Creighton Global Initiative
Driving Transformational Learning
Centered on Creighton University’s commitment to advance global learning, the Creighton Global Initiative’s mission is to create resources that provide opportunities for faculty, staff and students to embrace global perspectives. Through philanthropic support, the program will animate a global focus for the Creighton community, while stimulating critical and creative thinking and providing ethical perspectives for dealing with an increasingly complex world. The initiative builds upon established programs related to service, research, internship and volunteer opportunities abroad—and implements new ones—to extend the University’s presence on the global stage. We do this in alignment with Jesuit, Catholic higher education’s centuries-long tradition of building global networks.
Our Jesuit Inspiration
In the 16th century, St. Ignatius Loyola propelled the Jesuit Order to unprecedented international outreach, particularly in the work of education. In recent years, the Superiors General of the Society of Jesus have reminded Jesuit educators of their responsibility to inspire students to reach beyond their boundaries to fulfill their potential. The Rev. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, SJ, articulated the fundamental mission of Jesuit higher education as the service of faith and the promotion of justice, and he encouraged Jesuit colleges and universities to know and engage the uncomfortable realities of the world. Recently, the Rev. Adolfo Nicolás, SJ, has also challenged Jesuit higher education to network more creatively and substantively.
The Creighton Global Initiative allows faculty, staff and students to strengthen existing Creighton projects and programs while increasing support for the Global Engagement Office. The initiative creates a funding pool, housed at the Global Engagement Office, and the Creighton community may apply for financial and departmental support.
Awards are grants for projects including campus-based workshops, guest speakers, a lecture series, course development, recruitment, immersions and research initiatives. Proposals may be issue-specific, such as climate change, migration, or natural resources, or experiential, allowing participants to immerse more fully into international realities.
All campus constituents who have developed promising, globally related initiatives were invited to submit proposals. A campus committee comprised of faculty, staff and students, and chaired by the executive director of the GEO evaluated these proposals.
Creighton’s globally focused programing include the following.
- International experiential learning in the Dominican Republic, which includes the semester-long Encuentro Dominicano
- The Institute for Latin American Concern (ILAC), an Ignatian-inspired collaborative healthcare and educational organization that began in 1975
- Faculty-Led Programs Abroad (FLPA), which offers summer courses around the world
- The on-campus Asian World Center, which has hosted more than 100 leading Asia scholars
- Project CURA provides healthcare information to low-income individuals and families in greater Omaha and eastern Nebraska year-round and dispatches Creighton medical students to serve in Ecuador, Peru, Guatemala, Romania and Ghana
- Scholar and student exchanges with China focus on enhancing rehabilitation care and deepen global learning for students in the health sciences
- Collaborations with the government and educational institutions of Saudi Arabia bring students to practice emergency medical services in Omaha—and projects are unfolding in medicine and pharmacy
- Honors programs in China and Scotland permit Creighton’s top students to engage in extraordinary learning opportunities
