Alumni | UW-Madison Division of International Studies

Study Abroad Alum Returning to Troubled Country

October 13, 2011 Division of International Studies No comments

Jenny Browne is excited about traveling to Sierra Leone this month to teach creative writing, but admits feeling a tinge of anxiety.

This isn’t her first trip to Africa. In June, Browne, an assistant professor of English at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, went to Kenya, where she taught Somali children in a refugee camp to write poetry through a program funded by the U.S. State Department.

But, even though she’s heading back to Africa under the same program, going to Sierra Leone is different. Browne has been there before—as a UW–Madison student 20 years ago—but had to leave the West African country early and abruptly.

Global Hot Spots Fall 2011 Lecture Series Starts Friday, Sept. 23

September 20, 2011 Division of International Studies No comments

The popular Global Hot Spots Lecture Series will kick off Friday, September 23, 2011, with the talk “The Arab Spring into Fall” from Jon Pevehouse, professor of political science.

This free lecture is open to all. It will be held from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. in the Pyle Center, located at 702 Langdon Street in Madison. To attend the first event, registration is requested. Register now!

The monthly series focuses on worldwide importance and local interest topics. Join Madison-area learners and UW faculty to go beyond the headlines and take an in-depth look at the events that are shaping our society. Along with an exciting slate of scheduled lectures, expect unique insights you can only get from renowned UW faculty. These thought-provoking lectures focus on everything from politics to faith, to nuclear weapons, the environment, and NGOs.

Post-event Media: Global Panel to Discuss Education and Competitiveness

August 03, 2011 Division of International Studies No comments

Interim Chancellor David Ward welcomed a group of education leaders from around the world to the University of Wisconsin–Madison on Tuesday, July 26 for a panel discussion, “Education and Competitiveness: The End of an American Century?” held in the Wisconsin Idea Room of the Education Building on Bascom Hill. The panel focused on trends in the evolving and competitive nature of the American higher education system.

Photos by Kerry Hill, Division of International Studies

Panelists for this event included:

Abdul Waheed Khan, former assistant director general of communication and information at UNESCO and current president of Talal Abu Ghazaleh University of Business, Bahrain, speaking on “India’s Five-Year Higher Education Investment Plan and Its Promises for the Future.”
Aman Wirakartakusumah, Indonesian ambassador for UNESCO and former Rector of Bogor Agricultural University, Indonesia, speaking on “The Global Higher Education Landscape as Seen from Southeast Asia.”
Xiaozhou Xu, dean of the School of Education, Zhejiang University, China, speaking on “Towards Tri-Axis in Global Higher Education: The Rising of Asian Universities?”
Julie Underwood, dean of UW–Madison School of Education, speaking on “America’s Role in International Consortia: Who is Leading the Conversation?”

Vice Provost Gilles Bousquet provided remarks, while Amy Stambach, UW–Madison professor of educational policy studies in the School of Education and associate dean in the Division of International Studies moderated the program. The School of Education and the Wisconsin Alumni Association sponsored a reception held after the event.

You can watch the entire lecture on the School of Education video page

UW Students Win at 2011 Chinese Speech Contest of Summer Programs

August 03, 2011 Division of International Studies No comments

Six members of the UW-Tianjin Summer Program, through UW–Madison’s International Academic Programs (IAP), have received awards for their participation in the “2011 Chinese Speech Contest of Summer Programs” at Peking Normal University on July 31, 2011. UW-Madison students Jae Sang Lee, John Prusynski, and Mark Troianovski all received first place for their speeches in their respective categories, and as an added honor, will have their scripts printed in the prestigious Commercial Press magazine, World of Chinese.

Richard Young and Hyun Jae Nam both won second place in their categories, while Alicia Montague-Keels received third place. With six winners across the board, UW-Madison produced more finalists than any other competing program, including those from Ivy League schools and other public universities.

“The competition was fierce, especially for first place in all six categories,” says Hongming Zhang, director of UW-Tianjin. “It is surprisingly exciting that we could get all the first places! All of our contestants got their certificates. The place winners also got medals and awards.”

