Office of International Programs

Office of International Programs

International Campus Update

March 10, 2006

Headlines

BORLAUG HONORED BY PRESIDENT: University alumnus and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman Borlaug received the National Medal of Science from President Bush on Feb. 13. Borlaug?s work in the field of disease-resistant wheat is credited with saving millions of lives around the world.

GOVERNOR CALLS FOR MORE VISAS: Gov. Tim Pawlenty is seeking Congressional support for his proposal to increase the number of visas for foreign workers in high-tech and specialty fields. He says the visas would help U.S. businesses become more competitive. MORE: http://www.startribune.com/535/story/275332.html

EU PLANS TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE: The European Union is planning to establish a European Institute of Technology to foster research and innovation and help deter scientists from leaving Europe. The institute, which is scheduled to open in 2009, would be funded by the EU, member states, private sources, and business. A similar initiative is underway in sub-Saharan Africa, with plans to admit students in 2007.

MORE (EU): http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i22/22a04402.htm
MORE (Africa): http://chronicle.com/weekly/v51/i25/25a04002.htm

VISIT BY LAIWU STEEL: Zhang Shengsheng, general manager and president of Laiwu Steel Corporation, will lead a delegation to visit the University on March 10. Laiwu Steel owns 30 percent of United Taconite, a Minnesota iron range company. Zhang met President Bruininks during Governor Pawlenty?s trade mission to China last November.

CHINA CITY OPENS OFFICE IN MN: As a result of Governor Pawlenty?s trade mission to China, the city of Loudi in Hunan Province, China, plans to open an office in the Twin Cities area to promote trade and economic, educational, and cultural exchanges. Loudi is the sister city of Ramsey, but a location for the office hasn't been determined. MORE: http://www.startribune.com/535/story/276925.html

Program News

ALWORTH INSTITUTE: William Henderson has been appointed the new director of UMD?s Royal D. Alworth Jr. Institute for International Studies. Henderson served as the director of the Centre for Lifelong Learning at the University of Birmingham in the UK. The Alworth Institute aims to engage students, staff, and the wider public in open discussion, for educational, social and democratic purposes, of a wide range of international issues and of their domestic implications. MORE: http://www.d.umn.edu/~alworth/

AUSTRIAN STUDIES: The Center for Austrian Studies? (CAS) latest newsletter recounts the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina and its impact on CenterAustria and the University of New Orleans. CAS helped make arrangements for several Austrian students and scholars in New Orleans to come to the University of Minnesota, including Peter Gerlich who was a visiting fellow at the University?s Institute for Advanced Studies. See articles ?Peter Gerlich? and ?CenterAustria? in the newsletter: http://www.cas.umn.edu/ASN%20pdf%20files/ASN-spring06.pdf (pdf)

CHINA CENTER: The China Center?s annual outreach program China Day will be April 21. More than 400 high school students who are studying Chinese will come to campus to participate in a half-day program related to Chinese culture and language. The China Center is still looking for volunteers, especially U of M students who are taking Chinese, to help as group leaders. CONTACT: 612-624-1002 or chinactr@umn.edu

CROOKSTON: The International Dinner Series features meals planned by UMC students from Korea (Mar. 6), Ivory Coast (Mar. 20), Russia (Mar. 27), and by the International/Multicultural Club (Apr. 5). MORE: http://www.umcrookston.edu/umcnews/newsstory.aspx?ID=238

ENGINEERING: Twin Cities campus engineering students have formed Minnesota?s first chapter of Engineers Without Borders, which links engineering students and professionals with developing communities around the world. In February, the group started work on a water sanitation project in Thailand. Two members of the group will spend spring break in Guatemala to start up a new project there. MORE: http://www1.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature_Stories/Engineering_a_better_world.html

ENGINEERING: A group of electrical engineering students is working on a project to develop a solar lantern that can be manufactured and used by people in remote Nicaragua who have no access to electricity. MORE: http://www1.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature_Stories/Village_lights.html

Professional Notes

ANDREW COHEN (Institute of Linguistics, English as a Second Language, and Slavic Language and Literatures) has been appointed for the next year to the National Advisory Board of the Defense Proficiency Testing Program. Last year the Department of Defense assessed the language proficiency of 45,000 military and civilian personnel.

LAURIE McGINLEY (General College) received a grant from Open Society Institute?s Documentary Photography project to work with the Museum of the Word and the Image in El Salvador to preserve and publicize a collection of El Salvador wartime photography.

