Proceedings: 2020 Global Voices on the University of Dayton Campus
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Publication Date
4-19-2020
Publication Source
Enhancing Global Consciousness on College Campuses and Beyond: Proceedings of the 2020 Global Voices Symposium
Publisher
University of Dayton
Abstract
The 2020 Global Voices Symposium occurred at a momentous time in the world. During the Symposium there was chatter about the looming threat of novel coronavirus (COVID-19), which already had ravaged communities in China. Few predicted its rapid spread. Less than a week after the Symposium, many governors and local leaders in the U.S. ordered K-12 schools and universities to close as a preliminary measure to curb the spread of the virus. Three weeks after the Symposium, eight states in the U.S. issued shelter-in-place orders for their citizens, and other states were contemplating similar action. Repeatedly, people were being told to wash hands regularly, cover their mouths when coughing or sneezing, and to use hand sanitizers. COVID-19 is a human-to-human infection and therefore the population was advised to avoid crowded areas. Globally, nations were placing travel restrictions.
Within the same period the World Health Organization’s director, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned of the dire consequences of COVID-19 in developing countries. One by one, nations in the Global South regions took measures to curtail the spread of the virus. COVID-19 had turned into the most dangerous pandemic of the 21st century. In an increasingly interconnected and interdependent global environment, the virus spread quickly, forcing scientists and academicians alike to realize that any viable therapy to the virus entailed collaboration across national and continental boundaries. Clearly, the global response to COVID-19 has reinforced the importance of global consciousness. To be an informed person in the twenty-first century entails an understanding of the interconnected nature of the global community. The speakers at the Global Voices Symposium used personal stories to emphasize that message.
Disciplines
International and Comparative Education
eCommons Citation
Amin, Julius A., "The Urgency of Global Awareness" (2020). Proceedings: 2020 Global Voices on the University of Dayton Campus. 11.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/global_voices_3/11
Comments
These proceedings, free for download but also available for purchase in print for $5 plus tax and shipping, contain content provided by the participants. Some presenters did not include their presentation materials in the proceedings. Texts have been edited for clarity.