There were 125 contestants from 12 programs competing for the first, second, and third place awards in six different categories: i.e. non-heritage beginner, non-heritage intermediate (this level was divided into two groups: group A and group B, due to a large number of contestants), non-heritage advanced 1 (equivalent to the 3rd year Chinese), non-heritage advanced 2, heritage intermediate, and heritage advanced.

Participants hailed from all the major North American summer programs in Beijing and Tianjin, including Harvard University, Princeton University, Columbia University, Dartmouth College, University of Chicago, Northwestern University, University of Mississippi, The Inter-University Program (IUP), Council for Educational Travel (CET), Alliance Critical Languages Scholarship Program (Alliance-CLS), Tenri University from Japan, and UW-Madison.

Zhang continues, “The success of this event reflects the high teaching standard and overall strength of our program. This result could not have been achieved without the joint efforts of our students, teachers, and program assistants. Our local instructors and teaching assistants devoted huge amounts of time and resources to work with our students. We also selected outstanding tutors among graduate students of Nankai University and Tianjin Normal University to strengthen the after-class training portion of the program. This would have also been impossible without the hard work of our supportive colleagues in the IAP office.”

Global Panel to Discuss Education and Competitiveness

July 19, 2011 Division of International Studies 1 Comment

Countries around the world are ramping up investments in higher education in a push to create world-class research institutions. At the same time, the top research universities in the United States are confronting the challenges of dwindling resources and support.

Interim Chancellor David Ward will welcome a group of education leaders from around the world to the University of Wisconsin–Madison on Tuesday, July 26 for a panel discussion on these trends and what they mean for the U.S. pre-eminence in higher education.

“Education and Competitiveness: The End of an American Century?” will be held July 26, 3:30-5:30 p.m., in the Wisconsin Idea Room (Room 159) of the Education Building on Bascom Hill. Sponsored by the UW–Madison Division of International Studies and School of Education, the program is free and open to the public.

“This is an important topic, not just for higher education, but for the future of the U.S. economy and the U.S. role in the world,” says Gilles Bousquet, dean of UW–Madison’s Division of International Studies and vice provost for globalization.

Bousquet, whose recent commentary on this subject was featured on the Chronicle of Higher Education’s WorldWise blog, adds, “The distinguished speakers on this panel can offer a range of perspectives on current trends and what it means for American institutions.”

Chancellor Ward will deliver the opening remarks, followed by the panelists:

Abdul Waheed Khan, former assistant director general of communication and information at UNESCO and current president of Talal Abu Ghazaleh University of Business, Bahrain, speaking on “India’s Five-Year Higher Education Investment Plan and Its Promises for the Future.”
Aman Wirakartakusumah, Indonesian ambassador for UNESCO and former Rector of Bogor Agricultural University, Indonesia, speaking on “The Global Higher Education Landscape as Seen from Southeast Asia.”
Xiaozhou Xu, dean of the School of Education, Zhejiang University, China, speaking on “Towards Tri-Axis in Global Higher Education: The Rising of Asian Universities?”
Julie Underwood, dean of UW–Madison School of Education, speaking on “America’s Role in International Consortia: Who is Leading the Conversation?”

Amy Stambach, UW–Madison professor of educational policy studies in the School of Education, and associate dean in the Division of International Studies, will serve as moderator.

Following the program, a reception will be held in the Education Building Commons, sponsored by the School of Education and the Wisconsin Alumni Association.

Dean and Vice Provost Gilles Bousquet and Professor Amy Stambach discuss the upcoming event.

INT'L@UW

Category Archives: Alumni

Study Abroad Alum Returning to Troubled Country

Global Hot Spots Fall 2011 Lecture Series Starts Friday, Sept. 23

Post-event Media: Global Panel to Discuss Education and Competitiveness

UW Students Win at 2011 Chinese Speech Contest of Summer Programs

Global Panel to Discuss Education and Competitiveness

Dean and Vice Provost Gilles Bousquet and Professor Amy Stambach discuss the upcoming event.

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