International Education Week: Activity, not ceremony

The week of Nov. 13-17 was marked with no special ceremonies at the UW commemorating the first U.S. International Education Week as decreed by President Clinton. Instead, the week was filled with a menu of activities that are the hallmark of the UW’s continuing involvement in international education.

“The University of Washington has an amazing array of opportunities for international education,” said David Fenner, director of international programs and exchanges. They range from individual courses to majors, involving virtually all disciplines. The rich academic offerings are supplemented by public lectures. A Web site is being planned which will contain links to all major international academic programs and resources.

Among the many activities in this time period:

• Monday, Nov. 13, Nancy Woods, dean of the School of Nursing, was in Korea exploring expanded links with Seoul National University.

• Tuesday featured a lecture in Computer Science and Engineering by a visiting scholar from Tel Aviv University.

• Wednesday there were a series of roundtable discussions and seminars, sponsored by an array of campus units, including the International Policy Forum, featuring Thandika Mkandawire, an African-born Swede who lives in Switzerland and directs the UN’s Research Institute for Social Development.

• Today the UW hosts Luis Alberto Moreno, Colombian Ambassador to the U.S., whose visit was sponsored by a number of campus units.

• The academic week ends with a series of lectures and conversations with Vytautas Landsbergis, who was president of Lithuania during the time of its break with the former Soviet Union.

In addition to these activities, President McCormick will be visiting Thailand and Vietnam soon, in part to encourage greater academic exchanges with universities in those countries.