Transformations at the Edge of the World: Forming Global Christians Through the Study Abroad Experience

Each year, thousands of students from faith-based universities across the United States venture, through study abroad programs, to the edge of the world. What happens to them while they are there? For the editors of this volume, the edge of the world is not a place of physical remoteness where cell phone coverage runs out, nor is it a region of economic marginality. Instead, it is a place of personal transformation, the point of convergence between students spiritual development and their commitment to global engagement. To help students arrive in such a place, faculty and staff seek holistic approaches to education. In the study abroad context, holistic education emphasizes formation of personal ethics, cultivation of empathy, the creation of deep communities, and commitment to social responsibility. This collection of essays is characterized by the diversity of its voices. The contributors represent a broad range of faith-based institutions and a wide array of academic disciplines. The study abroad programs they describe, scattered across five continents, reflect a variety of models. Gathered into this pioneering collection are essays that theorize about the conjunction of spiritual formation and global engagement, share practices that are currently bearing fruit, and identify potential areas of growth and improvement for the future.