Your Global Footprint

This exercise was developed for students to see their personal “footprints” on the world by plotting which of the world’s countries (and corresponding populations and economies), languages, and religions they have been exposed to through their travels and/or studies. To do this, each student will plot the scores of his/her survey on a diagram, along four axes – population, GDP (PPP), languages, and religion. The resulting footprint is meant to give students a basic understanding of how global they are through a visual representation of their exposure to these dimensions, which they can then compare with their classmates. The exercise is intended to spark a class discussion on what it means to be globally savvy and can be used as an ice breaker at the onset of international business or marketing courses.

• Gain a basic understanding of how global they are, based on their direct exposure to or study of the world's populations, economies, languages, and religions.