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From the Director: Celebrating International Education
The task is no less formidable at MU, where countless international activities and initiatives seem to emerge across campus on almost a daily basis. The ongoing campus-wide commitment to globalizing the MU educational experience is evident not only in the vast geographic extent of the countries with whom we engage, but also the broad range of academic units, administrative offices, and student groups that are leading these efforts. The International Center and the Council on International Initiatives are pleased once again to present a series of events organized in conjunction with International Education Week (/events/iew). These events provide a small window on the diverse array of initiatives that comprise MU’s international agenda and, this year in particular, highlight international education on several continents. I encourage you not only to attend any of the functions that pique your interest, but to take a few moments to appreciate the full scope of activities presented, representing just a sample of the efforts that are continually underway as faculty, staff, and students develop MU’s own “global environment.” By the Numbers
During the 2002-2003 academic year, participation in study abroad programs reached an all-time high with 630 MU students enhancing their education with an experience abroad. The introduction of Fall interim and Winter interim terms, especially those study abroad programs led by the College of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources (CAFNR) accounted for a particularly dramatic increase in Fall and Winter participation by MU students. As in previous years, the most popular country for MU study abroad in 2002-2003 was England, the destination for 22% of all MU study abroad participants. Other popular study abroad locations in 2002-2003 were: Italy (13%), Germany (13%), Spain (9%), Mexico (7%), France (6%), and Australia (5%).
Despite continued challenges impacting international education, most notably the PATRIOT Act’s mandated implementation of the Student Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), MU’s international student population avoided significant reductions, decreasing only slightly from 1,327 to 1,321. Both graduate and undergraduate international enrollments dropped off by single digits from last year’s figures. Undergraduate international student enrollment declined from 298 to 293, less than 2 percent, though the trend toward fewer undergraduates has persisted since a high of 529 in 1996. Graduate enrollment experienced a continuous upsurge over the past four years, going from a low of 762 in 1998 to last year’s high of 1029, a 35 percent increase. The leading countries of origin for internationals at MU are: People’s Republic of China (250), India (230), Korea (197), Taiwan (93), Thailand (61), Japan (35), United Arab Emirates (31), Malaysia (30), Canada (22), Romania (22), Saudi Arabia (19) and Turkey (19). Approximately eighty-eight different nationalities are represented within the MU international student community. Staff Changes in the International CenterKay Henderson began working for the International Center as Front Desk Manager in September 2003. Formerly, Kay was Associate Professor of Dance and Guest Artist at Stephens College. In 2000, she received the Governor’s Excellence in Teaching Award. Kay has also taught English Conversation in China and Japan. Also in September 2003, Billie Freelon was promoted to International Student and Scholar Advisor, working with internationals holding H1B visas. Billie graduated from Columbia College in December 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. She started at the International Center in March of 2001 as Front Desk Manager and 6 months later became the Documents Specialist for the ISSS team. Jeremy Young joined the International Center in October 2003 as an International Student and Scholar Advisor for J1 Students. He has received two bachelor’s degrees (Philosophy and Russian Studies), and one master’s degree (Slavic Area Studies) from MU, and has studied abroad in both Russia and the Ukraine. Although this is his first full-time position, Jeremy has worked in multiple areas of student affairs on the MU campus (Residential Life, Student Life, Graduate Professional Council, Freshman Interest Program). A full listing of International Center staff is available at: /about/directory.html. Enhancing Services Goal of Sponsored Student ProgramInternational Student and Scholar Services is in the second year of administering a new program to enhance services to international students sponsored by government funded programs, foreign agencies, and corporations. The International Sponsored Student Program (ISSP), administered by ISSS Coordinator Carol Fleisher, provides a critical link between agencies, their students, and the University. Approximately 100 international sponsored students enroll at MU each year. Many of these students are participants in prestigious U.S.-funded programs including the Bosnia Undergraduate Development Program, Fulbright Fellowship, Freedom Support Act Undergraduate Program, Muskie, and Ron Brown Fellowships. Others receive support from their home government or corporations, such as the Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO).
