The GW UNESCO Fellows Program at The George Washington University
The GW UNESCO Fellows Program is run by the GW UNESCO Chair in International Education for Development and places GW graduate students in the field of international education into three-month intensive internships in UNESCO headquarters in Paris and UNESCO regional/field offices around the world. Through their experiences, Fellows directly contribute to UNESCO’s work in addressing some of the leading educational and social issues, including promoting social inclusion, gender equity, and community development. In addition, the program contributes to graduate student’s academic and professional success by placing them in competitive UNESCO internships. Students gain valuable professional and academic skills, which enhance their career readiness. These skills include cross-cultural competence, oral and writing communication, policy dialogue among various stakeholders, community development, and monitoring and evaluation.
Students are selected through a competitive multi-step process involving first a review panel of GW faculty and second the UNESCO internship application process. In 2015 five students were placed in offices in Amman, Bangkok, Jakarta, Santiago, and Washington, DC. In 2016 five students were selected for placements in Bangkok, Dakar, Havana, and Paris. They are working on a range of important social issues, including gender equality in education through e-learning courses (Jennifer Romba: Bangkok, Thailand), educational development through teacher training courses (Elena Saveedra: Havana, Cuba), gender equality and women’s empowerment through UNESCO’s Management of Social Transformations program (Nora Tomlinson Weintraub: Paris, France), monitoring and evaluation of gender equity projects and mother tongue education in West Africa (Katherine Tek and Marie Louise Balo Lou: Dakar, Senegal). While in their placements, students are enrolled in a graduate course at GW and complete a major research paper/project, which they will publicly present in Washington, DC in Fall 2016.
The Fellows program is currently directed by Dr. Laura Engel, Assistant Professor of International Education and International Affairs, co-chair of the GW UNESCO Chair in International Education for Development, and Director of the International Education Program at GW.
To find out more about the Fellows program, please contact unescochair@gwu.edu
Disclaimer: This blog is written by individuals participating in the GW UNESCO Fellows Program about their experiences. The authors are responsible for the choice and presentation of views contained in this blog and for opinions expressed therein, and do not reflect those of UNESCO or The George Washington University.
2016 GW UNESCO Fellows 