Upcoming Events
New York Times Global Review will be back in the Fall
The International Center sponsors a New York Times Global Review which will be held every Thursday from 12:00 - 1:00 pm in WB 147. It will begin Thursday, 16 September, 2010.
UVU faculty, staff, and students are welcome to attend to participate in lively and critical discussion about events covered in the New York Times. A different faculty or staff member will lead the discussions each week. Attendees are asked to bring along a copy of the daily edition of the New York Times. Pizza and water will be provided. See flyer.
Who: Students, faculty, and staff
What: New York Times Global Review
When: Every Thursday this Fall Semester from 12:00 - 1:00 pm starting 16 September
Where: WB 147 International Center
Why: An engaging participation in a lively and critical discussion about events covered in the New York Times.
Sponsored by: UVU International Center, Student Government, and the Utah Democracy Project.
Business Briefing on the International "ATA CARNET"
Thursday, 22 July 2010, 8:15 am -10:00 am, SLCC Miller Campus, 9750 South 300 West, Sandy, UT, Karen Gail Conference Center Room # 224
The Salt Lake Community College Miller Global Business Center, the U.S. Department of Commerce Export Assistance Center, and the Utah World Trade Center invite you to attend a WEBX business briefing on the International ATA Carnet. If you are an Exporter, University or College, or any Organization who sends temporary shipments of products and equipment overseas but dreads the hassle of foreign taxes and customs clearances, then you can benefit from the ATA Carnet system that permits the duty and tax free temporary export of all kinds of goods for business and exhibition purposes.
Typical uses of Carnets: Manufactured products for demonstration and sales promotion; Trade show booths and equipment; Tour groups with musical instruments, costumes and equipment; Photographer equipment; Livestock and Bloodstock; Garments for fashion shows; Props and sets for theater and dance; Tools and test equipment. WEBX Speaker: Mary Kay Jakubowski, Carnet Business Development Representative, Roanoke Trade Services, Inc. 1475 E. Woodfield Road, Suite 500, Schaumburg, IL 60173-4903. There is no charge for this business briefing but if you would like to attend please RSVP in advance. To RSVP for this event please call the Miller Global Business Center at (801) 957-5556 or email: stan.rees@slcc.edu.
Springville World Folkfest
Monday, 26 July 2010
The Springville World Folkfest will bring the color and excitement of traditional folk dance and music from around the world to Springville during the 23rd annual World Folkfest planned for July 26th through July 31st, 2010, in Springville, Utah, USA.
Folk dancers and musicians travel from countries around the world to attend the Springville Folkfest, which has grown to become one of the largest festivals of folk dance and music in the United States. Five outdoor evening performances are scheduled during the 2010 Folkfest on the outdoor stage at the Spring Acres Arts Park, located just north of Springville High School at 620 South 1350 East. The stage was designed specifically to accommodate Folkfest performances. For more information please visit here.
Global Spotlight China: Coming this Fall
UVU students will have a competitive advantage in a global workplace to the extent that they understand different cultural traditions and institutional frameworks and acquire necessary analytical skills grounded in their academic disciplines. To better prepare globally competent citizens, the International Center sponsors an annual Global Spotlight Country program. This year the Global Spotlight will be China. Programming will cross disciplinary lines and may include coverage of education, science, technology, art, health, politics, business, environmental issues, human rights, etc. Through participation in program events, faculty, students, and community guests will break down stereotypes, connect across cultures, and develop the habits of mind appropriate for global understanding.
UVU Kicks Off New Program Global Spotlight with Trip to China
(As featured by World Trade Center Utah Weekly Newsletter here)
Utah Valley University faculty and administrators recently returned from a two-week Faculty Study Seminar to China, the kick-off event for UVU’s 2010-11 Global Spotlight: China.
Sponsored by UVU’s International Center and led by Dr. Eric Hyer, professor of Chinese politics, the 21 seminar participants explored the dynamic of “Continuity and Change” in China. With time in Beijing, Xi’an, Yan’nan, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong, the group, which represented each of UVU’s seven colleges, explored how classical Chinese history and politics influenced the origins of Chinese communism and, in turn, contemporary rural education, business development, manufacturing and financial dynamism.