Study, Service Learning, Intern, Volunteer, Work, and Travel Abroad

INTERNATIONAL PHOTO CONTEST WINNERS: A record 123 entries were submitted for this year?s international photo contest, sponsored by the Learning Abroad Center. The winning photo was ?Zebra? taken in South Africa. Winning photographers received prizes from Rail Europe, STA Travel, Lonely Planet, and Rough Guides. WINNERS: http://umabroad.umn.edu/news/contest06.html

CURRICULUM INTEGRATION WORKSHOPS: The Learning Abroad Center invites faculty and staff to a pair of curriculum integration workshops. RSVP: ander043@umn.edu

2006 YEAR OF STUDY ABROAD: The University and the Learning Abroad Center are planning events to celebrate this special year and to support this important legislation. MORE: http://www.umabroad.umn.edu/news/yearofSA.html

Funding Opportunities and Announcements

CRITICAL LANGUAGES SCHOLARSHIPS: The U.S. Department of State and the Council of American Overseas Research Centers are pleased to announce the availability of scholarships for intensive overseas study for summer 2006 in critical-need languages such as Arabic, Bangla, Hindi, Punjabi, Turkish, and Urdu. Funding is for U.S. citizen undergraduate, master?s, and Ph.D. students to participate in beginning-, intermediate-, and advanced-level summer language programs. MORE: http://www.caorc.org/language/index.html

FULBRIGHT: Competition for 2007-08 Fulbright Scholar grants for faculty and professionals has opened. The application deadline is August 1, 2006. MORE: http://www.cies.org (Fulbright grants for students are coordinated through the Graduate School?s fellowship office. See http://www.grad.umn.edu/fellowships/.)

LEARNING ABROAD CENTER: Scholarship applications for summer session are due March 24. MORE: http://www.UMabroad.umn.edu/financial/scholarships/

Events

AUSTRIAN STUDIES INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE: ?Religion and Authority in Central Europe from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment,? April 21-23, Radisson Hotel Metrodome. MORE: http://www.cas.umn.edu/

AUSTRIAN STUDIES SPRING LECTURE SERIES:

CARLA: The following events are sponsored by the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition and are open to the public.

CEHD INTERNATIONAL PIZZA & TALK: "The International Adoption Project: Research on Children Adopted from Orphanages," by Megan Gunnar, Institute of Child Development. April 3, noon-1:30 p.m., 250 Wulling Hall. MORE: http://cehd.umn.edu/IntEduc/Pizza/

HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN UZBEKISTAN AND CENTRAL ASIA DISCUSSION, March 20, 7-9 p.m., Wilkins Room (215 Humphrey). A USAID-sponsored delegation of professionals combating trafficking in persons (TIP) are spending three weeks in the Twin Cities studying U.S. responses to the issue. TIP for both the sex and labor industries is a burgeoning problem along Central Asia's Silk Road. Three leaders from the visiting delegation will discuss the specific trafficking problems facing Uzbekistan and Central Asia. Additionally, visiting Humphrey fellows working on this issue will speak briefly on trafficking in their respective countries. Cosponsored by CONNECT/US-RUSSIA and the Humphrey Institute.

MINNESOTA INTERNATIONAL CENTER: ?World Chat: Emergency Planning for a Global Pandemic? by Edward J. Lord, an expert in innovative crisis management. March 22, 5:30 p.m., MIC, 711 East River Road, Minneapolis, $15 non-members. REGISTER: https://www.micglobe.org/secure/registration.cfm?id=617

PATH TO PEACE FOR COLOMBIA, lecture and discussion, March 27, 7 p.m., Cowles Auditorium (Humphrey Center). For years, Colombia's Peace Sanctuary Churches have sought to be places of refuge and hope in a country ravaged by five decades of violence. The Humphrey Institute will host three of these church leaders who will share their experiences and offer proposals for an improved U.S. policy toward Colombia. They will be joined by Kathryn Wolford, president of Lutheran World Relief, which has accompanied the Colombian churches in documenting their peace-building experience through a partnership between the churches and six communities of faith in the Midwest.

TRAINING FOR GLOBAL UNDERSTANDING: A series of workshops designed to help faculty and staff better understand the University?s international and multicultural communities and learn specific strategies for developing supportive environments in meetings, classrooms, and service settings. Sponsored by International Student & Scholar Services and Multicultural Center for Academic Excellence. REGISTER: http://www.isss.umn.edu/programs/itc/GlobalUnd.html QUESTIONS: 612-626-7100

University of Minnesota
International Campus Update
Vol. 7, No. 2

Office of International Programs
Assoc. Vice President: C. Eugene Allen
Editor: Jennifer Schulz

Interested persons may request to receive this newsletter as an e-mail update by contacting the editor at schul160@umn.edu or calling 612-624-0557.

The next issue will be sent in April. International Campus Update welcomes submissions. Please send items to be included by March 31st to schul160@umn.edu or call 612-624-0557.