Rebecca 'Toddie' Peters, Assistant Professor - Religious Studies
 Jane Wellford,
Associate Professor - Fine Arts
 Russell Gill,
Professor - English
 Matthew Clark, Associate Professor - Biology |
The Global Village: An Assessment
A simulation of 4 villages from around the world (Ghana, Viet Nam, U.S.A., and El Salvador
Guided Questions for this Assessment:
- What was the initial idea for this project, when did it all begin, who were the responsible parties for bringing the project to fruition, and how long did it occur?
- Document on paper what happened in the 4 day global village project: general overview, number of people involved, schedule of events for participants experiencing the village, and 2 students commentaries on the Global Village.
- Expenses
- Short term impact of the global village
- Long term impact of the global village. Do we want to continue this experience in the future?
- Idea:
Began in spring of 2002 in Globalization and Culture meetings led by Russell Gill in preparation for Winter Term 2003. Toddie Peters shared the idea of the possibility of Heifer Project International coming to Elon to implement a global village simulation. Others present agreed that this was an exciting idea and that we might seek Project Pericles funds for this opportunity. After a few meetings, a committee was formed of interested faculty/staff, chaired by Toddie Peters, and plans to create the Global Village began serious meetings during fall semester of 2002. Other faculty and staff serving on this committee were: Russell Gill, Mark Albertson, Jane Wellford, James Crawford, Jana Lynn Patterson, Matt Clark, Barbara Rhoades, Richard McBride and Chandana Chakrabarti. The committee determined that we needed funds to be able to launch the project. Dr. Toddie Peters applied for a grant in the amount of $4,000 to Project Pericles headed by Dr. Tom Arcaro. Project Pericles allotted the Global Village committee $4,000 and the committee proceeded with organization and structure of plans. Professor James Crawford was asked to design the physical structure of the village. The work would be done by Prof. Crawford, students, faculty and staff in tandem with Rex Enoch and Ken Herron from Heifer Project International. Rex Enoch made a personal visit to Elon several months prior to Winter Term to meet with faculty and share any necessary information about the project. The location for the site became Mosley Center (specifically the McKinnon Room) on the campus of Elon University. This was chosen because of the following factors: January weather, central location, easy to control, problems with building permits on outside grounds of Elon's campus. The actual building and usage of the Global Village took place from Sunday, January 5th - Thursday, January 9th during Winter Term Semester, 2003 on Elon University campus.
- Documentation of Creation and use of Global Village
- James Crawford designed the blueprint of the structures that would be built of the 4 areas that were chosen by the committee to be created as the global village: El Salvador, Viet Nam, U.S.A. migrant house, Ghana
- Since classes for winter term began on Friday, Jan. 3rd, announcements were made in each Globalization & Culture class about the need for volunteers to assist in building the Global Village on Sunday, Jan. 5th. There were 2 scheduled times for building to take place on Sunday - 9 a.m. - 12:00 noon, and 2 p.m.-5 p.m. The site of Mosley Center was decided for the Global Village on the campus of Elon University so that we would have no weather problems or building permits to contend with during January, 2003. The village was built, used for programs and then dismantled from start to finish in 5 days time. (Dates: Sunday Jan. 5th - Thursday, Jan 9th). Everything went according to schedule. Ken Herren and Rex Enoch from Heifer Project International came to Elon's campus to assist in the building and implementation of the project and remained during the 5 day period of building and usage. Crews of volunteer students, faculty and staff together with experts led by Prof. James Crawford and the 2 member Heifer Project staff began building Sunday morning of the 5th around 8 a.m. and completed the building of the global village Sunday evening around 11 p.m. James Crawford was ready with all supplies for the volunteer crews when the first work session began. Supplies included: power tools, lumber, plywood, sea oats, plaster, nails, bamboo, hammers, saws, and other miscellaneous building supplies for building of 4 structures. Barbara Rhoades provided paint for the structures, baskets, fabric, dishes and other aesthetics that made the village come to life.
- There were approximately 30 workers consisting of students, faculty and staff who assisted in the construction of the Global Village on 1-5-03, and approximately 60 workers assisted in the dismanteling of the Global Village on 1-9-03. 23 Program/workshops offered in the global Village and 16 classes participated
- Schedule of daily events is attached to this report on final page.
- Commentaries of 2 students on final pages (worth reading).
Expenses for the Global Village
- List of expenditures is attached for the cost of building the village and activities that occurred within the village. We were well within our projected budget of the Pericles Grant of $4,000.