“I particularly enjoyed the lectures at the Temple of Heaven, the Terra Cotta Warriors excavation site, the Grand Canal in Suzhou, and the Grand Mosque in Xian. Those lectures really brought China’s rich history to life for me,” noted history professor, Dennis Farnsworth.
Biology professor, Jim Harris said, “The visits to an Airbus assembly plant, a Fairchild chip manufacturing facility, and Prime Asia’s leather processing plant gave me a sense both of China’s global economic power and the challenges it faces as it grows.”
For secondary education professor Raquel Cook, the rural school visit in remote Ganquan County “really highlighted both the desire for education in China and some of the challenges facing the government as it seeks to educate its 1.3 billion people.”
In addition to experiencing some of China’s political, economic, cultural and social challenges first-hand, group members met with Beijing Normal University, Qinghai Normal University and Qinghai Provincial government officials. “Those meetings,” Dean Ernie Carey noted, “laid the groundwork for faculty exchanges, student teaching opportunities, study abroad and internship opportunities, and collaborative research.”
Seminar participants are now working with the International Center to plan and carry out Global Spotlight: China programming for their respective colleges during the upcoming academic year. UVU’s International Center looks forward to a year of China-focused programming with events highlighting, art, economic development, minority rights, religion, Utah ties to Chinese Communist Party development, women’s issues, cyber-security and U.S.-China relations. Group participants will also act as a resource to integrate China perspectives into UVU’s curriculum.
Opportunities
International Internships: Interested in expanding your education globally?
The International Center encourages you to explore the possibilities of an International Internship. An international experience could make all the difference in obtaining the career position you desire in the future. Start exploring the opportunities and make a plan for an international internship.
The International Center maintains strong connections with international internship host offices around the world, but there are also many UVU faculty and staff and community members who have international connections. In preparing for an international internship be sure to explore possibilities with campus or community contacts.
If you would like information about prospective internship placements please click here.
Follow UVU students as they intern abroad at the UVU International Study Programs Blog.
Scholarships and other funding options here.
Glimpse Correspondents Fall Program
Application deadline: Thursday, 15 July 2010
Finalists announced: Sunday, 15 August
The Glimpse Correspondents Program is for talented writers and photographers with a passion for storytelling and a knack for finding truly unique stories. The program is open to anyone between the ages of 18 and 36 who will be working, volunteering, or studying outside of their home country for at least ten weeks. Correspondents receive the following benefits:
* $600 stipend
* Support from a team of professional editors
* Career training in writing and photography
* Guaranteed publication on Glimpse.org and The Matador Network
For more information, see the website.
Traditional Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program
Agency: Council for International Exchange of Scholars
Next Deadline: Monday, 2 August 2010
Sends nearly 800 scholars and professionals each year to 140 countries, where they lecture or conduct research in a wide variety of academic and professional fields. Applicants must have current U.S. citizenship; hold a Ph.D. or other terminal degree in their field; have university teaching experience; and have foreign language proficiency for country where project will take place. Awards vary from two months to a full academic year. Single deadline exists for grants to all world regions. See http://www.cies.org for details. E-mail: scholars@cies.iie.org
Contact: Contacts Vary by Region
3007 Tilden Street, NW
Suite 5L
Washington, DC 20008-3009
202/686-4000
Koch Internship
Application deadline: Monday, 9 August 2010
This is a paid fall internship program that offers valuable experience living and working in Washington, D.C. during the fall of 2010. The Koch Internship Program is designed to develop young professionals by placing them into a position designed to give real, hands-on experience with a free-market public policy organization. Upcoming graduates who are looking to get their start in a policy organization can also apply for this opportunity, so please pass this information on to your graduating seniors.
The application deadline for the fall program is August 9th, 2010; the internship will run from September 13th - December 3rd, and pays $12.00/hr. Interested candidates can apply directly through our website (www.cgkfoundation.org/internship-program/application-requirements/) or contact Thomas Russell at thomas.russell@cgkfoundation.org if you have any questions.
International Education News
Dual Immersion Language Programs Places Utah in Top Spot in the Nation
At the recent Second Annual Utah Dual Immersion Institute, hundreds of educators, school administrators and guests learned that Utah has over 7000 students currently enrolled in 40 different dual immersion language programs – securing Utah’s leadership in the global economy and signaling a critical focus on preparing our students for the challenges in a global world. Read more here.
