New Student-run Publication Highlights Global Experiences
May 24, 2016
Last summer, Devin Windelspecht participated in a Dialogue of Civilizations program in the Balkans, where he studied the fall of Yugoslavia and the Bosnian War. Upon return, he penned an incisive narrative of the experience for the first issue of the Global Journal, a new student- run publication aimed at shedding light on what it’s like to work, study, and live abroad.
Windelspecht concluded the 900- word essay by reflecting on the power of the Dialogue, a monthlong experience that cut to the heart of a violent conflict like no textbook nor classroom lecture could ever do. “Dialogue is more than just traveling to another country and seeing another culture,” writes Windelspecht, SSH’18, a third- year international affairs major. “It is allowing oneself the dignity to see others as human beings, to hear their stories and look in their eyes and see the pain that lies there still.”
The piece—titled Sarajevo: The War, The People, The Dialogue—is emblematic of the simultaneously philosophical and heartfelt writing that has come to characterize the content of the Global Journal. It was founded in the spring of 2015 by three students, a trio of well- traveled global citizens who marshaled their passion for international affairs and the power of the global narrative to assemble a large team of storytellers.
Published in February, the inaugural issue comprises reflections from more than 20 students and young alumni. Most of the pieces focus on their co- op, Dialogue, and N.U.in experiences in countries like India, Cambodia, and Costa Rica. Others zero in on campus events, including talks on topics ranging from climate change and peace building to border security and the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty.