Global Studies Institute
Helping students pursue unique and enriching experiences with a shared goal of cultural immersion
2016-2017
The Global Studies Institute at Ohio Wesleyan University began with an initial four-year grant and an idea. I, along with my colleagues and friends Jeremy Baskes and Nathan Rowley, began to meet during the 2016-17 academic year to discuss how best to use grant monies that were allocated to help the university support global studies and a globalized curriculum. Eventually, the Global Scholars Program was born.
Fall of 2017
In the fall of 2017 our first cohort of students arrived on campus, ready to take their first seminar as Global Scholars.
2017-2019:
As the Global Scholars Program continued to welcome incoming cohorts and grow, so, too, did interest in it. And in 2019, an OWU alumnus named Thomas Palmer and his wonderful wife Susan Palmer, met with me, Jeremy, Nathan, and many of our Global Scholars on campus. They knew that the initial grant monies were set to expire soon. And after meeting with several cohorts of Scholars in multiple contexts, the Palmers made a decision.
January of 2020
At the Ross Art Museum, the Palmers announced their endowment of the Thomas W. Palmer ‘69 and Susan Palmer Global Scholars Program, thus ensuring that it would live on in perpetuity.
August of 2020
Mary Anne Lewis Cusato and Nathan Rowley became co-directors of both the Global Studies Institute and the Palmer Global Scholars Program.
May of 2021:
Our inaugural cohort graduated in May of 2021 and are on their way to doing good work all around the world in various fields.
