Series of events highlight importance of global connections
While COVID-19 still has a grip on international travel and Study Abroad programs, URI celebrated International Education Week last month. GRAPHIC CREDIT: Elizabeth Wong
The University of Rhode Island celebrated International Education Week (IEW) with a series of discussions on the different ways global exchange is impactful.
IEW has been celebrated nationwide since 2000, to provide information on the importance of global understanding. This year, IEW was recognized from Nov. 15-19.
“It’s an initiative of the U.S. Department of Education,” said Michelle Carrara, an international education advisor at the Office of International Education and National Student Exchange. “The goal is to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide. It promotes programs that prepare Americans for the global environment.”
Shelley O’Connor, the coordinator of the Office of International Students and Scholars, said that the globally themed events are to spark interest in people about intercultural communications.
One of the events held during the week, hosted by the Hillel Center, was “Two Truths in One Heart, Two Peoples in One Land,” a dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians.
Speakers and Roots/Shorashim leaders Shadi Abu Awwad and Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger shared their personal stories on interconnection and presented the work of the Roots organization, which is a unique collaboration of Israelis and Palestinians building a grassroots model for co-existence and peace.
Another event hosted by the Harrington School of Communication and Media was called “Storytelling: Catalyst for Global Change and Awareness.” The event welcomed a discussion about international storytelling and its important role in changing lives, building awareness, bringing resilience and healing.
IEW provided events such as these for students, but also anyone interested in global work or exchange, according to O’Connor, who said that IEW is for people coming into America and people wanting to travel out. It informs people on opportunities they can take to learn or work internationally, and O’Connor said that she and her colleagues help teach people how to put together a set resume for international countries and prepare you to live and work worldwide, she said.
URI also aimed to mix in study abroad programs in the same week for their students to follow the global theme, with separate information sessions held throughout the week to cover information about the desired program or more broad questions about what the University offers internationally.
In the past, URI has held a study abroad fair, but due to COVID-19, the University has not been able to hold it due to safety protocols limiting study abroad options due to COVID-19, Carrara said.
The Study Abroad Fair welcomed about 50 different tables for different study abroad programs from faculty-run trips during J-term or summer to semester or full-year programs hosted by external companies.
Carrara said that before COVID-19, the event would be held all day for students to come and go as they please, to discover where they might want to take their studies. This event has not been held in person since 2019.
COVID-19 has also changed a few things about international students and programs, according to O’Connor. She said there are fewer international students currently studying at URI due to the pandemic.
Both international students currently at URI and students looking to study abroad must be fully vaccinated, as well as present a negative COVID-19 test to travel in and out of their host country.
“At the heart of international education there is an opportunity for global understanding, while it may sound high in the sky, a lot of things would not be possible without global understanding, from business to peacekeeping measures,” Carrara said. “All these little pieces can have a lifetime effect.”