Students of the World (SOW) is a non profit organization that partners with college students to highlight global, social issues and the innovative solutions of those working to address them.
The purpose of SOW is to raise awareness of social issues ranging from sustainable development to climate change, using a variety of mediums including film, photography, writing and other creative methods. Furthermore, SOW utilizes their creative mediums to share these stories through various outlets, with the ultimate purpose of educating and inspiring others to action. The work that SOW has produced has been used to shed light on issues around the globe, on university campuses, in art galleries, regional publications, film festivals and international conferences.
SOW was founded in 1999 at Duke University and in the past 10 years SOW has sent over 250 students to 30 countries to tell the stories of socially conscious organizations through the lens of creative, student-generated media.
This summer, SOW is developing its programs to improve the visibility and overall impact of the teams’ work. SOW teams will focus on creating more holistic, issue-based media that will highlight global needs and those innovative organizations addressing them.
The SOW program is a yearlong commitment, beginning in January 2010. Spring efforts include teambuilding, preparation, fundraising and research. However, the bulk of the project will take the form of a summer internship that will include training, four weeks of production travel and post production work in Austin, Texas. The final component of the SOW commitment occurs during the fall when teams put leverage their summer production work through events, educational outreach activities, and other media distribution channels.
