Jackson School Director Leela Fernandes: Leading global education & engagement for students and faculty

Leela Fernandes joined the Jackson School in 2020 after serving as the Director of the Center for South Asian Studies at the University of Michigan; she has also served on the faculty of Rutgers University, New Brunswick and Oberlin College. Her research has been on inequality and democratic politics in India, the politics of economic reform and transnational feminism.

Vice Provost Jeff Riedinger — *Jeffrey Riedinger*

By Jeff Riedinger, Vice Provost of Global Affairs

The last two years have been an important moment of reflection for all of us, and international education has been both challenged and inspired. COVID-19 significantly reduced our faculty and researchers’ ability to move across borders while making virtual methods of connection widely used and more accessible. Recognition of historical and colonial inequities in the United States and abroad pushes us to reassess our approaches to teaching, administration, and research.

For the Office of Global Affairs (OGA), this meant reconsidering what our office’s mission is and how we can better support the University of Washington’s faculty, students, staff and community. A Global Engagement Task Force was charged in 2020 with answering such questions, meeting with over 100 stakeholders from across the university.

One of the members of this Task Force was Leela Fernandes, the Director of the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies and Stanley D. Golub Chair in International Studies. Leela joined UW and the Jackson School last year and has navigated many new challenges while leading the School’s faculty, students, and staff forward. As leaders in global engagement and higher education, I am pleased to invite Leela for a conversation on the School’s vision and future and how the Jackson School has risen to meet the challenges of this current time.

New ‘open’ Global and Regional Studies major

Students can now enjoy open admissions, more choices in courses, new specializations, and varied capstone options.

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JR: Right after you started in your new position you asked your faculty to approve a significant revision of the Jackson School’s flagship undergraduate International Studies major, which is now called Global & Regional Studies. Starting this quarter (Autumn 2021) any UW undergraduate can freely declare this major which was previously competitive and by application only.

Why was this change in the curriculum a priority for you?

LF: The new major builds on the historical strengths of the Jackson School in deep regional knowledge and adapts these strengths to address changes in the field of international studies. Some of the pressing challenges of our time are fundamentally global in nature. Global pandemics, climate change and economic crises of various kinds continually reveal the interconnectedness of peoples, regions and nations. At the same time, the depth of the Jackson School’s work shows us that policy solutions need to engage with and learn from local communities. Moreover, policies are still ultimately implemented in national contexts and through governmental action. The new major prepares students by combining training that addresses these global, regional and local/national dimensions. The major allows students the flexibility to combine broad thematic interests (for example in the environment, inequality, security) and combine these interests with a regional focus. It also allows students to develop formal regional specializations in areas that have not had independent majors – such as African Studies and Arctic Studies. So the new major was really driven by the objective of serving students in the best way that we can. It reflects the Jackson School’s commitment to undergraduate education and to keeping up with trends in international studies.

JR: It sounds like you are keen to position the Jackson School even more prominently in the ‘global education’ space for undergraduates at UW, while emphasizing the deep connections between the local, regional, and global.

What, to you, is the significance of this change in terms of student enrollment and students’ access to global and regional studies courses and degrees?

LF: The change in curriculum was a priority because it hopes to serve the Jackson School’s objectives in addressing diversity, equity and inclusion. The new major is an open major so it gives students more access to the School’s offerings. We live in a time where globalization means that students in every field of study need to have some understanding of the broader world. We hope that these changes will also draw in more students including students from other colleges and from the natural sciences.

JR: This change also sounds like a great opportunity for more students at UW to be able to combine their primary academic interests with courses and even minor or majors offered by the Jackson School. This would help them ‘globalize’ their education and take steps toward becoming global citizens and broadening their horizons – as well as their competencies and career options. The Jackson School is one of the country’s premier centers for research and teaching on global affairs and area studies. It is also the academic hub for global and regional studies at UW.

What is your five-year vision for the role of the Jackson School in the University? And beyond UW?

