Following recent terrorist attacks around the globe, our country is in the throes of increasing anxiety, with fear mongering, ethnic stereotyping, and finger pointing elevated among politicians and average citizens. Never has it been more important for higher education to foster civic, diversity, and global learning through initiatives that help students deepen relationships across differences.
In this article, we outline a project designed to meet this imperative at Queensborough Community College (QCC) of the City University of New York. QCC is one of the most diverse colleges in the country, with students hailing from 139 nations and speaking eighty-seven different languages. In fall 2014, over 70 percent of QCC’s incoming first-year students required remediation. Significantly, most QCC students have college and career aspirations extending beyond completion of an associate’s degree.