$700.00 Jim Crawford's supplies
$485.00 Barbara Rhoades' supplies
$614.50 Jana Lynn Patterson's supplies
$406.44 Ken Herron's supplies (Heifer Project Supervisor)
$ 50.00 Russ Gill's supplies
$350.00 Jim Crawford - Design & Labor
$2,605.94 Total Expenses
- Short Term Impact:
Comments below in Assessment Meeting Information
- Long Term Impact:
Comments below in Assessment Meeting Information
Comments from assessment meeting about the Global Village on January 14, 2003.
Overall consensus of committee:
A good idea; "a rough draft"; a good
beginning of a potentially larger idea that we would like to expand upon for next winter term; learned many things that we would do better next time; however, generally amazed that we were able to actually build and use the global village in such a short amount of time with volunteers and only 3 professionals (James Crawford & the two Heifer Project
men!) We can do this easier next time because structures are built and stored in Graham warehouse. General consensus: Let's do it again next year.
Time Factors:
Jana Lynn stated that it was "hard to mobilize due to early start". First day of class (Friday, Jan 3rd, we announced we needed help building the Global Village on Sunday from 9-12 in the a.m., and from 2-5 in the afternoon. Winter term classes built and began using it on Monday, only the 2nd day of classes. It was very helpful to have the two Heifer Project men, Ken and Rex, on site helping build and guide volunteers into the expectations of James Crawford's design plan. All members of the committee agreed that we should have the Global Village ready for use by the 2nd week of classes rather than the 1st week of classes. Too rushed at the beginning and not enough time to publicize and inform of special events related to classes. Suggestion for next year: Sunday through Friday, 6 days instead of 5.
What programs were offered in the Global Village and how many people attended?
- 23 different workshop presentations (schedule and sign up sheets attached)
- 16 different groups of student classes or community groups attended; some classes, groups or individuals more than once.
- There was a sign up sheet at the door when people entered, but all did not sign in as they entered.
Needs for next time:
- Better publicity and media coverage, advance notice to Elon & Community
- Calendar posted on the outside wall with the weekly events posted. Calendar on Web and in newspaper for community awareness of programs in advance.
- Better signage in Global Village marking locations: El Salvador, Ghana, Viet Nam and Migrant Home, USA.
- Need to have a Project Coordinator who begins work on this in the spring or fall semester. May be a student who takes this as a co-op or semester hours credit given as an independent study called "Global Village Simulation" possibly. It may be a faculty member with management experience. (Barbara Rhoades volunteered as a possibility) This Coordinator would work with administration, plan a budget, coordinate programs and people involved, and a publicize and manage the event.
- Central meeting area in the global village where all can meet and share stories, dances, village concerns, or recreation from their cultures
- Shrubbery and paths around each village. Walkway perhaps made of thin brown or tan cheesecloth meant to look like earthen path.
Programming:
Make it more authentic! Have actual people from the global areas represented to give authentic programs on home life, culture, work, food, beliefs, recreation, etc. Possibilities: Elon International students, individuals from the community lead programs, professors from Elon or surrounding institutions with expertise in global areas.
Define "global village" and "globalization" and "culture". Make sure we are throwing around correct terminology and are doing what we intend to do, not something that may reflect artificiality or be offensive in any way. The term "globalization" may be offensive to some. Also, we need to make programming age-appropriate and interesting for our university students and community. Chandanna mentioned that some of the Heifer Project World Map presentations were not on level for our students, more appropriate for younger audiences.
What will be the theme for next year?
Chandana: Will we invite Heifer Project people back again next year, or do we choose to do our own village using community people? A thought to be discussed in this spring semesters meetings open to all faculty and existing committee who wish to continue. We may wish to discuss if Heifer is available for next year and also see what possibilities open up in the spring discussions.
Possible theme: "Survival & Adaptation" was suggested as a possible topic for next year.
Elon may choose their own global areas of interest to represent and program and staff all events, or bring in others if we choose.
It was decided that we will continue to have spring semester meetings on the topic of Winter Term Global Village to discuss the following: Invite any interested faculty to attend and ask them their wishes on global possibilities for next winter. Students may be interested in this as well, especially international students if we feature their global area of origin in the village.
Location of Next Year's Global Village:
Since we have permanent structures already built, where might we set up village for next time? The Elon Lodge was suggested as a possibility. Could be outside or inside a facility on that location. We decided that we could probably not have it on the main campus due to building permit problems. Could have it inside McKinnon again. Control and maintenance easy within a contained building.
Good things that came out of first Global Village:
Provided Community! Many students, faculty/staff, community and families came to see this unusual happening in McKinnon Hall during Winter Term. Enjoyable for all involved; worth the work and effort; students, staff and faculty were bonded by this shared experience and learning in a unique environment DID take place. |
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