LF: The Jackson School is unique amongst professional schools of international studies in its intellectual breadth and depth. We cover conventional areas such as political economy, human rights and security but also have distinct strengths in fields like comparative religion and indigenous studies. What connects all of these disparate intellectual areas is a broad based commitment to public engagement. Public engagement matters to all aspects of JSIS’ work – scholarship, teaching, policy work, commentary, and community outreach.

Through distinctive coursework, like our capstone Task Force, our undergraduate majors acquire distinctive competencies and skills in addressing practical problems. We have also developed a second capstone offering as part of our new major that is focused on training students in public writing and engagement. This has been created as part of an inaugural series of seminars funded by the Calderwood Seminars in Public Writing program.

One of the lessons we have learned is that good policy requires public communication and engagement – particularly in the context of misinformation and a world heavily saturated by social media. The Jackson school is poised to lead in this mission of public engagement in a distinctive way. Developing this mission of public engagement – both within and beyond the academy – is a key objective for the coming years.

Global Engagement Task Force Recommendations

Five key recommendations guide OGA forward, shaping our vision for global engagement at the UW.

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JR: Global engagement for faculty, students, staff and with the broader public, are also key strategic priorities for me and the Office of Global Affairs. We thank you for serving on our 2021 Global Engagement Task Force which delves into some of the ways OGA is shifting our vision and priorities. For all of us in OGA our commitments and aspirations in this area are important for our internal culture and for broader conversations in all our communities.

How does your vision for the Jackson School connect with the aspirations of faculty and students to be included in conversations around diversity and equity at UW, and beyond?

LF: Goals of diversity and equity are always ongoing and unfinished projects. The Jackson School has passed a new charter on diversity, equity and inclusion and is committed to this work. We also bring a distinctive international perspective to understandings of diversity and equity. We train students to work inclusively and train students in linguistic, religious, and cultural literacy. We have faculty who do important work in the field of disability studies. Our vision of public engagement also has a strong emphasis on equity, justice, and respect for the histories and knowledge of diverse peoples and places across national borders. The challenge is to incorporate these worthy endeavors into institutional practices so that the school embodies these ideals. Our faculty have been working on this – for instance by connecting pressing questions of racial justice in the U.S. to global work on race and diasporic communities.

JR: I completely agree: there are so many positive and pioneering things happening at UW already, and we need to work to connect people and projects in ways that energize all of our our global efforts, and generate new ones. So much of what we do at UW already has a global dimension, even if it is not always explicit, or by design. Thank you so much for this conversation, Leela. I hope it will be an inspiration to others, as it has been for me. Very best of luck during your second year leading the Jackson School!
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Reframing Global Engagement at UW

Written by Anita Ramasastry, Henry M. Jackson Endowed Professor of Law, Director of the Sustainable International Development Graduate Program, and Faculty Director, International, Comparative and Transnational Programs

In autumn of 2020, I was appointed as chair of the Global Engagement Strategy Task Force and charged with reimagining the role that the Office of Global Affairs (OGA) plays in informing and shaping the future of global engagement at the University of Washington.

Over the last year, I had the pleasure of not only diving deeply into discussion with seven peers from diverse units, but meeting with and learning from over 100 stakeholders from across the university.

This work took place at a time of inflection both for the UW broadly and for OGA. The COVID-19 pandemic rapidly transformed UW’s model for teaching and learning, it also put global travel including study abroad on hold. The pandemic also underscored the importance of UW providing administrative and social support structures for international students and researchers during a major global crisis. The Black Lives Matter movement and a renewed call to action for greater focus on anti-racist approaches to education prompted us to grapple with what it means for us to be globally engaged in a way that confronts issues of historica and contemporary racism and colonialism and is consistent with the UW’s overall approach to diversity, equity and inclusion. These challenges and opportunities shaped our process and our recommendations.

