John Armour met with a class of 18 students, where they would recap the speakers and discuss the topics more intimately during the World Affairs Seminar.

By Rebecca Wyatt, OU Web Writer

Education major John Armour has an interest in world affairs. He questions the way the world sees issues, not just how the United States views them. This summer he participated in the World Affairs Seminar to help high school students from around the globe learn to think the same way.

“The conference was all about global leadership and how to become a global citizen,” said Armour, who served as a counselor for the 16-, 17- and 18-year-olds who participated in the weeklong seminar.

Participants from more than 30 countries and just about every state in the U.S. gathered at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater to learn about global business practices, government superpowers and how the world is connected.

After listening to two to three speakers a day, Armour would meet with a class of 18 students, where they would recap the speakers and discuss the topics more intimately.

“The whole focus of the camp was to get to know everyone and to especially get to know people from different areas of the world,” Armour said. “Our goal at the end was to help the students write a paper about what global citizenship is.”

The group Armour taught had students from the Bahamas and many different states. He said the students from different states learned that even different states had different views and they were able to learn from each other.

Armour, who is currently student teaching, likes the idea of thinking globally in the classroom and shaping future leaders at a young age.

“You aren’t going to solve any global problems if you can’t take a global perspective on things,” Armour said. “The hardest thing is taking a problem and looking at it from all different sides.”

Armour said the World Affairs Seminar not only influenced the participants’ way of thinking, it influenced his life too.

“I come from a very small city and we are sheltered. When I came back I was able to talk about these global issues with my friends and family. A lot of times I would get into huge debates with them about globalization, but I just wanted to get them thinking about it,” Armour said.

The World Affairs Seminar is held annually and Armour would like to participate in the future.

Students at Oakland University can learn more about Global Citizenship through the College of Arts and Science’s Global Citizenship theme programs. Lectures, events and classes are held throughout the year focusing on Global Citizenship. For more information, visit the Global Citizenship Web site.