GEO News 2017-18
June 13, 2018
Post-Soviet Leaders Examine Democracy in Richmond
Virginia Commonwealth University hosted a delegation of deputy ministers from post-Soviet countries visiting the United States to deepen their exposure to rule of law, free markets and democracy. The Young Leadership Program 2018 is sponsored by StrategEast in cooperation with the Open World Leadership Center, a legislative branch agency. The program is designed for young deputy ministers of the countries proclaimed or restored after the collapse of the USSR to gain insight into the internal processes of U.S. government systems and to examine the role of governmental authorities in economic processes.
June 6, 2018
#YouAreWelcomeHere
Virginia Commonwealth University is a home away from home for nearly 1,500 international students who study here each year. The VCU Global Education Office is proud to partner with VCU students Rizdwan Said and Crystal Kim on the production of this video originally created for their Focused Inquiry class.
June 4, 2018
An aspiring foreign service officer heads to India on a Critical Language Scholarship
Reflecting on my life before I came to the U.S., I had been passive, introverted, and afraid to challenge myself. I had lived with my family for 20 years in Japan and it was easy for me to keep staying in the same environment.
May 18, 2018
Open your mind, or you will never know
Reflecting on my life before I came to the U.S., I had been passive, introverted, and afraid to challenge myself. I had lived with my family for 20 years in Japan and it was easy for me to keep staying in the same environment.
I made the decision to come to VCU because I wanted to put myself in a completely new situation where I would have to be independent and learn how to figure out problems by myself. I also wanted to improve my English skills. The 9 months I spent in the U.S. taught and changed me a lot.
May 16, 2018
Celebrating our newest English Language Program graduates
Whether they’re moving on to undergraduate programs, graduate study or returning to their homes abroad, these international students have a stronger command of the English language thanks to instruction received in the English Language Program. Most students graduating have completed a program that includes three years of study at VCU. The semester culminated with a celebration that included presentations of semester projects, games and food.
May 4, 2018
VCU recognized as a top producer of Gilman scholars
Virginia Commonwealth University has been recognized among education institutions that sent the most students overseas through the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program in academic year 2016-17. VCU ranked No. 41 among nearly 150 universities nationwide that enroll more than 15,000 undergraduates, according to a report issued last month.
May 1, 2018
New challenges | New adventures
Lea Lahoud, a graduate student in the Department of Patient Counseling in the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Allied Health Professions has been named a finalist in the spring 2018 International Student Voice Magazine scholarship competition.
Nearly 300 applications were received for the competition, which involved submitting an essay on the topic of ‘overcoming challenges while studying in the United States,’ and eleven finalists have been named.
April 26, 2018
VCU international students volunteer with Rise Against Hunger
Last weekend, 36 VCU international students volunteered with Rise Against Hunger. In two hours, the group packaged 41,000 meals which will be sent to a developing country to help those who lack sufficient food resources. The majority of meals will go to schools that provide food to children who would otherwise not have it.
April 13, 2018
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Leaders from Tajikistan examine open governance in Virginia
Six Tajik leaders participating in the Open World Program will spend April 13-18, 2018, in Richmond examining the American system of government, with an emphasis on accountable governance. The program, hosted by Virginia Commonwealth University and managed by the Open World Leadership Center, enables emerging Eurasian political and civic leaders to work with their U.S. counterparts and experience American-style democracy at the local level.
March 19, 2018
Student receives competitive GoOverseas scholarship to study abroad in Ireland
VCU first-year student, Andrew Connelly received a special surprise this week. Out of 3,000 applicants, he was the sole recipient of the GoOverseas scholarship to study abroad in Ireland next fall.
February 7, 2018
Culture within a culture
As a small child growing up in Bogota, Colombia, I personally experienced the impacts of war and how it creates a refugee crisis. Every day on the streets of the city I saw the number of displaced people grow as the war forced people out of their homes. My family personally experienced the widespread fear of being kidnapped since we no longer felt safe traveling outside our own city. News of bombs going off downtown, close to many of the places we frequented, filled our television screens. Lists of the fatalities these bombs left behind became a norm and I feared that one day, one of those lists could include the name of one of my family members.
January 26, 2018
Celebrating VCU Globe's newest graduates
"The voyage upon which each of you has embarked is well on its way, and you will write and re-write the narrative of your voyage many times. And that's a good thing," Matt Clausen, president of the Washington Office on Latin America, told students in his keynote address at the third annual VCU Globe graduation ceremony on January 26.
January 31, 2018
VCU Globe wins national award for innovation in international education
Virginia Commonwealth University’s global education living–learning program, VCU Globe, will receive the Andrew Heiskell Award for Innovation in International Education. The national award is granted by the Institute for International Education and will be presented at its Best Practices in Internationalization Conference in New York City in March.
October 17, 2017
A fish learning to swim
Have you ever felt like a fish out of water? Well, I felt like this once I left my country and came to the U.S. It was one of the most challenging decisions I’ve made in my life since I decided to leave my supportive family in Kuwait and go to live alone in a foreign country.
September 12, 2017
Tsinghua University art students study painting and printmaking at VCU
VCU's School of the Arts and the Global Education Office welcomed eight undergraduate and graduate students from Tsinghua University, Academy of Art and Design in Beijing, China for a two-week study of painting and printmaking this fall. The visiting group was accompanied by Li Mu, professor and chair of the Tsinghua University Painting+Printmaking Department, as well as professors Zhongyan Wen and Qu Xin.
August 9, 2017
New TEFL class prepares students to teach here and abroad
Katie Hines, a recent graduate from Virginia Commonwealth University who completed the VCU Globe program, and Gabrielle Norvell, a health sciences and psychology major in the College of Humanities and Sciences and also a VCU Globe student, were participating in a new Teaching English as a Foreign Language class offered by the Global Education Office this summer. As part of their field work, they spent 30 hours in a classroom at Bensley Elementary School.