Five key recommendations emerged for the future work of OGA:

Shift OGA’s focus from being a steward of policies and procedures to being a builder of global learning and research communities
Serve as a portal and ambassador for stewarding and advancing institution-wide relationships with key global actors — from international organizations, such as the UN and the World Bank, to key foundations and think tanks
Catalyze global teaching and education beyond study abroad, ensuring a global education for all through the use of technology
Identify and work to eliminate the structural barriers that prevent many BIPOC faculty, staff, and students from leveraging OGA’s services and programs
Continue to provide broad administrative support (travel security, MOUs, etc.) for the myriad global partnerships, but also invest more substantially in fewer, deeper, and bi-directional partnerships

Collectively, we are eager to see OGA build a richer ecosystem for global engagement at the UW. UW has a strong commitment to global citizenship. We now have the chance to expand and reframe our approach.

Download the full report

OGA would like to give a special thank you and acknowledgement of the tremendous service of the task force members: Anita Ramasastry (Chair), School of Law; Gayle Christensen, Office of Global Affairs; Leela Fernandes, Jackson School of International Studies; Debra Glassman, Foster School of Business; Stephanie Harrington, College of the Environment; Joe Lott, College of Education; Rebecca Neumann, College of Engineering; Judd Walson, Schools of Public Health & Medicine

Q&A with Ben Sommers, UW’s new Global Travel Security Manager

The UW Global Travel Security program was established to facilitate safe and successful global travel for UW students and employees.

The Office of Global Affairs (OGA) welcomes the program’s new manager, Ben Sommers, this October. As global travel slowly returns, vaccinations increase and new challenges arise, Ben’s leadership will be integral to informing and supporting our global travelers as they navigate a quickly-changing travel landscape.

Ben has almost a decade of experience managing international programs for students and global travelers. He joins us from 4-H International Exchange Programs where he was a Senior Program Manager. A husky undergraduate alum, Ben has dual Masters degrees: in International Communication from American University and Korean Studies from Korea University.

Q: What are you bringing to your new role here at UW?

I have been fortunate to have had a diversity of professional and personal experiences that have underlined the value of international travel. I think there is a great deal of truth in the adage that you never get to know your own cultures until you leave them behind. After a year plus of restricted travel, we are all eager to get back out and have the types of transformative travel experiences that we’ve put on hold. Apart from my professional and academic experiences, I think the most relevant piece I bring to the role is the firm belief in the transformative power of international travel and the importance of growing UW’s connections with the global community.

Q: What do you look forward to as you begin your new position?

Current International Travel Policy

Revised rules for official international travel have been issued for all travelers.

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I am very excited to be back at UW, especially at such a significant moment as the university community returns to campus. In a general sense, our world is also progressing towards reopening and it has been energizing to see limitations on travel being lifted and so many of our faculty, staff and students getting back out into the world. It has also been particularly inspiring to get a small glimpse into the various ways that the UW community is bringing their curiosity, adventurousness and expertise to their projects around the globe. I look forward to collaborating with university stakeholders in supporting and advocating for international travel as a critical form of global engagement.

Q: As you connect with students, faculty and staff here at UW, how can your own history of travel and studying abroad help you?

As I mentioned above, I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to see a sliver of the world. When reflecting on the trajectory of my life and career, I can definitively point to the undergraduate exchange program I participated in as a transformative moment in my life. I spent half a year at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea. As a Korean adoptee, those six months deepened a feeling of curiosity I had in a place that I felt so inextricably connected to, but yet also incredibly uninformed about. I later built on that experience by doing a dual degree exchange program as graduate student at American University, jumping at the opportunity to complete a second degree program back in Seoul at Korea University.

