Harper College - Office of International Education

We are looking for families to host a German exchange student from the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Program (CBYX). Families will provide students with a place to sleep and study, some meals, support, and encouragement throughout their year in the U.S. CBYX participants really bond with their host families and make lifelong friends at Harper. Interested? Contact [email protected]

URGENT: We are looking for families to host a German exchange student from the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Program (CBYX). Families will provide students with a place to sleep and study, some meals, support, and encouragement throughout their year in the U.S. CBYX participants really bond with their host families and make lifelong friends at Harper. Interested? Contact [email protected]

Say CHEERS to our lovely group studying abroad in London, UK. Students are having a comparative experience, applying sociological topics between London and the places in the States, led by Prof. Jim Gramlich,
Contact the office to learn about this and other opportunities abroad.

Join us to celebrate Ukrainian Easter. Enjoy food, crafts, dance, and culture from Ukraine 🇺🇦 this Thursday, May 2, at 3:30 pm in D-195. We will also collect money (CASH ONLY) for our Hawks for Hope Fundraiser for Project Hope. See you there.

Today Harper OIE is hosting faculty, staff, students and colleagues from other institutions to discuss topics in displacement, migration and diasporas. It will be a day of exchange, education and reflection to better serve our students and communities.

Join us next Thursday, April 11, in Z102 for the final Spotlight- Courageous Discussions session of the semester. Dr. Howard French, professor of journalism at Columbia University will lead this discussion focused on Displacement, particularly as it relates to African countries.

For the last week, Harper students have been discovering Kenya 🇰🇪 with Prof. Maitha and Prof. Pierce. As part of this experience, they visited and stayed in , visited , and engaged with students at . Today, they are discovering the Maasai Mara Reserve, an important conservation area to the world where wild animals and their ecosystem exist in a highly protected environment.

Join us tomorrow in the cultural center for a discussion on caste systems and global structures of oppression. Contact OIE for the registration link.

It was a busy weekend for the OIE team! We attended CCID with an amazing and dedicated group of faculty and staff, delivered two presentations, engaged in important conversations, made new connections, and solidified meaningful partnerships. One of the highlights was listening from keynote speaker Chancelor Clinton White how his experience working with our very own International Student Service Coordinator Jill Izumakawa was transformative and introduced him to the international education field.
We are returning home energized and full of ideas about how to continue internationalization efforts on our campus and provide the best care to our international community.

Day 14--Final day of our Faculty Field Seminar in India. On our last day in Pune, we attended a presentation from Ramnath Narayanswamy, retired professor of Economics and Social Sciences, on current worldviews emerging in India and the approach of the current Modi government to geopolitics. Afterwards our group returned to Mumbai to prepare for our flight back home and enjoyed dinner with a few special guests arranged by Samrat, the founder IEXP360 and our on-ground guide for the entire program. Thank you to for working with us to design such a wonderful program, which will no doubt benefit our students for years to come.

Day 13 of our Faculty Field Seminar to India. Our group had an amazing experience at FLAME University, where we met with faculty colleagues and learned more about their global and experiential approach to education. FLAME is the first 4-year liberal arts university in India. Dr. Poonam Gandhi and Dr. Kedar Kulkarni, co-chairs of the Office of International Relations, shared FLAME's global exchange program as well as shared examples of their Discover India Project (DIP), an experiential learning project required of all second year students at FLAME (the project scope is very similar to Harper's Global Scholars Distinction Program). Our Harper faculty met with faculty counterparts in Environmental Studies, Economics, Literary & Cultural Studies, History, and Film and Television Management, and left excited about potential future collaborations with our counterparts. We are very thankful for the hospitality for our hosts at FLAME and the opportunity to work together in the future.