The MU ISSP provides comprehensive support services to sponsoring agencies to facilitate student placements at MU and to assist new students as they arrive and pursue their academic and research programs. This past September, David Currey, ISSS Director; Carol Fleisher ISSP Coordinator; Becky Brandt, Assistant Director of Admissions; and Paul Toler, Director of the Cashier’s Office met with thirteen different sponsoring agencies in Washington, D.C. to promote MU and strengthen relationships with the agencies and their students. Study Abroad Offers Advantages in the Job MarketStudying abroad is often recommended by advisors and teachers as an excellent academic opportunity. However, the important advantage a student receives in the competitive job market from a study abroad experience may not be emphasized enough. With the increasing globalization of the workplace, studying abroad is looked at by employers as an experience of cultural diversity, and in many cases, foreign language enhancement. Completing coursework in another country’s university environment demonstrates an eagerness to learn, an ability to cooperate amongst peoples’ differences, and an appreciation for connecting with other parts of the world. Students frequently return from a study abroad experience with an altered perspective on the world. The independence and confidence they gain through their experiences abroad is evident through their exceptional communication and interpersonal skills. Students can attain these skills on a more impressive level when they are placed outside of their comfort zone, a invaluable lesson rarely presented in any classroom. All of these traits are essential to companies and other organizations hiring the best candidates. Studying abroad not only opens doors in the business world, but also in other fields. Educators, medical professionals, and many other occupations are sought after by organizations that assist a diverse population both domestically and internationally. Study abroad can give a candidate the extra qualifications that make a resume stand out, give an interview flair, or lead to a desired position in a variety of fields. More Than MemoriesIt seems inevitable that whenever someone returns from abroad, the profound lessons in life, language, culture, and relationships suddenly seem passé after telling the same story dozens of times. Everyone asks, “How was your trip?” expecting a short summary of what amounts to a life-changing event for most. I was only in Pamplona for six months, but it remains difficult to convey to others in a sentence or two how my trip was. However, for those who really want to know about my time abroad, I’d tell them to get funding first . . . so they can go. As a Coca-Cola scholar, the majority of my program expenses were covered, and I advise others to take similar action so they can go. Although I can tell of my experiences, the lessons-learned and the people met will be different for everyone. Nevertheless, the best summary of the experiences and lessons I learned is as follows:
Chris Kemp, an MU Journalism major, was awarded a Coca Cola Ambassadorial Scholarship to study at the University of Pamplona, Spain, during Winter semester 2003. The Coca Cola Ambassadorial Scholarship program provides outstanding minority students at MU the opportunity to prepare for leadership roles in the global community. Participation in study abroad is an integral part of the Coca Cola Ambassadors Program. For additional information regarding the Coca Cola Ambassadors Program, contact Linda Garth, Director of Academic Retention Services at garthl@missouri.edu. Crossing Borders in NursingThe MU Sinclair School of Nursing is offering an international opportunity for nursing students and registered nurses to study, dialogue and visit nurse colleagues in Canada and Mexico. This first-ever chance to melt away the borders separating the three countries of North America - Canada, Mexico, and the United States - is the result of a grant project funded by the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), U.S. Department of Education (2002-2006). The project, “Collaborative Learning Across Borders: Partnering Nursing Students, Faculty and Communities,” is a collaboration among six schools of nursing located in Mexico, Canada and the U.S. Students will receive classroom instruction and field experiences through a web-enhanced course, N302, beginning Winter 2004, focusing on cultural awareness, nurse role, health care systems, and health care beliefs and values held by peoples from each country. MU enrollees may also study medical Spanish, mentor a visiting student nurse, take part in field experiences in Mid-Missouri and/or participate in an international exchange in Mexico or Canada. This exchange experience for MU and University of Iowa will last three weeks beginning May 2004. The exchange to Mexico will include a two-week intensive language training in Cuernavaca, Mexico, followed by a week-long field experience at Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí or Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo Leon. Students going to Canada will visit both Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, and University of Prince Edward Island, and will explore nursing in the Canadian health care system. Five stipends are available to help cover international travel costs. MU clinical nursing majors are encouraged to sign up now in order to participate in this new and exciting linkage with our North American neighbor nurses! New Student Organization Cultivates Cross-National UnderstandingWant to learn about other cultures while sharing information on your own? If so, then you may want to join the Cross National Student Association (CNSA), a new MU organization. The main purpose of CNSA is to cultivate cross-national understanding through dialog, events, exchange, recreation, and service among members, and to MU and the Columbia community. Three of the group’s key goals include:
