GLOBAL News
Rutgers University was honored to welcome President Nana Akufo-Addo of the Republic of Ghana for the 2019 Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum. "We still need to build roads, lower unemployment, educate the population and provide clean water, but I also want people to see the beauty Africa has to offer,” Akufo-Addo said during the event hosted by The Center for African Studies, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers Global and the Christie and Chinua Achebe Foundation.

Families come from far away to have their children screened for congenital heart defects by doctors, nurses, and social workers who comprise the diagnostic brigade from Colombia’s Fundación Cardioinfantil (FCI), one of South America’s most highly esteemed centers for the diagnosis and treatment of the condition. In the summer of 2019, the brigade was joined by medical student Marlena Sabatino, who had just completed her first year at Rutgers’ Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. For eight weeks, funded by the Chancellor’s Global Health Scholars Program, she collaborated with FCI on a project she had designed with the purpose of gathering data on access to surgical care in the country.

Climate change is threatening the world’s food supply and the risk of supply disruptions is expected to grow as temperatures rise, according to a new United Nations report co-authored by Rutgers human ecology professor Pamela McElwee. So, how would we feed everyone if the Earth’s population hits 9.7 billion in 2050 as projected? Duckweed, the world’s fastest-growing plant, which has more protein than soybeans and is a traditional food source for people living in parts of Southeast Asia, could be one of the key solutions, according to Eric Lam, a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Plant Biology in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences.

At first sight, Tony Jiang is a typical accomplished college golfer. He is a two-time Preseason Big Ten Conference selection pick. He has played in 27 tournaments and 79 rounds for Rutgers. Golf has been part of who he is since age 5. What makes Jiang unique is that he’s done this all while being legally blind – a condition he has had to deal with for the past 20 years, since he tripped at home and smacked the corner of the glass table when he was a toddler in China.

Maria Soto-Greene has worked for almost 30 years supporting underrepresented students and faculty throughout their careers in medicine. The executive vice dean of Rutgers New Jersey Medical School has received accolades and awards for being a champion of diversity, inclusion and equity. But to really understand why Soto-Greene is as committed today as she was when she first started her career in medicine in 1980, you need to examine the layers of her life. 

Read about the new Access the World initiative launched in September by Rutgers Global--Study Abroad. With the tagline, “break boundaries, not the bank,” this initiative is focused on inclusion and affordability. The list of 30 global education programs offered at or below the cost of a semester at Rutgers is comprehensive and spans the globe with programs offered in China, Barbados, Kenya, Sweden, Greece, New Zealand, Brazil, Thailand, and Uruguay, among other destinations.

Debórah Dwork, a visiting scholar at Rutgers University’s Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life, sees unmistakable parallels between Jews of Nazi Germany in the 1930s and refugees seeking asylum on American soil today.
Families desperate to flee horrifying conditions. The scramble to obtain identification papers and transportation to reach safety. The stark reality of countries unwilling to allow the struggling travelers in. Now Dwork hopes New Jersey educators enrolled in a master class she is teaching at Rutgers come away with historical insights they can bring back to their classrooms.

The way Naomi Klein sees it, society and the planet are facing a crisis on multiple levels – economic, social, ecological and democratic. And the only set of policies able to address them and avoid climate collapse is the Green New Deal, a set of public policy proposals that will foster sustainable economic growth while reversing climate change. That’s the argument the best-selling author, social and environmental justice advocate and Rutgers professor makes in her latest book, On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal , available now.

RU Social? New Media
Rutgers University was honored to host two Mandela Washington Fellowship Institutes this past summer. Learn more about the Leadership in Business and Leadership in Civic Engagement Institutes from the Fellows themselves in these two new videos.

Rutgers Global hosted the biannual Study Abroad Fair on September 18, and welcomed more than 500 students looking for new global learning opportunities, including new programs offered as part of the Access the World initiative.

Whitney Garay spent the summer in Tanzania on a study abroad program. Here is what she had to say about the experience: "Overall, I recommend everyone to do a study abroad program, and I want to do another one in the future.... This experience significantly broadened my perspective on life. It also strengthened my desire to devote myself to serving the medically underserved and improving their access to quality healthcare."

Retweet from @RutgersGSA: Join us for #FriendshipFridays. A weekly pop-up lounge from 4-7p at various locations across @RutgersNB. Enjoy food, fun, and conversation—and make new friends from around the world. Sponsored by 
@RutgersGlobal. More info at global.rutgers.edu/friendshipfridays…
#Rutgers

Rutgers University-Newark was one of six institutions of higher learning to participate in the University Global Compact’s (UGC) inaugural “17 Rooms-U” for a sustainable future at Rutgers University–Newark in September. The UGC is a global platform of universities and other higher education organizations committed to working together and in partnership with the United Nations and other relevant organizations in support of the UN’s 17 “Sustainable Development Goals” (SDG).

