Beneath Ghana’s rich soils lies a treasure the world desires––gold. The rush to unearth this precious metal has led to a host of health problems from illegal mining, or galamsey. This unregulated, small-scale mining has poisoned rivers, destroyed land, and broken communities. More than 150 students from across Grounds came forward to solve this real-world health problem in the annual Global Health Case Competition held by the Center for Global Health Equity (CGHE). The case – water pollution in Ghana, is a major environmental health problem, impacting communities across the world.

Ambassador Steve Mull, Vice Provost for Global Affairs, affirms UVA's commitment to global experiences, despite a rapid cascade of executive orders and other policy changes from the federal government over the past several weeks.

In J-Term 2025, 40% of students who traveled abroad through a University of Virginia program were among the 7% of the UVA undergraduate student population with the most financial need. These 200 students were able to study abroad thanks to a new grant made available through Education Abroad.

In this time of intense global and domestic competition, Mara Rudman joined University of Virginia Miller Center colleagues Harry Harding, Syaru Shirley Lin, Scott Miller, and Mimi Riley in Shanghai in early January, for a conference at Fudan University, Navigating Turbulent Times: US-China Relations in the Next Four Years. The conference was co-sponsored by Fudan’s Center for American Studies, the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, and the Center for Asia Pacific Resilience and Innovation USA Foundation (CAPRI USA), led by Lin.

The world seems increasingly attracted to authoritarian solutions for pressing political issues, such as climate change, ethnic violence, and economic turmoil. In the Philippines, however, the next generation is actively building the organizations, campaigns, and movements to rebuild a democratic civic sphere. Over the past year, UVA’s Democratic Futures Project (DFP) has enabled undergraduate students to support and document these efforts, most recently through the publication of Care at the Core: The Power of People in the Grassroots.