CNSA is unique in that it promotes one-on-one interactions between individuals of different nationalities, including Americans. In fact, CNSA is open to international and American students, faculty and staff members. The group already has approximately 50 members comprised of both graduate and undergraduate students and representing a range of nationalities. Most recently, the association held a potluck on Saturday, November 8, 2003, from 5 – 8 pm in S204 Memorial Union. With everyone bringing a dish from their own country to share with others, it was an evening of great food and lots of fun. If you would like to learn more about CNSA, please contact its president, Bryan Miao, at ym338@mizzou.edu. First Impression of Brazil: Contrasting Racial DiversityIf ever there is an argument for racial “mixing,” or mestizos, then Brazil could be that example. Brazilians are not only a handsome nationality, amazingly physically beautiful, but they proudly boast of their mixture of native aboriginals, Europeans and Africans as their unique richness. Such an ideal is part reality, part Brazilian myth about its national identification. There appeared to be enough of the reality to present a startling national difference for this Global Scholar in June. For me, Brazil’s cultural and social differences were my immediate observation as our MU group of eight traveled across this country, approximately the same size as the continental U.S. We began in the southeastern coastal city of Sao Paulo, flew to the northern Amazon River basin to Belem, explored the country’s heartland capital of Brasilia, sampled the cultural coastal city of Rio de Janeiro, and finally recuperated in the resort area of Buzios. In the process we became Global Scholars, yet we were like the proverbial blind men and the elephant, each probing and examining one part. To be a Global Scholar is not just to meet, immerse and discover for a short time. The travels push the scholar to learn, question, and especially to test aspects of your own country. As a social and political observer, I found Brazil’s racial diversity to be the startling comparison. I kept thinking of likenesses and differences. Throughout the United States’ history, equality has remained both a Declaration of Independence ideal and a contrasting stark reality. Racial diversity is a major U.S. national issue, not just as an ideal such as the reaction to the recent affirmative action cases, education anti-discrimination action and segregation, and possible slavery repatriations and congressional outrage, but historically so concerning tolerance and acceptance. Our short visit gave me only a glimpse, an awareness of another land and its culture, and for me that country’s difference in racial diversity. Yet, even in that almost three week visit, I saw a startling contrast of outward acceptance and tolerance and celebration of the country’s racial roots. In fact, the experience only piqued my curiosity for further reading, study and conversations to learn more about how Brazilians came to develop into what appeared to be a more racially accepting society. The richness of Brazil’s culture impacts their country in immediately noticeable ways when a MU professor visits campuses, the towns and shops. Brazilians, whether faculty and students, or townspeople and clerks, enjoy telling stories about themselves and without my ever asking or bringing up racism or race, they would work the topic into the conversation. In the midst of university visits, the faculty and student queries about U.S. Americans, our culture and media, and the current Iraq war, the topic of race and racism would come up in some way. With questions about U.S. equality and sensational contrasts and power actions, I could only point out an American paradox, an ideal and contrasting reality, and explain that we were a “work in progress.” In contrast, Brazilians proudly proclaimed their own ideals, and their mulatto ancestry and lack of racial purity. Perhaps one country’s myth replaces another’s. Their amalgamation of aboriginals, Europeans, and Africans can be found in many parts of Brazilian culture. The popular music unites the European guitar, piano and flute with the African rhythms and drum beats, and the native people’s reed flutes and barrels. The sound is exquisite. As other examples, among the graceful surfers, young men practice African slaves’ martial art of capoeira. While over 70 percent of the country is Roman Catholic, the country’s African ancestry impacts the festivals and religious rituals, such as Candomble, a type of African-Brazilian combination. Racially, Brazil has a similar history to the U.S.: a colony already inhabited by aboriginal peoples, settled by Europeans who imported African slaves. By the