The Chinese Perspective
For U.S. universities interested in internationalizing their campuses, China is the promised land. Almost invariably, as part of their internationalization strategies, U.S. universities have sought to develop exchange agreements, dual or joint degree options, and/or short-term study abroad programs in this country of more than a billion people. Read more here.
New U.S. Passport and Consular Fees Effective July 13, 2010
New fees will go into effect on July 13, 2010, for U.S. passport-related services as well as for numerous U.S. consular services. View the Federal Register notice for the full listing of fees. Read more here.
Support a Path of Hope for Undocumented Students
The DREAM Act, and ultimately comprehensive immigration reform, would create a path for undocumented students to legally pursue educational and career opportunities in the United States. But until Congress acts, many of these students are trapped. Join us in asking Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to make "deferred action" formal policy for all DREAM-Act-eligible students on Connecting Our World's newest campaign page. Read more here.
Can U.S. Degrees Maintain Top Global Degree Ranking?
Is the United States poised to remain at the top of the international education market? The Christian Science Monitor reports in-depth on factors influencing the competitiveness of U.S. colleges and universities as well as what's needed to improve the U.S. higher education system. Read more here.
David Gergen Calls on United States to Welcome Foreign Talent
While foreign students have tended to dominate U.S. graduate programs in science, math, and technology, this trend is shifting, David Gergen reports for Parade Magazine. Gergen looks at the benefits of attracting foreign-born students and examines policies that are steering many away from the United States. Read more here.
Oklahomas Passes Study Abroad Resolution
On May 26, 2010, the Oklahoma House of Representatives passed HR 1097, which recognizes "the importance of study abroad at our institutions of higher education for the future of Oklahoma." NAFSA State Whip Sunny Garner gathered representatives from colleges and universities across Oklahoma at the State Capitol Building for passage of the resolution.
As Overseas Internships Grow, So Do Challenges for College Officials
In recent years the lines between studying abroad and working abroad have blurred. More students seek jobs overseas during their summers, pursue international internships for credit, or add in a few hours of work during a semester studying in another country. "Students have finally understood that their competition is not the school down the road, it's a global competition," says Daniela Ascarelli, director of study abroad at Drexel University. "You can't compete if you've never left your region or your country." Read more here.
Hundreds of Iraqis Scholarship WInners Are Set to Arrive on U.S. Campuses
Thanks to a new program from the Iraq Education Initiative, hundreds of Iraqis will be able to study abroad. More than 200 students have been admitted to programs at 22 institutions in the United States alone. Educational exchange is extremely significant, says Zuhair A.G. Humadi, executive director of Iraq's Higher Committee for Education Development, which is administering the program. Last week Humadi received NAFSA's Cassandra Pyle Award for Leadership and Collaboration in International Education and Exchange. Read more here.
Book: Staff Pick
Red China Blues: My Long March from Mao to Now by Jan Wong
This book is a must read for anyone who is interested in the inner workings of the Cultural Revolution to present day China. Jan Wong lived in Canada, a daughter of an upper middle class Western Chinese family and became enamored with the revolutionary rhetoric of Communist China of the 1970's at the height of the Cultural Revolution. She moved to China because she was accepted as only one of two Westerners permitted to enroll at Beijing University. Having no Chinese language skills and with a naive, rose-colored view of Chinese life and politics, she documents her journey through a stark, harsh, unrelenting system of the Chinese way of living and thought. She lasted six years, which included shoveling pig manure, wielding a pneumatic drill at a tool factory, receiving punishment for her western way of thinking. She weaves a wry, startling, and unsettling narrative in describing the "workers paradise" that she finally turned away from in disillusionment only to return to the modern China as a journalist for a Toronto newspaper. Wong enumerates the changes in dramatic stories with the climax in Tiananmen Square. This is a unique account of the surreal experiences and absurdities of life with Mao. Her personal accounts of the ordinary human interactions are singular, powerful, at times deeply moving. Wong gives us an extraordinary account of the mysterious East and China becomes clearer in focus, which benefits us all.
Book chosen by Lorraine Gunn. More info here.