‘26, Ama Tuffour ‘26, Henry Leighton ‘25, Alex Kuo ‘26, and Julia Augustyn ‘25. All of these students are in the minor for different reasons.

One of the board’s senior members, Dylan Campos, is a Double Major in History and Environmental Studies, minor in GEM. He’s doing GEM because of his passion for agriculture and environmental politics and work through the GEM minor has been integral to his interests and aspirations. He says, “I’m always working on growing effective cross-cultural communication and understanding to mitigate climate change worldwide.” Kaya is similarly interested in the environment but from a city/urban perspective. She says, “As an Urban Studies major, I am fascinated by cities and how humans interact with the built environment…I want to consider urban contexts from all around the world, not just America. While I’m not entirely set on any specific path, I know that my GEM education will be invaluable in any career….” Finn is drawn to the GEM minor because of his passion for learning Spanish. He appreciates how the GEM minor is flexible and encourages language learning and cultural immersion. He’s also committed to mitigating misunderstanding between groups of people globally and thinks his passion for Spanish will help him build these bridges. Izzy Paez shares similar sentiments; she says she chose GEM because she’s “grown up immersed in languages and cultural awareness and wanted to be in a space of people with these same values…”

All of the members of the board are committed to the work they’re doing and look forward to whatever lies ahead for GEM. If you’re interested in anything GEM-related or have any questions, please reach out to any of the GEM Advisory Board members listed above or Anita Deeg-Carlin at the Office for Intercultural Learning (adeegcarlin@wesleyan.edu).