Expanding a global perspective 

Miriam Yousaf (Clark Honors College, global studies, ’24) grew up with a global perspective. Her family came from the United Kingdom and Pakistan, but she didn’t know she could pursue a degree that explored the factors that have created our current world while emphasizing culture. Until she came to the University of Oregon.  

Yousaf, now a master’s student at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, discovered how impactful a global studies degree can be as a first-year student.  

As a student in the popular Perspectives on International Development course, she saw how global studies can explain the ideologies and thought behind the development policies in countries across the world. It fascinated her, and she wanted to keep studying these policies that continue to impact people around the world.  

As she progressed through the global studies degree pathway, Yousaf decided to focus on global health and Latin America as a region. She looks back to professors Jo Weaver and Kristin Yarris as models for helping her rethink public health and the impact it has on people.  

“They kind of modeled for us how to be critical of systems but also be part of medical anthropology or public health nongovernment organizations that are trying to help people or give them resources,” Yousaf says.  

Yousaf took what she was learning in the classroom out into the community. She worked as an intern with the Eugene-based environmental civil rights nonprofit Beyond Toxics, applying what she was learning in courses by Yarris and Weaver.  

Working with Beyond Toxics, Yousaf helped develop community health surveys in English and Spanish and knocked on doors throughout Springfield to hear from people affected by pollution.  

“I didn’t see the whole life cycle of that work, but the practicality of what it’s like to knock on doors and have people not answer or answer, and not be happy that you’re knocking on their door, is something I took with me to grad school as a practical way to take your work into the community,” Yousaf says.  

GSL provides opportunities for students to become comfortable with discomfort and immerse themselves in a new culture, Yousaf says. And being in those situations encourages growth as a person, scholar and citizen.   

“It forces your brain to think about things not immediate to your community or your concerns,” she says. “GSL forces you to strengthen those muscles of being curiously empathetic about other places, and I think that’s one of the best ways to be a student.” 

Standing out in the job market with a GSL education 

As a school, GSL is a recent addition to CAS, established in 2021. But international studies alumni who predate the school are still standing out in the job market.  

Amy Schenk graduated from CAS with a bachelor’s degree in 2017. What she learned as an international studies major and Arabic studies minor still aligns with what today’s students learn at GSL.  

Growing up, she wasn’t a globetrotter, but she was always interested in how people are governed, and how they also take care of each other. As an undergrad, she found herself inspired by courses that explored political economy and the international system.   

“It gave me this holistic kind of viewpoint of the plethora of careers in the international affairs world and what it means to work for the US government or elsewhere in the international community,” she says.  

Studying Arabic along with her global studies coursework prepared her to land jobs on the East Coast. Combining language and knowledge of the Middle East geographic area with substantive work on development studies provided Schenk with a holistic view of how international relations impacts living in the Gulf region, as well as Americans at home.  

“Learning Arabic was critical to understanding the region and talking to people through cross communication,” she says. “It helped me right out of undergrad.”  

After graduation, Schenk had an internship with the UN. That turned into a trip to Washington DC, where she worked at a think tank focused on the Middle East. She wrote about the region’s affairs there, then landed a job with the British Embassy. Now, she works as the head of external engagement for Aspen Digital program, where she covers all things artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and emerging tech.  

Working in DC alongside peers who attended more traditional international relations schools with less emphasis on language and region focus than GSL, Schenk feels she had an advantage. Not only did her classes reflect a diverse pool of students, all of whom had various lived experiences, but faculty members taught her to look at issues from a different perspective.  

“It’s something that I’ll never forget and always be grateful for,” Schenk says.