Global Events
October 2: Why Peace Corps?, 7:00-8:30 p.m., Kathleen Ludwig Building

Join us for this information session and learn from Returned Peace Corps Volunteers about life abroad and building a career to serve others.

The first 10 guests will receive a FREE Peace Corps gift bag!

New Location : Kathleen Ludwig Building
9 Suydam St., Albers Schonberg Room
New Brunswick, NJ

October 4, 10, 18, and 25: Friendship Fridays, 4:00-7:00 p.m., Various Locations

Join Rutgers Global and its university partners for this weekly "pop-up lounge" from 4:00 - 7:00 p.m. at various locations across the New Brunswick campus. Enjoy food, fun, and conversation--and meet and make new friends from around the world!

October 4: Parent & Family Weekend Global Opportunities Meet & Greet, 5:00-7:00 p.m., Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health (IFNH)

In celebration of Rutgers Parent & Family Weekend, we invite you to join us for a special meet and greet to learn more about global opportunities through Rutgers and how to support your student in the study abroad process.

More Events
 
October 2, 2:00-6:00 p.m., “Afghanistan at the Edge of Empire” Symposium, Rutgers British Studies Center (RBSC) and South Asian Studies Program (SASP), Rutgers Academic Building West Wing, Room 6051. More information.

October 6, 4:00 p.m., "Paul Robeson, 'Negro-Jewish' Unity, and the 'Jewish People’s Movement' in the 1940s: Legacy and Challenges," Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life, Douglass Student Center. More information.

October 7, 4:00-6:00 p.m., “Interference” Tallur L.N., South Asian Studies Program (SASP) and Department of Art History, Zimmerli Art Museum, Lower Dodge Gallery. More information.

October 7, 5:00-7:00 p.m., "Minutes to Die: a Documentary on Snakebite," Rutgers Global Health Interest Group presents a free screening and discussion of this documentary, which travels to five continents to capture the cries for help, the financial ruin families face to save loved ones, and the heroic scientists rushing to create breakthrough solutions for snakebite, a neglected global health issue. Piscataway. More information.

October 10, 4:30-6:00 p.m., Ellen Widmer (Wellesley College), “Promotion, Patronage, and Poetic Socialization: Three Highlights of Wang Duanshu’s Shaoxing Years,” Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, Brower Commons A. More information.

October 12, 12:00-4:00 p.m., “See, Test & Treat” Health Fair, New Jersey Medical School is sponsoring a free community health fair. Newark. More information.

October 15, 4:30-6:00 p.m., Carol Hager (Bryn Mawr College), “The Grassroots Origins of Germany’s Energy Transition,” Center for European Studies, Rutgers Academic Building West Wing, Room 6051. More information.

October 22, 6:30-10:00 p.m., "Food Justice, Food Policies, and Local Food Insecurity: A Critical Conversation about Food on United Nations Day," Rutgers Global, SEBS, University Committee for Sustainability, Rutgers Against Hunger. College Ave. Student Center. More information.

October 23, 11:30-1:00 p.m., Laura Brueck (Northwestern University), “Mother Tongues: The Disruptive Possibilities of Dalit Feminist Vernaculars,” South Asian Studies Program (SASP), Alexander Library, Pane Room. More information.
  
October 23, 5:00-8:00 p.m., Newark. Global Health and Surgery Research Symposium, New Jersey Medical School’s Office of Global Health presents the fourth annual Global Health and Surgery Research Symposium. More information.

October 24, 5:00-6:30 p.m., María Magdalena Campos-Pons: Reception and Artist’s Lecture, Center for Women in the Arts and Humanities, Douglass Library. More information.
For Students
Get Involved in Global Health

Because a wide variety of factors impact global health, there are many different avenues for your involvement. The Rutgers Global Health Institute has created a resource with Rutgers student organizations, Rutgers chapters of national and international organizations, and noncredit experiential learning opportunities that offer ways to engage in global health issues.

Rutgers Global is the university-wide office for international affairs at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. The office provides extensive study and service-learning abroad opportunities, academic support for international students, visa and immigration processing for international students and scholars, international partnership facilitation, and on-campus global programming that helps to educate students and professionals alike. Rutgers Global is committed to comprehensive internationalization for both students and faculty, creating resources and opportunities to enhance our global engagement at home and abroad.