Ben Sommers in Chiang Mai, Thailand in his last role before joining OGA. He is standing next to a taxicab — *Ben Sommers in Chiang Mai, Thailand in his last role before joining OGA*

Beyond studying abroad, my personal and professional travel have acted as sort of mile markers in my life. They have been experiences that have been sometimes humbling, sometimes thrilling, but always educational and informative. I think many students, faculty and staff at UW, regardless of the depth of their travel histories, have experienced the same range of impacts during their adventures abroad. Beyond feeling motivated to help enable more travelers have productive and meaningful experiences, I hope to be a resource that helps our traveling community feel supported by an on-campus office.

Q: What do you see as the key role of the UW’s Global Travel Security Program?

I think the Global Travel Security Program’s ultimate role is to help facilitate travel and to advocate for the university’s global engagement efforts. The presence of the university abroad on any given day is considerable so the Global Travel Security Program helps to ensure that those travelers are supported by being connected to the vast resources that they may need to access prior to, during or post-travel.

Global Travel Security Key Resources

There are highly regarded subject matter experts on just about everything and everywhere here at UW. The Global Travel Security Program and myself hope to be a collaborative partner in preparation for international travel. It goes without saying that the international travel landscape is particularly complex at this moment so hopefully we can help travelers to decode and untangle those complexities and ensure that the intersection between university policy and country or regional regulations does not pose challenges to the critical work being done around the world.

Q: How can UW global travelers connect with you as they plan their research, service, or study abroad?

I really do hope to connect with you all! My office is housed in the Office of Global Affairs in Gerberding Hall. Please feel free to reach out via email (travelemergency@uw.edu) or by phone (206.616.7927). The general resources available on the Office of Global Affairs website is also a great starting point for travel planning. You can find information on travel registration, insurance and emergency assistance.

Vice Provost Jeffrey Riedinger on serving as NAFSA President and Chair of the Board of Directors

Dr. Riedinger has leadership and administrative responsibility for the University’s diverse global programming including support for international research, study abroad, student and faculty exchanges, and overseas centers. He also serves on the faculty of the University of Washington School of Law and the Sustainable Development LL.M. program. He has served in multiple leadership roles for NAFSA: Association of International Educators over the last 10 years. He currently serves as the President of NAFSA and Chair of the NAFSA Board of Directors through calendar year 2022.

An expert on the political economy of land reform, sustainable agriculture and natural resource management, Vice Provost Riedinger has carried out research in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, Central America and the Middle East. He has conducted briefings on foreign aid, land reform and other development issues for members of the White House staff, state department and USAID personnel, members of Congress, the World Bank, non-governmental organizations and private foundations. His publications include two books and numerous articles, chapters, reviews and monographs.

Tell us about this new role as President of NAFSA and Chair of the NAFSA Board of Directors. What will this involve?

NAFSA: Association of International Educators is the world’s largest non-profit association dedicated to international education and exchange. NAFSA serves the needs of more than 10,000 members and international educators at more than 3,500 institutions, in more than 150 countries.

My formal responsibilities as President of the association and Chair of the Board of Directors include:

ensuring the development of NAFSA’s organizational strategy, as well as policies, processes, plans and structures to support that strategy;
taking the lead in ensuring the long-term financial health of the association;
communicating the association’s direction, priorities, and positions to both internal and external audiences; and
ensuring excellent volunteer and staff leadership in the association.

Each of these responsibilities is daunting, the combination even more so. Fortunately, I am blessed to be working with remarkable colleagues on the Board of Directors, an extraordinary Executive Director and CEO, senior management team and professional staff, and experienced and talented volunteer member-leaders. I am doubly blessed to have an exceptional group of colleagues in the Office of Global Affairs. Their passion, professionalism and excellence make it possible for me to carve out time to serve in this volunteer member-leader role for NAFSA.

Q: What are the top three priorities for NAFSA in the upcoming year?