twentieth century, Brazilian immigrants came from all parts of Europe and Japan. Brazil did not free its slaves until twenty years after the U.S. did, despite the current outward differences. In general, Brazilians appear to have a greater acceptance of racial background than we do. The people appear to know that and carry themselves as confident, beautiful people. Moreover, in conversation, Brazilians confidently bring up their diverse background as a celebration of their music, dances, foods, talents, winning Carnival music schools and samba bands, arts and uniqueness. Every color hue and every possible racial feature can be seen on the street, in shops and museums, at the universities, and in concert audiences. The immigrant and native mixtures are not just obvious, but the miscegenation from the first contacts is startlingly beautiful. Moreover, the heritage can be noticed in the musical way they walk and talk, in the way they hold themselves and look at themselves. Since returning, I’ve puzzled over why Brazilians are so comfortable and so proudly attest to their racial ancestors. I learned that when the Portuguese colonized, unlike the English, they did not bring their families. They cohabited with the natives and their slaves; the relationships and those offspring became their families. Miscegenation had been taking place since the first contacts. The Portuguese family, patriarchal in the Biblical sense with the father having power over every member of the family group, made sure that the master’s mulatto children enjoyed a certain status and were drawn into the dominant culture, instead of being discarded as outcasts as in the United States. Mestizos have been the subject of popular 20th century writers, such as Jorge Amado (Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands; Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon; and The Tent of Miracles, etc.). Amado placed his novels during the twentieth century changes in Bahai in the midst of the workers’ sufferings in the cocoa and coffee plantations. Yet, more and more talent, hard work and education began determining middle class success in his accounts. For example, Amado’s Tent of Miracles (1971), set in Bahia during the 1920s, takes head on the issue of the region’s racism, a society struggling, unsettled and split, but willing to discuss race and education, entitlement, marriage and religion as well as the nation’s future. Amado fears the result, with class instead of race being the great divider. And, that appears to this outside visitor where Brazil’s social issues are today: housing, extreme destitute poverty, even hunger in the midst of great abundance. As one Brazilian said to me, “In God’s garden of Brazil, there are weeds among the flowers.” A well-known American observer, journalist John Dos Passos, who traveled to Brazil for Life Magazine in 1948 and again in 1958 and 1962, wrote of the great social, political and economic changes. Then the government built the capital Brasilia and added highways and bridges, as the country went from dictatorship to democracy and back. In his Brazil on the Move (1963), Dos Passos recounts the country’s amazing racial tolerance, “Melting Pot of the Americas,” in what he calls that “vast, raw and sometimes monstrously beautiful land.” Some 40 years later, that monstrously beautiful land is still there, yet the richness of Brazil, for me, is more than the mountains outside Rio or the stark Atlantic beaches or the Amazon River rainforest basin. The richness is found in the people and their acceptance of each other and themselves. In conversation, another Brazilian assessed their country’s racial acceptance as, “Like an innocent child who doesn’t know how beautiful she is simply by being a child. In most cases, we are like that.” Information and announcements about opportunities available for MU faculty through the Global Scholars Program are on-line at: http://ww.missouri.edu/~icweb/funding/faculty/gsp.html. |
For the 4th year in a row, the U.S. Departments of State and Education have declared International Education Week (November 17-21 this year). The proclamation is intended to “promote programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn, and exchange experiences in the United States.” As with most commemorative weeks of this nature, this announcement has no doubt been greeted across the nation with a flurry of e-mails, committee meetings, and phone calls as international educators and administrators strive to assemble the perfect activity or group of activities to capture the substance of their endeavor. It’s a formidable task. How can one week even begin to convey not just the critical nature of the work we do, but the more intrinsic spirit of global education – the latter being what fundamentally inspires our work in the first place?
2002-2003 Study Abroad Participation Hits Record High
Fall 2003 International Enrollment Holds Steady
Probably the most well known of these sponsorships is the Fulbright Fellowship. The Fulbright Program supports educational exchanges between the United States and over 140 countries, with approximately 1,300 new Foreign Fulbright Fellows entering U.S. academic programs each year. MU currently hosts ten Fulbright Fellows from nine countries, including Angola, Colombia, Ecuador, Republic of Korea, Nicaragua, Niger, South Africa, Thailand and Vietnam.