BU Celebrates Its Global Diversity during Annual International Education Week

International Education Week is a time to celebrate BU’s international students and scholars, Study Abroad programs, and faculty-led study, research, and service programs. BU students (above) tour the University of Havana during a 2017 Alternative Spring Break trip to Cuba. Photo by Janice Checchio

Boston University is a truly international institution, home to more than 11,000 international students and scholars from 140 countries. In addition, an estimated 2,500 students enroll annually in BU’s 90 plus Study Abroad programs, spread over 21 countries on 6 continents. And that’s just the tip of the global iceberg.

To celebrate its rich global diversity, BU is marking International Education Week (IEW), November 12 to 16, with dozens of events. IEW is a joint initiative of the US Departments of State and Education that highlights the importance of international education. It began in 2000, and today is celebrated across the United States and over 100 other countries.

Throughout the week, BU’s seventh participating in the program, the University will host lectures, workshops, a first-ever BU IEW soccer-tennis tournament, Henna Night, and more. All events explore BU’s IEW theme, Global Matters, which has a double meaning—not only is this week an opportunity to discuss global issues, but it also underscores the importance of engaging globally in today’s world.

“BU is a really global campus, but everybody is so busy and so focused on what they’re doing that sometimes it’s hard to cross-pollinate,” says Amanda Miller, Global Programs managing director of strategy and communications. “IEW gives us another opportunity to do that—create these events or offer these opportunities to connect all the different cultures on campus.”

Throughout the week, Global Programs will team up with BU Dining Services for a series of global lunches: each day of the week the dining halls will serve the cuisine of a different country at lunch, including India, Brazil, Thailand, and Canada.

To kick off the week, on Monday night Global Programs is hosting Follow the Honey: A BU Alum’s Story of Global Engagement. Former Peace Corps volunteer Brian Woerner (Questrom’17, GRS’18) will speak about how his experiences working overseas and his time at BU helped him in his work when he joined the sustainable Cambridge-based company Follow the Honey, which sells honey from Tanzania, Colombia, India, and other countries and sends revenue back to the beekeepers it buys from.

“There are so many BU resources and opportunities here, and sometimes students just need to know these are opportunities that you can take advantage of to help you on your journey,” says Meaghan Cayer, Global Programs senior manager of marketing and communications. Attendees will have a chance to learn more about BU’s African Studies Center, BU Beekeeping, and the West African Research Association, as well as get to taste some honey at the event.

A Wednesday panel discussion at the Metcalf Trustee Center Ballroom, titled Why Engaging Globally Matters, will have experts from the Charles River and the Medical Campuses discussing how being global impacts their work and communities. “Having such a diversity of experiences and backgrounds and research we think will just be a really interesting discussion on how global impacts everything they do,” says Miller. The panel discussion, which is free and open to the BU community, can also be livestreamed.

Another featured event is the Global Story Slam Wednesday evening in the Questrom School of Business Auditorium. This year, six members of the BU community will tell personal stories on the theme Lost in Translation. After the slam, audience members will vote on which storyteller will go home with the Global Story Slam trophy.

“Bringing people from different backgrounds and cultures together from all corners of the world creates greater appreciation and understanding of our differences, and fosters a culture of inclusiveness and acceptance,” says Willis Wang, vice president and associate provost for global programs. “It is important to set aside a time in which the University can come together through diverse and fun events and programming to explore and to celebrate the global dimensions and exciting diversity of our community and academic work.”

International Education Week begins today, Monday, November 12, and runs through Friday, November 16, on the Charles River Campus and the Medical Campus. Find the full list of activities here. Follow BU IEW on Facebook.

Madeleine O’Keefe can be reached at mokeefe@bu.edu; follow her on Twitter at @OKeefeMadeleine.