International Education Week is held every year and this year it was during the week of November 16 – 20, 2014. It is presented on college campuses across the country and is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of State. The week is full of various activities—some educational and informative and others simply fun—that honor and promote global education and awareness with programs such as Study Abroad Programs, International Students Programs, and International Travel for Faculty/Staff Programs. According to Assistant Secretary of State Evan Ryan, Exchange Programs, U.S. Department of State, “Through international study, students cross socioeconomic, cultural, political, religious and geographic borders. International students enrich classrooms, campuses and communities in ways that endure long after students return to their home countries.” Both students who go abroad and students who come to the States to study can enrich the schools they attend and add a universal element to those around them.
Stockton listed over 30 events under the International Education Week 2014 Schedule on the Stockton website. The events included various national dances, martial arts, crafts, fair trade gift fairs, clothing and customs presentations, an international flag display, lectures on various countries abroad, cultural films, workshops on various topics including Emotional Intelligence and Cultural Intelligence and other topics such as Human Trafficking and Foreign Service Careers, and even an opportunity for students, teachers, and community participants to get their passports.
Posters promoting International Education Week were posted all over the Stockton campus. According to the poster, the week was sponsored by the Office of Global Engagement, Office of the Provost, School of Arts and Humanities, School of Business, School of Education, School of General Studies, School of Health Sciences, School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Sara and Sam Schoffer Holocaust Resource Center, Stockton Center on Successful Aging, and
Joel Horn (Stockton Alumni ’91). The international flag display was in the cafeteria in the Student Center. I found the poster (pictured here) in various buildings near classrooms and the library and in the Student Center. The poster is informative about the events promoting International Education Week, providing specific events, dates, and locations.
I personally do not have any interest in international studies or studying abroad, but I do meet students from other countries who attend Stockton. Although I do not have an interest, it is important that these programs and activities are available to those people who do have an interest in international education and the opportunities to travel to and learning about other countries, nationalities, and customs.
Works Cited
“International Education Week 2014.” The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. n.p., 2014. Web. 21 November 2014. <http://intraweb.stockton.edu/eyos/page.cfm?siteID=252&pageID=27>
“International Education Week, November 16-20.” The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. Stockton campus (various locations), Galloway Twp., New Jersey. 2014. Poster. < http://intraweb.stockton.edu/eyos/international_services/content/docs/IEW/IEW-Poster- 2014%20%285.15%29.pdf>
Ryan, Evan. “Evan Ryan Speaks at Open Doors 2014.” 15th Anniversary International Education Week 2014 (Facebook), Nov. 20, 2014. Web. 21 November 2014. <https://www.facebook.com/InternationalEdWeek>