Journalist Seymour Hersh at the Torture & Foreign Policy Seminar
Journalist Seymour Hersh at the Torture & Foreign Policy Seminar

Update from the Carnegie Global Oregon Learning Community

Sep 17, 2013

Global Ethics Fellow Shaul Cohen is an associate professor in the Department of Geography and co-director of the Peace Studies Program at the University of Oregon.

The Carnegie Global Oregon Freshman Interest Group and learning community (CGO) is a pioneering effort that partners the University of Oregon with the New York-based Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs to create a combined course-based and extra-curricular "convocation to commencement" program for students to learn about and practice an ethical orientation in all that they do.The CGO is a community that seeks to infuse our studies and preparation for the future with an ethos of learning, leadership, and service, and pairs the imagination and creativity of students, staff and faculty with the capabilities of modern technology to expand and enhance our ability to learn together and with others world-wide. Now incorporating its third freshman cohort, the CGO has 65 undergraduate participants and is active year-round.

Carnegie students are self-selected and come from blend of backgrounds, majors, and interests, united by their desire to participate in an intense and enduring commitment to the values and aspirations of the program, to one another, and to the broader community. In the first year they live together and take a number of the same courses, and are inculcated in the principles of Andrew Carnegie and the vision of ethics that spans from the local to the global. Freshman have extra-curricular meetings and meals on a weekly basis with the program's academic director and student staff, and explore a range of ethical approaches and their application through dialogue, engagement with the broader campus, and through service learning and volunteer work. They have the opportunity to meet in small group settings with people from business, political, religious, environmental, governmental, medical, and military spheres, and to explore with them the role ethics have played in their life and work.

Students are also encouraged to explore the meaning of ethics in their daily life, and to treat their surroundings with respect as they seek to create a more engaged and wholesome community within the dormitory setting. Carnegie students are assisted in their extra-curricular efforts through contributions from graduate students in the conflict resolution program, the department of geography, the department of philosophy, and other academic units. The CGO also partners with a variety of students groups and organizations, including the Associated Students of the University of Oregon, the Saudi Students Association, Greek Life, the Residence Hall Association, and others.

Beyond freshman year, CGO students develop areas of specific concentration that allow them to contribute to new students and extend their learning beyond the classroom. Second year students are involved in mentoring, blogging, organizing a campus-wide ethics roundtable, coordinating volunteer work, and other such endeavors. In their third year, students are encouraged to study abroad to gain exposure to other cultures and to deepen their language skills. In their final year at the University, CGO students will provide leadership on campus and assume as they prepare for graduate school or their chosen professions. Contributions to the program come from the College of Arts and Sciences, the Provost's Office, First Year Programs, Residence Life, the Savage Endowment for International Relations and Peace, the department of geography, and the generous support of Amy and Ross Kari.

Guests & Events
2011-12
Jim Shephard, president, Banque AIG
Sister Helen Prejean, author, Dead Man Walking
Morton Meyerson, former CEO of Texas Instruments and founder of 2M Industries
Greg Stanton, founder, Genocide Awareness Project
Professor Paul Slovic, University of Oregon
Ambassador Joyce Leader, deputy chief of mission during genocide in Rwanda
Greg Kuykendall, head of Mexico Capital Legal Assistance Program
Captain Chad Plaisted, U.S. Army Special Forces
Professor Ann Laudati, University of Bristol
Ross Kari, CFO, Freddie Mac
Ann-Marie Woodward, events coordinator, Food for Lane County
Dr. Elaine Snow, former director of research, mergers, and acquisitions, chief of staff, Invitrogen
Gershom Gorenberg, Israeli journalist and historian
Dr. Brian Barber, director, Center of the Study of Youth and Political Conflict at the University of Tennessee
Paul Solomon, executive director, Sponsors Inc. Re-entry Services
Bernice Johnson-Reagon, Sweet Honey in the Rock song-talk
Professor Claude Steele, author, Whistling Vivaldi
Memorial Day Observance Pioneer Cemetery
Saudi Students Association
Seventh Step, Oregon State Penitentiary
Senator Russ Feingold

2012-13
Lea Pera, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Tiny Houses
Sister Helen Prejean, author, Dead Man Walking
Salman Ahmad, UN Goodwill Ambassador and founder of Pakistan's #1 music group Janoon
Andy Stahl, founder and executive director, Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics
Craig Weinerman, federal public defender
Obama Inauguration Breakfast
Chimamanda Adichie, Nigerian author and MacArthur Genius Award recipient
Lorina McAdam, Mercy Corps country director, Democratic Republic of Congo
Brian Daugherty, director, St. Columb's Peace & Reconciliation Centre, Londonderry, Northern Ireland
Mark Hackett, founder and director, Operation Broken Silence
Richard Weinman, director of Homeless Services, City of Eugene
Nabil Selbak and Walid Saleeby, Arab Spring and Change in the Middle East
Professor Henry Shue, Oxford, Centre for Practical Ethics
Paul Solomon, executive director, Sponsors Inc. Re-entry Services
Ross Kari, CFO, Freddie Mac
Rina Ortiz and Bethany Loberg, Share Foundation, Human Rights El Salvador
Seventh Step, Oregon State Penitentiary
Michelle Alexander, author, The New Jim Crow
The Dalai Lama
Dr. Hugo Slim, senior research fellow, Oxford
Memorial Day Observance Pioneer Cemetery

