Global Studies Diploma Program

List of 3 items.

• Mat Saunders

  
  Mat Saunders is the Director of the Global Studies Diploma Program and International Research at Davidson Day School. He has devoted his career to advancing international research opportunities to students, focusing his efforts on finding ways to bridge the professional world of science with underserved populations such as pre-collegiate students. Saunders’ interest in the ancient Maya, led him to carry out archaeological research at terrestrial and cave sites in western Belize, where he has carried out excavations for the last twenty-two years. Over the last sixteen years, he has utilized pre-collegiate students to successfully advance archaeological research. His pioneering efforts to incorporate pre-collegiate students in his research in Belize, opened up more opportunities for Saunders and his students. He has served as co-director of excavations at the ancient Maya city of Cahal Pech in western Belize since 2006, at the Medieval castle site of Zorita de los Canes in central Spain since 2014, the Macedonian city of Mieza in northern Greece since 2017, and the ancient Roman city of Tróia in Portugal since 2018. In addition, Saunders organizes two annual conferences that focus on archaeology of the ancient Maya and also serves as the co-editor of The Mayanist; a peer-reviewed open-access journal dedicated to current archaeological research. Saunders has been at Davidson Day School since 2010. During his time at Davidson Day, he has overseen international research, taught in the upper school history department, and created experiential opportunities for lower and middle school students.

• Tia Hill

  
  Tia Hill is the Director of College Counseling at Davidson Day.  She joined the school after working in the admission office at her alma mater, Furman University, for 6 years. Tia spent one year as a member of the Board of Trustees for American Foreign Academic Research (AFAR). Since 2013, she has worked closely with dozens of students who have conducted academic field research. In the college admission process, she has supported these students by helping them showcase their work through their activity list, personal essays, interviews, and in some cases, the creation of a research portfolio. In 2015 and 2016, Tia spent two weeks working alongside her students at the Medieval castle site of Zorita de los Canes in central Spain where she helped uncover human skeletons and excavate artifacts from the fourteenth century.

• Michael Smith

  
  Michael Smith is the Head of Upper School at Davidson Day. In over 40 years as an independent school educator, he has listed the Global Studies Diploma and the AFAR program as two of the most unique programmatic endeavors he has ever been involved in. Michael has traveled and sponsored student programming with partner schools in Mexico, Canada, China, and India and participated in AFAR’s Tróia Ruinas Archaeological Research Project in Tróia, Portugal, in 2019.