In 2020, as NAFSA’s Vice President for Scholarship and Institutional Strategy, I worked with the other members of the NAFSA Board of Directors to reimagine our Strategic Plan. We wanted to:

create a compelling and easy to remember set of strategic goals;
provide broad strategic direction while allowing greater flexibility for innovation and creativity by member-leaders and NAFSA professional staff;
signal the central importance of advancing diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice within NAFSA, the home institutions of NAFSA members, and the field of international education; and
reinforce the crucial and positive role of international education in addressing some of the most pressing challenges of our time, from a global pandemic to climate change, from rising nationalism and political polarization to growing income inequality and legacies of centuries-old racial and social injustice.

We distilled NAFSA’s Strategic Plan into three priorities for 2021–2023:

Educate. NAFSA is dedicated to educating, informing and supporting international educators throughout their careers.
Advocate. NAFSA will continue to advocate for public policies that lead to a more globally informed, welcoming, and engaged United States.
Innovate. In all that it does, NAFSA will emphasize innovation, cooperation, and effective organization.

Q: During your tenure, what initiatives are you most passionate about advancing?

In my roles at the UW and NAFSA, I believe that it is only through cross-cultural and cross-continent collaborations that we can address the world’s most pressing challenges and most promising opportunities. International educators and the field of International Education can and must help advance the cross-cultural competencies and understandings that are essential to forming such collaborations.

As part of this work, it is imperative that we work to address systemic racism and social inequities, in this country and around the world. I am extremely pleased that NAFSA added an emphasis on equity and social justice to its new Strategic Plan, building upon its ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion. We are working to unleash the experience, insights, passion and compassion of our leadership and members in advancing these priorities within NAFSA, in the home institutions of NAFSA members, and in the field of international education.

Q: What do you anticipate to be one of the most challenging aspects of this new role?

The COVID-19 pandemic has been particularly harmful to the field of international education, here at the UW and around the world. International educators are not unique in having lost family, friends, and colleagues. However, the pandemic-related restrictions on travel and events have placed a special strain on our field. In turn, international education professionals have lost jobs as campus and company offices downsized staff. Many of our colleagues who are still employed have fewer resources for professional development.

The pandemic’s impact on international education also deeply affects the association. NAFSA is operating with extremely constrained resources. The Annual Conference and Expo is NAFSA’s largest source of revenue. NAFSA finances have been seriously affected by not having an in-person Annual Conference in 2020 or 2021. The reductions in international education professionals and in resources for professional development also put NAFSA membership and membership revenues under strain.

However, NAFSA and the field of international education have faced crises before. NAFSA has risen to past challenges and will do so again. I am working closely with the extraordinary people on our Board, in our volunteer member-leadership, on the Management team and professional staff, and in our membership. I am confident that together we will be able to ensure that NAFSA continues to be a vibrant leader in the field of international education when it celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2048.

Q: What will the future of global engagement look like? Give us a glimpse into the conversations at NAFSA about the future.

It is imperative that NAFSA and the field of international education are partners in the efforts to address systemic racism and social inequalities, in this country and around the world. For NAFSA this work is central to our Strategic Plan which emphasizes diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice. A key element of our work will be to decolonize the field of international education.

This work will extend to offices like Global Affairs. Too many senior international professionals, particularly in the U.S., look like me: white, gray-haired, and male. We need to promote access. Specifically, we need to be more intentional and much more successful in creating welcoming pathways for under-represented students, faculty and professional staff to engage in, and to lead, international education.

This work will also extend to the content and location of study abroad programs. U.S. students have typically studied abroad in “traditional” locations such as the United Kingdom and Europe. Relatively few U.S. students have opportunities or choose to study in “non-traditional” locations, particularly low-income countries. Few of the programs in the traditional locations have explored the colonial legacies of the countries in which they are situated. It will be similarly important to build such content into programs in non-traditional locations, particularly countries that are former colonies.

NAFSA has long had a set of ethical principles. With my background in international research, I look forward to extending these principles to better reflect the ethical conduct guidelines of scholarly organizations such as the African Studies Association. In this vein, I am proud that the Advisory Council for the UW’s Office of Global Affairs has long articulated and recently updated a robust set of guidelines for global engagement.

