November 8, 1999

Ramapo College To Host New Governor's School of International Studies

(Mahwah) - Dr. Robert A. Scott, president of Ramapo College of New Jersey, today announced the creation of a new Governor's School of International Studies. Ramapo College, with its strong emphasis on international education and global literacy, will begin hosting the four-week residential program for talented rising high school seniors in the summer of 2000.

The Governor's School of New Jersey is an intensive honors program for high school scholars who wish to explore exciting new avenues of knowledge and acquire skills beyond those available in high school. Each Governor's School is hosted by a New Jersey college or university and focuses on a specific academic subject area: the Arts, the Environment, Public Issues, and the Sciences, in addition to the new program in International Studies.

The Governor's School of International Studies will offer scholars a unique mix of experiential learning, classroom discussions and presentations, and technology-savvy skills workshops in environmentalism and media literacy. The program is initiated with a one-week stay in Quebec City, Canada, enabling scholars to be directly immersed in the historical, cultural, political and religious reality of another culture. This Quebec City program component will focus on the origins and causes underlying the separatist movement in Canada.

Following the week in Quebec City, scholars will return to the Ramapo College campus for additional coursework. Daily activities will include morning sessions on topics such as international business and finance, diplomacy and negotiation, public health, human rights, and the environment. Afternoons and evenings will feature field trips, multicultural events, and panel discussions. Throughout the three weeks on Ramapo's campus, scholars will also participate in an interdisciplinary computer-assisted country simulation that will allow scholars to test negotiation and conflict resolution skills discussed in the core courses.

The Governor's School of International Studies also will offer a series of skills workshops and simulation activities. An environmental workshop, utilizing Ramapo College's Geographical Information System (GIS) software, will allow scholars to analyze data on issues such as refugee movement, world hunger, and global ecology. In addition, the Global Media Literacy Workshop will help scholars hone critical language arts and electronic media skills while providing an awareness of the growing influence of mass media, broadcast journalism, and advertising.

"In the present globalization of our society, this is a unique experiential learning environment which allows students to grapple with the challenges that will confront them as we move into the 21st century," says Terence Miller, director of International and Intercultural Studies at Ramapo College.

Each Governor's School has a different application and a student can apply to only one Governor's School. A student is nominated by the guidance counselor in their high school. An interested student should speak with the guidance counselor in September of his/her junior year to express an interest in applying to the program. The program is open to all public, private, and parochial and home school students residing in the state of in New Jersey.

For more information on the Governor's School of International Studies at Ramapo College contact Patti Zontanos at (201) 684-7263.