What defines your world?

On a personal level, it may be your circle of family and friends. Your home, school, and work. The passions that you pursue. But more broadly, it is also the town in which you live, the state where you reside, the nation of which you are a citizen, and the global community of which you are a member.

The purpose of a Moravian College education is to prepare young men and women to live wholly, deeply, and responsibly. Faculty and staff help students discover who they are, think critically about their truth and their world, and recognize and act on their responsibility to themselves and to the world in all of its rich multilayered connectedness.

To reinforce its belief that international study and experience is invaluable to that discovery and understanding, the college is expanding international experiences for students on campus and abroad. This mission, like many of the philosophies, objectives, and traditions that make up a Moravian College education, is intrinsic to our Moravian heritage. In the 1700s, Moravians ventured from their community of Herrnhut in Saxony to other regions of Europe and to Africa, the Caribbean, and the American colonies, where they founded Bethlehem. Their intent was not to convert people to the Moravian faith but to spread the Gospel, as defined not by doctrine or belief but by living according to the teachings of Jesus Christ, and to create opportunities for education as Benigna von Zinzendorf did in 1742 when she opened the girls’ school that would grow into the college we know today.

The Moravian Church of the 18th century embraced kinship with people of all cultures. “In 1750 Bethlehem, you could find people from Germany, Britain, Scandinavia, Sri Lanka, and Africa, as well as American Indians,” writes Paul Peucker, archivist at the Moravian Archives, in an article in the summer 2009 issue of this magazine. “Although the Moravians’ lingua franca was German in most cases, Moravians were proud of the variety of languages spoken in their communities, and on several occasions they sang hymns in all of the languages found in their congregations. On September 4, 1745, Bethlehem Moravians simultaneously sang a hymn in 18 different languages.”

These world views have infused a Moravian College education for 277 years. And it is with these ideals in mind that we are using this issue of the magazine to highlight students engaging in international experience and reflecting on their responsibilities as active members of a global community. You will learn how the college is recommitting itself to global education and hopefully be inspired by the impact of our alumni, students, and faculty as they effect positive change in the world, whether they work here in the United States or beyond our borders.

Global Education, Global Impact