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  • "GESI is about engaging a world that is bigger, more exciting, and more complex than most people imagine. This abroad experience has allowed me to learn more about myself as a student, a partner in the work world, and as a member of humanity, and I'm looking forward to my continued growth in all these capacities."

    - Tarik Patterson

  • "GESI is not a program that teaches you how to help others. It is one that enables you to turn "others" into "us". It is real living with real people, and immerses you into a culture that is as sophisticated and complex as your own."

    - Michelle Kim

  • "GESI exposed me to the difficult but rewarding realities of community development: True impact comes from work at the grittiest level. If you're considering a career in a non-profit, NGO, social work, or anything that supports your community, an experience like this is vital."

    - Kirk Vaclavik

  • "There are two ways of learning: by keeping your nose to a book or by opening your eyes to the world. GESI provides the rare learning opportunity as it combines both forms. I know I have walked away invariably changed for the better."

    - Kalindi Shah

  • "Our project involved community members in every conceivable way. My relationships built with community members were my most proud and lasting accomplishments."

    –Sebastian Buffa

  • "I was looking for an opportunity to create lasting change--both in a community and in myself. GESI sets its participants up with the necessary tools and skills, and then gives them complete freedom to learn, fail, rework, and eventually succeed."

    - Rena Oppenheimer

  • "The program has given me a glimpse into what it is like to work internationally at the grassroots level. Having the hands on experience that the program has given me, I feel like I am one step ahead for other jobs in the development sector."

    - Ashley Fu

  • "The experience has given me a new perspective on everything from washing the dishes to how to address world hunger... I will be returning to the lessons I learned on this trip decades from now."

    - Alexis Suskin-Sperry

  • "The most unique aspect of this program is the opportunity to act on a theory that we had learned. GESI is a unique opportunity to experience how development theories, methodologies and practices actually play out in a community."

    - Lakshmi Ramachandran

  • "I will always treasure my home-stay experience. I became very close with my siblings and loved having a large family. I learned that wherever you are, a family is a family and life is lived day to day."

    - Ellen Abrams

  • "My home-stay was one of the best aspects of my summer. My sisters taught me so much about Ugandan culture as well as life in general. We have grown up on different sides of the world but we may as well as lived next door."

    - Chelsea Christman

  • "Professor Arntson's team building exercises and classes about group dynamics were invaluable. They gave our team the vocabulary and tools to mediate conflicts and make decisions while abroad and helped us understand each other's motivations."

    - Catherine Wu

  • "Our NGO let us work independently, but took co-ownership of our project, which was comforting as we were creating a proposal for them and we required input and feedback to know that our work had a purpose."

    - Elizabeth Montgomery

  • "Being at our NGO was the single best part of the trip. I loved the community, and I loved the people there. It is an amazing NGO that does amazing things. The challenges we faced taught us to overcome obstacles."

    - Alex Grubman

  • "The FSD site team was incredible. I've never worked with such capable, caring, fun people. They made me feel so at home and safe and also really supported us with our NGO."

    - Asha Toulmin

  • "I am very impressed by the commitment and intelligence of the fellow students in GESI. I definitely learned much from them."

    - XinKai Cheng

  • "The diversity of our group made us effective -- while others preferred to work on logistical, behind-the-scenes stuff; some were outspoken, others were more contemplative; some were better planners, some were better at actuating ideas on paper."

    - Abby Hannifan

  • "This program gave new meaning to hands on learning. The background at the institute on development was great, and a week later you were on site attempting to implement what you had learned, and in the process learning far more than you could imagine."

    - Rachel Suffrin

  • "The most unique thing was the amount of exposure we got to the community. I felt like I was a part of it and not just observing it."

    - Bryan Stenson

  • "This experience was absolutely applicable to my personal, professional, academic goals, especially when it comes to approaching development with a realistic perception of how it works on the ground."

    - Elizabeth Montgomery

  • "GESI has helped me mature as a team member and a prospective development worker."

    - C.A.

Professors

GESI professors guide the curriculum for the Pre-Departure Learning and Final Reflection Summits, acting as important resources to students before, during, and after their on-the-ground experience. These professors are committed to experiential learning and student reflection opportunities.

Paul Arntson

Paul Arntson received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in Communication Arts with a minor in Educational Psychology. He joined the Communication Studies Department in 1974 and was the chair for six years. He is on the faculty of the Asset Based Community Development Institute at the Institute for Policy Research and a Fellow at the Center for Communication and Medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. He is a member of the General Faculty Committee and was elected to serve as its chair.

Professor Arntson has conducted research and training programs in British, Australian, and American primary care contexts, with self help groups, and with neighborhood associations in order to improve citizens’ decision making competencies concerning their health and the well-being of their communities.

His research includes understanding how pediatric cancer survivors and their parents communicate bout their cancer experiences, investigating how to improve communication between primary care providers and deaf patients, evaluating community living options for adults with disabilities, and documenting how community based organizations contribute to the well-being of their neighborhoods . He is also part of an NIH grant studying how families can make informed decisions concerning fertility options when their daughters are diagnosed with having cancer.

Professor Arntson teaches leadership and decision-making courses at the undergraduate level, at the graduate level in the Masters of Manufacturing Management program, in the Managerial Communication Masters program, and in the Ph.D. program. Through a Ford Foundation Grant on Difficult Dialogues he developed and hosts a first year seminar on how to discuss issues of identity, diversity, and religion. He previously held the Van Zelt Chair in Communication Research and the first Alumnae of Northwestern Teaching Professorship.

Professor Arntson was the founder and then director of Northwestern University’s Undergraduate Leadership Program for 12 years. He is also the founding coordinator of Northwestern University’s Public Interest Program that places graduating seniors in public interest fellowships each year. He teaches in the Certificate for Service Learning Program and co-directs the capstone community projects. He also teaches in the Center for Global Engagement and works with groups of students in Africa, India, and Argentina each summer. He recently helped establish the Center for Civic Engagement at Northwestern University.

He has lived in Evanston for the past 36 years with his wife Martha, who is the director of the Childcare Network of Evanston. Professor Arntson works with leadership and community engagement organizations in Evanston, Chicago, and around the world.

Brian Hanson

Brian Hanson is the Director of Programs Research and Operations of the Buffett Center for International and Comparative Studies and a faculty member in the Department of Political Science. He oversees the Center for Global Engagement at the Buffett Center and the Global Engagement Studies Institute.

Hanson teaches courses on international development, international political economy, globalization, and the changing role of the state in world politics. His current research is on the European trade politics and community-based approaches to global development.

In addition to his work at Northwestern, Hanson is also actively involved in fields of international philanthropy, international development and foreign affairs. He is Chair of the Board of GlobeMed, a national organization started at Northwestern, which seeks to build a new generation of leaders in global health by involving undergraduates in health projects in the developing world. He serves on the board of the Foundation for Sustainable Development, which works with indigenous, grassroots development organizations to address local issues of poverty, health, education, environmental sustainability and poverty alleviation.

He is the former board chair of the Chicago Global Donors Network, and serves as an adviser to the Holthues Trust and on the board of the Hanson Family Foundation, which are grant giving organizations that support global development, human rights, poverty alleviation and environmental work around the world.

Hanson is also vice chair of the Stanley Foundation, which promotes multilateral approaches to address international problems such as securing nuclear materials, prevention of genocide and mass atrocities, and evolution and innovation in global governance.

Previously, he has served as the Foreign Policy Advisor to U.S. Senator Alan Dixon of IL, and as the number two in Washington DC government affairs office of John Deere and Company.

Hanson received his BA from Grinnell College in Iowa and did his doctoral studies in political science at MIT.