Join EdGE

Welcome to Widening Circles

a program brought to you by the UC Davis Global Learning Hub in partnership with Omprakash EdGE

The Widening Circles Program enables students to explore new pathways for learning, sharing, connecting, and acting with purpose and humility in the face of global inequality and injustice.

Participating UC Davis students will join a shared online learning space via the EdGE platform for ongoing critical dialogue and reflection to support their civic engagement and social impact. The program includes an online curriculum, guidance from experienced mentors, peer-to-peer learning, personal reflection, and multimedia storytelling. In addition, students have access to a global network of social impact organizations with internship and volunteer opportunities.

This program will take place during Summer 2023. We invite you to submit your preliminary registration below* (free and no commitment) so that you can learn more about the program and begin browsing social impact internship opportunities.

*Please note: Registration is free and requires no up-front commitment. Once you register, your name will be visible to everyone in the UC Davis Widening Circles cohort. If you decide you no longer want to participate and want to be removed from the program, please email ethan@omprakash.org.

What Is This?

The program combines the following elements:

Online learning, mentorship, and community — the Omprakash EdGE online learning platform is designed to help you reflect on the complexities of striving for justice across differences of culture and power and to examine your own location within global flows of power and resources
Digital storytelling to document your experience — each student will create a series of multimedia blog posts that eventually form a Digital Portfolio that they can share with host organizations or others; students will present their work at a live Digital Symposium at the end of the program
Peer-to-peer learning, webinars, and periodic discussion groups to support community-building and critical reflection
Optional: Social impact internships (online or in person) — joining this program will enable you to access social impact volunteer and internship opportunities with over 200 organizations in 50+ countries around the world. We encourage you to pursue an internship or volunteer opportunity in conjunction with your participation in this program, but it is not required to do so.

How Does It Work?

Program Overview & Timeline

The official program period will run between June 26, 2023 and August 25, 2023.

During this time, students will:

Complete the Widening Circles coursework via our EdGE online learning platform;

Have the option to pursue a social impact internship or volunteer opportunity with an Omprakash Partner organization (online or in-person, or possibly hybrid);

Build a portfolio of digital storytelling posts that documents their Summer experience;

Participate in two synchronous sessions during the program and a digital symposium at the end of the program to share their work with each other and with a broader audience

Please note that if you are pursuing an internship or volunteer experience, it can be shorter or longer than this official program window. Regardless of when you choose to start your internship, however, we encourage you to begin browsing and applying for internship opportunities as soon as possible. Check out our robust Partner network and search database to get a sense of how this works. You are also welcome to apply to an organization outside of the Omprakash network.

Once you register below, you will gain access to your EdGE Dashboard, where you'll be able to learn more about the program and begin planning your internship.

Program Cost, Transcript Notation, and Funding

Program Cost: $500 program fee, paid directly to Omprakash. Students who elect an in-person internship or volunteer experience will have out-of-pocket expenses, including transportation to/from site and daily estimated costs which is listed for each internship/volunteer experience.

Transcript Notation: All UC Davis participating students who complete an internship as part of the program will have the option to apply for and receive Transcript Notation through the Internship and Career Center.

Program Funding:

UC Davis students: Funding is available for full program scholarships for UC Davis undergraduate and graduate students as well as travel grants for students from all majors. Apply for funding through the Experiential and Intercultural Programs portal. Deadline: March 24, 2023
Non-Davis students: If you are not a UC Davis student, please reach out to Willy Oppenheim at willy@omprakash.org for information about funding opportunities that may be available.

What is the coursework about?

Essential Questions

The EdGE online coursework is comprised of four 'units,' each of which is oriented around an essential question. The essential questions are as follows:

Unit 1: What are the risks of trying to 'help others' when crossing significant differences of culture and power — and how might 'raising consciousness' offer more expansive possibilities for social change?
Unit 2: How can storytelling be a force for raising consciousness — and in that sense, how can you document your summer experience in a way that is thoughtful, creative, and impactful?
Unit 3: What prevailing ideologies and policies have created our current moment of extreme social and environmental inequality — and what might it mean to imagine alternatives?
Unit 4: What assumptions underpin popular ideas about poverty, affluence and development — and to what extent might non-linear perspectives offer viable alternatives?

Why Join This Program?

Stay tuned for info about our current program!