Global Perspectives Program

• Speakers Information - see below
• Application to be a Volunteer GP Speaker
• GP Presentation Outline
• Typical Curricular Topics

Speakers Information
Our Goal: The Global Perspectives program is designed to bring internationals and American elementary, junior and senior high school students together. Through presentations and discussions, internationals can introduce Americans to their home countries, educate them about their cultures, and address misconceptions students hold about their countries. It is a way of highlighting similarities as well as differences among cultures.

Our Beginnings: Global Perspectives is a program instituted in 1981 by the Rochester International Council in cooperation with the International Student Offices at Rochester area colleges and universities. The success of, and need for, the program is evident by its 18 years of existence in Rochester schools, civic and social groups, by the numerous requests and by the significant number of Americans who benefit each year from the presentations make by the international speakers.

How the Program Works: Groups request speakers from a specific country or geographic region and suggest topics to include in a presentation. The speaker might discuss almost anything depending on the group's goals, its interests, and the speaker's interests. Suggested age-appropriate topics are provided as a resource to the speaker.

The Global Perspectives Coordinator will match volunteer speakers with the requests and notify both parties of the match. Dates, times, and transportation will be arranged. Details will be finalized by phone several days before the presentation. Speakers are not paid for their time. The coordinator endeavors to use student speakers no more than twice during an academic year.

Following the visit, the host will be asked to give an evaluation to help us continually improve the program. Feedback will be given to the speaker from this evaluation.

The next step: Consider serving as an "ambassador" for your country by volunteering to be a Global Perspectives speaker and completing the Volunteer Form.

Rochester International Council
4-219 Dewey Hall, University of Rochester Rochester, NY 14627 USA
phone (585) 275-8779 fax (585) 756-8086 email: jw@rifc.org
Office Hours: 9:30 am to 4:30 pm Eastern Time, Monday-Friday,
closed Thursday