By Jennifer Ditomasso Jacobsen
Global Connections Newsletter, Fall 2013
Stories in this issue include new resources from Global Programs, the global outreach of the Framingham Heart Study, new opportunities for academic travel to Cuba, international scholars recognized with awards, Study Abroad’s new Rio program, CELOP’s partnership with the College of Engineering, and more.
Announcing the New Global Programs Website
The new Global Programs website now has more resources for all things global at BU. Find out all about the University’s global happenings – projects, centers, news, stories, and events. Get inspired to start your own global activity – whether in Boston or abroad – and using the information from our former Toolkit, learn the ins and outs of running a project outside the U.S. The site has been designed with faculty in mind and we’d love to hear your thoughts: global@bu.edu. More
Tombs Give New Insights into Maya History
A Maya pyramid beautifully decorated with a rare polychrome-painted stucco frieze was unearthed by CAS researchers in July at the site of Holmul, a Classic Maya city in northeastern Guatemala.
Worldwide Travel Alert
Global Programs would like to inform BU travelers about the State Department Worldwide Travel Alert issued August 2, 2013. This alert and the temporary closure of several U.S. embassies and consulates are good reminders of the need for heightened vigilance and situational awareness while traveling. More
An Unconventional OB/GYN
Recent MED grad Ashish Premkumar (CAS’10, MED’13) and the lessons in global health he brought back from Lebanon.
CGHD, SPH, Med School, ENG & CAS join forces in Zambia
Dr. Godfrey Biemba, Country Director, and Dr. David Hamer, Director of Research and Evaluation talk about their work.
Global Connections Newsletter, Spring 2013
Stories in this issue include the Boston University Program on Crisis Response and Reporting's prestigious Gates Award win; BU's inclusion in the EU PhD Program; six faculty who won Fulbrights, development of six new study abroad programs, a postcard from Zambia, and more.
The True Meaning of International Education
International education does not mean learning about other countries.
I have always been interested in global history and maps and even international foods. I learned about these things from books or TV shows, and thought I had a pretty clear picture of how things were around the world. Then I went to China this summer, and I found out that you can't really learn something so complex as culture through words, photographs, or even videos. This simple, yet involved concept can only truly be learned through people, places, and experiences.
I went to China with two of my best friends from high school and one of their mothers. My friend's Mom, who was born and raised in China and still has family and friends there, was committed to giving us a truly Chinese experience during our visit. This meant eating scorpion in a crowded Beijing alley, seeing a giant Buddha statue that is taller than the Statue of Liberty on an island I didn't even know existed, confusing "smog" with "fog." It also meant sleeping in a temple complex at an elevation of 10,000 feet and watching the sunrise there in the morning, climbing stairs with a 75 degree incline to reach the top of a "hidden" mountain, and being inches away from North Korea. Most importantly it meant spending 3 weeks with people I did not know beforehand, with whom I could not communicate effectively, but regardless took me in and exhausted themselves to make my experience memorable. I had never met anybody made so genuinely happy by simply eating a meal with me and enjoying my company. And sure, I did those cliché things that people have to do when they go to China like walk part of the Great Wall of China and see the Terra Cotta Warriors, and those things were awesome too, but I didn't learn from that. And I definitely didn't learn more from my travel guide, which was supposed to teach me everything I needed to know about China. I learned from my experiences that were quintessentially and un-ordinarily Chinese.
I'm thankful that BU gives us the opportunity to have these experiences and to meet people who are not tour guides but real, foreign citizens either at the events of this week or abroad. As a freshman, I can't wait to fully embrace these opportunities.
A common goal.
Listening to faculty, staff and students describe BU’s opportunities to study in China, their own experiences studying or working in China, and the presence of Chinese students on campus. Listening to how high school educators create opportunities for their students to spend 4 months in China. Learning about how and why professionals train teachers to enhance their global curriculum through a better understanding of foreign cultures. Speaking to a BU graduate student who comes from China and who is here to learn our language, our culture, our perceptions of her home country, and our expertise in city planning. Knowing that my commitment to expanding the boundaries of my own knowledge, to continuously challenging and questioning my understanding of my own and others’ cultures and to finding ways of being a more informed member of the global community is not unique to me. It is shared.
The world on Comm Ave (and Albany Street)
We live in an age when an understanding of the world beyond our own backyards is critical to nearly every profession. It's even necessary for being a good citizen of the US. I think "global engagement" resides first and foremost in our own mindsets, in how we think about what we do, why we do it, how we learn, how we interact with others. Sure, studying abroad and working abroad are great experiences, and I feel very fortunate to have enjoyed both, but there is also so much international education to be had right here at BU, both in and out of the classroom. There are guest lectures, festivals, classes, clubs... and just people you sit next to for lunch or on the BUS.... BU didn't start me on my global experiences, but it allows me to interact with people and ideas from other cultures every single day. That is global engagement.
Global Feature
Global Feature
Global Feature
