Connecting Communities Across Continents
What happens when social work, public health, and global learning come together?
This summer, CHER Executive Director and Regents’ Professor Julie Baldwin joined an NAU study abroad program in Italy to explore how international partnerships can expand interdisciplinary education and prepare students to address complex health challenges at home and abroad.
The program was led by NAU Social Work faculty Dr. Natalie Randolph and Stephanie Dove in partnership with the Molise Italian Studies Program. Thirteen students from social work, psychology, criminal justice, dental hygiene, and speech and communication sciences participated.
Dr. Baldwin joined the study abroad program to learn how to design and implement study abroad courses with a vision to expand this course to include NAU public health students and visits to public health agencies in Italy. Some of the agencies visited that would be especially relevant to public health students included:
1) Differenza Donna Association which manages anti-violence centers, shelters, semi-autonomous homes for women in Rome;
2) the LAI Cooperative – which focuses on employment integration of people with disabilities;
3) La Piccola Bottega – offering animal-assisted therapy sessions with donkeys; and
4) Binario 95 – which operates in the fields of social and healthcare assistance, job placement for disadvantaged individuals, and social inclusion for the homeless. These visits offered opportunities to compare Italian and U.S. approaches to health and social care while learning directly from practitioners working in the field.
One student, Davie Sullivan, reflected on their experience.
“My trip to Italy with NAU was absolutely amazing, I had so many great experiences. Not only did I learn about the culture; how it is the same and also differs from the US, but I also learned so much about myself. I know now I am better prepared for whatever career I choose to pursue, and altogether I would do it over and over again if I had the chance!”
International opportunities through NAU are an important offering designed to expand horizons for students on a global scale.
As Dr. Baldwin reflects, “This was an amazing Study Abroad Program. To have the opportunity to meet with different health- and service-based organizations in Italy and to interact with their staff and the people they serve- was just incredible.”
For Dr. Baldwin, it wasn’t all about the course material. “The program also involved multiple opportunities to learn about cultural, historical, and social aspects of life in Italy, as well as the amazing cuisine! We learned how to make cheese, pasta, gelato, tiramisu, and cannoli.”
Their itinerary brought them outside the confines of the classroom. “We visited the coastal cities of Monopoli and Termoli, and the Tremiti Islands and swam in the Adriatic Sea,” remembered Dr. Baldwin. “We hiked in medieval towns in the mountains. The people whom we met, the beautiful landscape, and the cultural experiences were so special and something to always treasure.”
Dr. Baldwin hopes to build upon this class with her social work colleagues to add more opportunities for public health students to participate next summer:
“I came home inspired by what’s possible. I’d love to expand this opportunity to include public health students so they can examine different health systems while thinking critically about what we can learn about our own communities.”
“It was so amazing to have Julie with us,” added Stephanie Dove, “and the inclusion of a public health lens deepened the experience for the students.”
Dr. Randolph reflected on this partnership with Dr. Baldwin as “a wonderful opportunity to expand upon interdisciplinary work to create more exposure for social work and public health students to engage in impactful learning opportunities abroad.” Additionally, “joining forces allows for the next generation of professionals to understand social determinants of health, while exploring interventions to improve communities in rural and urban settings.”
As CHER continues expanding opportunities for interdisciplinary learning, collaborations like this create new ways for students to explore health, culture, and community through a global lens.