The other domain of exciting, and overdue, work relates to sustainability. In the field of international education and in NAFSA, we have opportunities, and are challenged, to do much more to promote sustainability and address climate change. In the past, much of our focus was on international mobility of students and scholars. This will remain a core element of our work because in-person experiences can be uniquely impactful in building cross-cultural competence and understanding. Yet we know that many of the students, faculty and professional staff we serve are unable to travel across geographic borders, whether for reasons of finances, curricular barriers, or family commitments. We also know that international travel can involve a significant carbon footprint.

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted significant technological improvements that make it easier to imagine and to implement international education in a remote learning environment. The pandemic has accelerated initiatives in Cooperative Online International Learning and demonstrated the power and practicality of virtual international education, research, internships and community engagement. And technology has made it possible to significantly increase access, connecting students, faculty, guest speakers, and members of distant communities and doing so with less impact on our climate and natural resources.

We can also expand cross-cultural learning opportunities for our students (and our faculty and staff) by creating more “study away” programming, engaging local international heritage communities and indigenous communities in more intentional, respectful, and mutually beneficial ways.

In short, despite the many challenges, I am excited about the many opportunities for enhancing the field of international education and better serving NAFSA members and the students, faculty and professional staff we serve.

Population Health: UW & Aga Khan University partnership leads to research, learning, and health collaborations

The University of Washington and the Aga Khan University have partnered substantially over the past years to advance global population health and link their institutions. Through these collaborations, students, faculty, and researchers have benefited from the shared expertise and exchange in a range of areas and disciplines.

Read more about the history and impact of this partnership and the Office of Global Affairs and Global Innovation Fund’s involvement below:

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“There were a lot of synergies between our two institutions not just in terms of our social justice missions, but around the values of what this partnership holds,” Farzana Karim-Haji, director of the Aga Khan University Partnerships Office, said. “The Population Health Initiative at UW draws parallels to AKDN’s Quality of Life Initiative, where both are focused on a holistic view of improving the overall human condition from a variety of aspects in health, education, poverty alleviation, climate change, etc.”

With online learning, a new approach yields global connections

Unexpected tools are enriching the UW online learning experience and helping students connect with complex issues like human rights. UW professors are finding creative ways to build community and share knowledge.

Paulina Andrews ‘20 is aiming for a career advocating for persons with disabilities. Paulina jumps at every opportunity to deepen her understanding of human rights issues, including a UW Study Abroad program to Jamaica organized by Professor Stephen Meyers and Megan McCloskey, where she spent time in a deaf village and with local grassroots organizations, and internships at civil rights organizations.

Last spring, Paulina was in her final quarter at the UW and excited to begin a course called Genocide and the Law with Professor Rawan Arar. Like students all over the country, Paulina was forced by the pandemic to complete her coursework from home, via Zoom. “Professor Arar was upbeat and brought a lot of energy to the class,” Paulina remembers, “but she was also real about what we were all going through. That helped me a lot.”

Determined to keep her courses meaningful, Professor Arar re-envisioned the syllabi. She offered one pre-recorded lecture for students to engage with at their convenience. The other meeting became a live discussion section so students would have more opportunity for connection and to ask questions. “I live alone,” shares Paulina, “so class time was one of my only chances to talk to other people.”

Professor Arar asked students to share artwork and written reflections on the course materials. Some curated Spotify playlists with songs relating to class topics. They engaged in visual storytelling using Flipgrid. Paulina loved the variety presented by the new class structure. Of course, there was still a lot of reading. “But there were also movies to watch and podcasts to listen to. It was a break from the usual.”

“It’s hard to express certain things through words,” says Paulina. Creating art provided a new avenue for exploring the challenging topic of genocide. “Drawing was a refreshing way to interact with the material. It was a good way of dealing with a heavy topic and what we were all going through.”