Carnegie Global Oregon Student Activities and Awards
Awards: CGO Students have been the recipients of the following awards: 2013 Undergraduate Boren Scholarship; Savage Endowment for International Relations and Peace Student Fellow; Global Oregon Undergraduate Summer Award, 2012; Jim Buch Award; Kevin Ales Memorial Award (2011-2012); Leon Culbertson Scholarship (2011-2012); J&E Zimmerman Scholarship (2012-2013); Sheppard Family Scholarship for Study Abroad; CIEE Lift Scholarship for Language; Kaneta Foundation Scholarship; Filipino Chamber of Commerce Scholarship; Filipino Business Women's Association Scholarship; Alanson H. Kleinsorge Political Science Scholarship (2012); Willma Wittemyer Memorial Scholastic Achievement Prize, 2013; 2013 Department of Geography Holzman Family Award; Vernon Barkhurst Award; Pulliam Award (internship grant), 2012 ; Rippey Scholar (2012), Elks National Scholar; Mary Corrigan and Richard Solari Scholarship; Diversity Excellence Scholarship; SIT study abroad Award; Donald Dushane IV Memorial Scholarship; Marion Hearn Scholarship, Daly Fund, National Honor Society Scholarship, WUE (Western Undergraduate Exchange) Scholarship, California Scholarship Federation; Presidential Scholarship; Portland Rotary Scholarship; Oregon Realtors Scholarship and the Joseph K. Starr Scholarship; Jewish World Watch University Fellow. Many CGO Students are recipients of Resident and Non-resident Deans' Scholarships.

Extra-Curricular Activities: UO Women's Rugby Team, UO Sailing Club, UO Debate Team, UO Marching Band, U.S. Under 20 Women's Ultimate Frisbee Team, U.S. Cross Country Ride Against AIDS 2012, UO Catholic Ministries, Campus Ministry. Members of Sigma Chi Fraternity, Alpha Chi Omega Sorority, Alpha Phi Sorority, Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity, Kappa Kappa Psi Sorority, and Chi Alpha Sorority.

Internships: U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit; Inside-Out Program; Teach for America; Oregon Research Institute; Peace and Reconciliation Group, Derry/ Londonderry, Northern Ireland; St Columbs Park House, Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland; and Amirim Israel Volunteer Program.

Study Abroad: In the 2013–2014 Academic Year eleven CGO students will be enrolled in Study Abroad Programs around the world: Seville, Spain; Hamburg, Germany; Amman, Jordan; Lyon, France; Rabat, Morocco; Geneva, Switzerland; Queretaro, Mexico; Tanzania; Ecuador.

Positions Held: President of LLC Residence Halls; Chair of College Republicans; Assistant to ASUO Athletic Commissioner; LLC Government Events and Activities Coordinator; Publicity and Outreach Coordinator for LLC Hall Government; RHA Representative; RHA Diversity Chair; Resident Assistant LLC; Vice President Beyond War; National Residence Hall Honorary Leadership Coordinator; Prose Editor, Ephemera (Honors College Literary Arts Magazine); Philanthropy Chair 2012-2013 school year for Tri Delta Sorority; Tutors in Language Center, American English Institute and the LLC; Language Assistant in the GSH; Carnegie Council Ethics Fellow; Student Rep, Undergraduate Council 2013–14, Student Affairs Advisory Board 2013–14.

Presentations and Conferences: Mika Weinstein (CGO 14) presented a paper on "Divided Education in Northern Ireland" at the 16th UNESCO-APEID International Conference, Bangkok, Thailand, in November 2012. Christine Mathew and Erin Willahan (CGO 15s) represented the University of Oregon at the Sudan Emergency Action Summit in Washington D.C. in March 2013.

Volunteer Activities: CGO Students are involved in volunteer activities both on and off campus: Beyond War; Take Back the Night; Sexual Wellness Advocacy Team, Sexual Assault Support Services; Food Not Bombs; Food for Lane County; SERBU Juvenile Detention Center; UO Slow Food; Big Brother Big Sisters of Lane County; Lane County Animal Shelter; Climate Justice League; Genocide & Mass Atrocities: Responsibility to Prevent; Sponsors INC; Safe Ride; Blanchet House, Portland; UO Women's Center; Duck Corps; Cascade Climate Network; College Democrats.

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