Day 11 of the Faculty Field Seminar to India. Much like the Ajanta Caves, the Ellora caves are a series of monasteries and temples excavated from the side of a basalt cliff. However, unlike Ajanta, which is comprised of solely Buddhist monuments, Ellora has Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain sanctuaries. The 34 caves of the Ellora system were built in three phases: 1)the earliest caves, built between 600-800CE, are Buddhist monuments, 2)those built between 800-1100CE are Hindu temples, and 3) the last set of caves, built between 1000-1300 CE, reflect Jain philosophy. The caves are a testament to not only to the religious diversity of India, but the fact they are all built in the same area reflects the religious tolerance of the time. Our group visited two Hindu temple, Cave 14 and Cave 16 (also known as Kailasa), and one Jain temple, cave 33. Kailasa being the largest of these excavated caves was absolutely mind-blowing with its size and detail.

International Students Club will start Thursday, January 18, at 3:30 PM in D-195 and every Thursday at the same time.
This club is a great way to make friends, learn about other cultures, and have fun.

Please use this link in the bio for students to sign up for the club. There is no commitment, but it allows us to email the schedule of upcoming meetings and events.

Our Harper Faculty participating in our International Field Seminar in India toured Fort Kochi yesterday and explored the interesting. With our fabulous guides, Rahel Ajita Skaria and Divya, we explored the history varied history of the area, that included Portuguese, Dutch, and British settlement in the area, as well as the diverse religious groups in the area.

Yesterday, this adventurous group of Harper professors embarked on a journey to discover India 🇮🇳! For two weeks the group will visit locations such as Aurangabad, Mumbai, Kochi, Munnar, and more!! We’ll share their experiences here and in the OIE blog (link in bio). We wish them safe travels and a fantastic experience.

A year ago, professors Rich Johnson and Kathleen Reynolds joined a program supported CCID and AMPEI to contribute to the internationalization of higher education through Virtual Exchange. They were matched with Maestra Karina Díaz Pedroza and Maestro Yair Anza Gutiérrez, from the Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas (UNACH) and have been collaborating since. The partnership was so successful that it expanded beyond their classrooms: earlier this year Harper and UNACH signed an official partnership memorandum. This week, Maestros Karina and Yair, joined by Academic Secretary Maricela Alfaro Merchantd, and Dean Vanina Herrera Allard are visiting our campus, enriching our community and exploring further opportunities to partner with Harper.
Stay tuned to see more ways these two institutions will work together.

Join us TODAY to learn more about the Cuba Study Abroad happening in the Spring, presented by the professors who created the program, will teach the classes, and lead the group in Cuba. The info session is at 3 p.m., in D-174. We hope to see you there!! Applications are open in our traveler platform: https://harper-study-abroad.via-trm.com/.../program.../18733

CLS applications are now open! Learn a critical language in the Summer of 2024. CLS offers the original intensive in-person program or a virtual options (Spark). Want to learn more? Register for the upcoming information session in the link in bio.

Spring Semester Applications are due on October 15!!
If you are planning to join the semester programs in Austria, England, Ireland, or Spain through ICISP, it is time to finalize your application. Contact the office if you need any support.

Fund of Education Abroad’s scholarship for Spring 2024 is now open. Connect with our office for more information about this and other study abroad scholarships.

Rejoice! Reflect! Remember!
Happy Juneteenth

Welcome back, Nursing students and faculty that embarked on an adventure to South Africa! They visited Cape Town for ten days, and we'll be sharing more about their experience in the next weeks.

Located in southeast England, Canterbury is the spiritual heart of the country. A bustling city with history everywhere you look. Learn about our semester abroad there with partner institution

Congratulations to our Global Scholars , , , and Ada Velazquez! They received this graduation distinction for joining selected classes that allowed them to explore intercultural perspectives and expand their awareness of global systems, justice, equity, and peace while pursuing their majors at Harper College. The future is bright for them, and while they will be missed at Harper, they are ready for their next chapter as an agent of change in the world!

We want to congratulate Ada Velazquez for also earning the Social Justice Studies Distinction!

Beyond the screen! Students and staff who have been working virtually, meeting in person.

¡Hola de Viñales, Cuba! The town and the Viñales Valley immediately to the north were made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in November 1999.