Paulina’s drawing, inspired by a woman who survived genocide in Cambodia, explores the theme of silence. “She was so mad inside but never said anything. If you cover up the left side of my drawing it looks peaceful. But when you look at the whole you see her real thoughts.”

With a teaching and curriculum award from the UW Global Innovation Fund, Professor Arar has brought even more hands-on learning to her fall quarter courses.

While studying occurrences of genocide around the world, the class will focus on knowledge production and the role of genocide museums as institutions that are established to reclaim contested stories and preserve a people’s history. Informed by class readings, students will develop an interview protocol and engage with survivors and the ancestors of survivors.

“With Global Innovation Fund support, I’m now able to add this engaging and experiential museum project to my online course,” shares Professor Arar. She’s also delighted to be sending some hands on materials to students via mail to create a more personal connection. “Being on Zoom for 5+ hours is really hard. I want to make a personal connection and give them something to hold on to.”

Tackling COVID-19 by supporting the global vaccine “cold chain”

With funding support from the Office of Global Affairs and the Population Health Initiative, two UW researchers are supporting partners around the world in addressing the COVID-19 crisis.

When a vaccine is available, there will be massive immunization campaigns around the world to make sure that everyone is protected. Planning must begin now to ensure that proper logistical systems are in place to support this monumental effort.

For low-income countries, a significant concern is the capacity and quality of the vaccine “cold chain”. Cold storage must be available to keep vaccines safe until administered. National assessments of the vaccine cold chain are needed as well as information systems that allow real-time reporting of vaccine stocks during the campaign.

Richard Anderson and Waylon Brunette from the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering have built an app for that – and much more. Their work strengthens IT systems run by governments and the World Health Organization to support vaccine campaign logistics. Already up and running in Uganda, the tools will soon launch in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Preparing for what’s next with study abroad

Erika Arias ‘19 could be a poster child for UW Study Abroad. During her time as a Husky, this Chelan, Washington native participated in six – count them! – overseas experiences across Asia, Europe and Africa.

Along the way, Erika’s confidence grew and she developed a deep interest in comparative politics, international relations and conflict resolution. And she is taking those passions to the next level by pursuing a PhD in political science.

Start with support

Faculty-led study abroad programs helped Erika grow as a student and find her place at the UW. Her first trip was a pre-freshman seminar in Spain with lots of extra support Erika and her fellow travelers. “We were always in groups,” she remembers, “and we had name tags.”

The next summer, she was off for Tokyo, where she partnered with UW and Waseda University students on a mini-research project on Japanese hip hop. By her senior year, she had created so many connections through study abroad that bumped into a fellow study abroad student pretty much daily on her way to class.

Sparking passion

Study abroad also sparked Erika’s interest in international development and guided her towards a double major in Law, Societies & Justice and International Studies. “It started with my program in north Africa and Southern Spain, where our classes were all in Spanish and we were focused on migration and international policy,” she shares.

Immersive exploration of places and themes with the support of world class faculty allowed Erika to see her academic interests from many perspectives. “Each study abroad program was completely different,” Erika says, and each one offered new insight into her course of study.

Striking out on her own

“I developed a track record through study abroad… it shows I can be successful working and living outside the U.S.” Through study abroad, Erika’s confidence grew along with her knowledge and skills. On her university exchange program in France, “I didn’t know anyone, and I had to speak French to connect with people,” she remembers.

Erika is now embarking on another exciting adventure – pursuing a PhD in political science at Syracuse University. “I will have to do dissertation research outside the country,” she says. “My experience as a Husky shows that I’m knowledgeable and ready.” Study abroad prepared her for what’s next.

Global Opportunities Fund: Help us offer transformative study abroad experiences to more UW students like Erika. Give now

Building bridges with music: UW Wind Ensemble

For Professor Timothy Salzman, “music is a universal language”. As director of the UW Wind Ensemble, he delights in helping students perfect their playing. But even more so, in using music as a pathway for connecting students with new people and experiences. Over spring break, he brought the entire 56-member UW Wind Ensemble on an unforgettable trip to China. Their packed itinerary included opportunities for hands-on learning at every turn.

The Wind Ensemble’s journey began in the city of Chengdu. Hosted graciously by partners at Sichuan University, the students played two concerts, one with an audience of 3000. Most audience members had little prior exposure to their craft. “Wind ensemble music is pretty new to most people in China,” shares Professor Salzman. “People were just taking it in.”

UW students teach kids at a "master class" — UW students teach kids at a “master class”

Moving on to the cities of Xi’an and Beijing, UW students conducted several intensive music classes for local music students, “from little kids through college age”, and played several more concerts for audiences verging on 2000 people. Performing at Tsinghua University’s spectacular concert hall was a particular highlight.

This trip to China marked a first trip outside the country for many of the musicians, including UW junior and trumpeter Jason Kissinger. The Spokane native also has Diabetes, and he was understandably concerned about successfully managing his health needs during the trip. The UW Global Travel Security Manager helped Jason plan ahead for his health needs and understand local resources before departure. And Jason stayed healthy during the trip with the support of Professor Salzman and his fellow students.

“Traveling internationally for the first time with all of the logistics associated with Diabetes was a success because of your support throughout it all,” Jason wrote to his classmates. “This was a trip of a lifetime. It has given me the confidence to have more life changing experiences in the future, and I’m excited for the world that’s out there.”

UW American Mandarin speakers and international students like doctoral student and pianist Kay Yeh helped the trip run smoothly by acting as cultural ambassadors and translators. At the Beijing airport, Kay saved the day by letting the security guard know about the insulin pump attached to Jason’s leg, which was vital for managing his Diabetes and could have been damaged during a security pat-down.

At each concert, a Mandarin-speaking student joined Professor Salzman at the podium to introduce the musical selections. To a packed audience in at Tsinghua University in Beijing, they shared his belief about music. “Music is the universal language of peace that we can all understand,” Professor Salzman announced through the student translator. “I hope our countries will be friends forever.” The crowd responded with enthusiastic applause.

Professor Salzman and students after a performance

This study and performance trip to China was a transformative experience for each member of the UW Wind Ensemble, as musicians and as students. Study abroad gave Jason new confidence to explore, whether his next trip is across the state or around the world. “After travelling [to China], I can truly say that the world is waiting for you. We can always look at pictures, but being physically present throws you onto a whole new level of understanding. Don’t be afraid to take those chances and experience the world!”

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Chasing the butterfly dream: Zhuangzi and early medieval Chinese culture

Professor Ping Wang of the University of Washington Department of Asian Languages & Literature will give a special lecture as part of the “Culture Talk” series from the Confucius Institute of the State of Washington. She will provide further insight into the Zhuangzi. Foundational to the Taoism and considered a masterpiece of Chinese literature, the stories and anecdotes in this ancient text explore themes of spontaneity and freedom from human conventions.

Thursday, May 23, 2019 from 4 – 5 PM
UW East Asian Library – Gowen Hall 2M
Free and open to the public

The Qi wu lun 齊物論 chapter is arguably the most important and at the same time an extremely difficult chapter from the Zhuangzi 莊子. Its enigmatic and elusive ending — the famous butterfly dream narrative— signifies something unattainable in human’s pursuit of life’s meaning and the cosmic truth.

In the centuries following the collapse of the Han Empire (202 b.c.e – 220 c.e.), Zhuangzi rose to be an essential text whose interpretations led to unprecedented explorations of cultural ideals that would ascribe meaning to the identity of the exiled Han population and, to a great extent, establish the genetics of Chinese culture. In other words, in order to understand modern China and contemporary Chinese society, we have to delve into the minds of Early Medieval Chinese thinkers. The way the educated elites lived their lives and pursued their dreams by negotiating the philosophical and spiritual dimensions of the Zhuangzi has much to teach us about our own “cultural selves.”