|
Featured IAS Student
Nick Aguilera
Class of 2014
Major/Minor: International Studies B.A./M.A.
Spanish Minor
Hometown: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
High School: Bishop McGuinness High School
Why did you choose your major?Being a degree that gives you the opportunity to learn from a wide variety of disciplines, I felt that a major in International Studies would grant me a large scope of knowledge and the ability to think critically about people, cultures, politics, and the world. True understanding of countries and the people within them is necessary if you want to pursue a career in anything that concerns the globe, and that means almost everything in today's world. I've always held a sense of curiosity and a desire to learn about a wide variety of subjects and ideas. International Studies gives me the opportunity to do that!
|
Featured Alumni
Derek R. Kolb Class of 2005
International Studies and Public Administration
Spanish minor
What are you doing now? I am Foreign Service Officer with the US State Department. I work as a Consular Officer at the United States Interests Section in Havana, Cuba (USINT). I have been posted to the US Consulate in Vancouver, Canada starting in July 2013.
|
|
Are you on our
mailing list?
Sign up!Send us your updates! Let us know where you are and what you've been doing since graduation. Reply to this email or contact lray@ou.edu
|
|
Follow us!
 
|
|
 From the Dean
On behalf of the students, staff, faculty and alumni of the College of International Studies, I'd like to welcome you to our first newsletter. We are proud that the OU Board of Regents voted to name the College after President David L. Boren upon his retirement.
International and Area Studies is one of the fastest growing majors on campus. The major provides the best of the liberal arts along with practical skills for twenty-first century careers. Our students graduate with a grounding in politics, history, culture, economics, foreign language and study abroad experience.
The number of OU students earning credit abroad has exploded. Our first signature study abroad program in Arezzo, Italy is a living and learning community for our students in the heart of Tuscany. Our summer Journeys programs (to Italy, China, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East) are led by OU faculty and designed for our students to get a taste of the world in a few weeks.
We continue to provide the highest level of service for the more than 2,000 international students on campus. Our staff now works with students from more than 100 countries to make sure their stay in Norman is a productive one.
From our Arabic Language Flagship Partner Program to our new International Leadership Program, the College has an energy that I see every day when I come to work in Hester Hall.
And speaking of Hester Hall, the building will soon undergo a two-year renovation. For the first time, all of our classrooms, faculty offices and administration will be housed in the same building. An outdoor international plaza, student lounges and state of the art classrooms will help the College recruit the best students and retain our star faculty.
As always, I am humbled by the guidance and generosity of our Board of Visitors, friends and President Boren. We are fortunate to have leadership that matches words with deeds about the critical importance of internationalizing the University. I hope that you will be as proud as I am about the dynamic programs and people that make up the College of International Studies.
Zach Messitte
Dean, College of International Studies
William J. Crowe Chair in Geopolitics
|
|
|
Conference on Brazilian Urban Development Culminates with Visit from Brazilian Ambassador
 His Excellency Mauro Vieira, Brazilian Ambassador to the United States, visited the University of Oklahoma this January as part of Brazil: Development and the City, a conference sponsored by the Department of International and Area Studies and the College of International Studies. During his first visit to Oklahoma, Ambassador Vieira met with state government and business leaders, dined at local eatery Caf� do Brazil, and enjoyed a tour of the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. Viera also recorded an interview with two IAS faculty members for the KGOU radio program World Views. Their conversation on Brazil's economic growth and relations with the U.S. continued that evening at a President's Associates dinner attended by more than 600 guests. Read more here...
|
Renzi and Lee Anne Stone Give $10,000 for Scholarships
 A new scholarship has been established by CIS Board of Visitors member Renzi Stone and his wife Lee Anne to assist College of International Studies student athletes with the cost of their study abroad experience. Stone, a 2000 history graduate and former OU men's basketball player, traveled to China as a student, and the experience left a lifelong impression on him. "As a 20-year-old, I found myself standing on the Great Wall of China marveling at one of man's great achievements," he says. "My perspective of the world I lived in changed and my idea of what was possible expanded." Stone is Chairman & CEO of Saxum Strategic Communications. This gift will fund eight travel scholarships that will each bear the name of OU President David L. Boren. |
|
CIS Welcomes Four New Faculty Members
|
Arabic Language Learning: Updates from OU's Flagship Program
The University of Oklahoma Arabic Language Flagship Partner Program is making strides in its mission to groom the next generation of global professionals. In September, Flagship Scholar and political science major Chase Smithburg set off for his capstone year of study at the University of Alexandria in Egypt. Chase is thriving in his new environment and reports that his language gains have been tremendous. He is immersed in Arabic: balancing university courses with language classes and a translation internship at the university library. Read more here...
|
Renewable Resources Group Co-Founder Cole Frates Serves as CIS Convocation Speaker
Fall Convocation took place December 17 in Meacham Auditorium, where 17 undergraduate students received their degrees from the College of International Studies. Renewable Resources Group Co-Founder Cole Frates delivered a keynote address to the December 2011 graduating class. Frates, a member of the CIS Board of Visitors, recalled the words of Woody Guthrie, whose folk anthem "This Land is Your Land" coincidentally opened the ceremony. "You are ramblers... [With] a deep sense of curiosity and courage," said Frates. He went on to commend the graduates for their desire to seek answers and experiences by looking beyond the borders of this nation, and encouraged them to maintain a connection to and nourish the College for the sake of those who will follow their footsteps. The ceremony also included remarks by Associate Professor Mark Frazier, Chair of the Department of International and Area Studies, and a faculty address by Associate Professor Mitchell Smith, winner of the William W. Talley II Award. The evening concluded with a recitation of the OU Chant.
 | | Cole Frates delivering a keynote address to the December 2011 graduating class |
|
|
College Launches Accelerated BA/MA Program
The College of International Studies introduced an accelerated program spring 2011 designed to allow exceptional students to earn their bachelors and masters degrees in International and Area Studies in five years of study. Students apply for the program in their sophomore year of college and complete all the requirements for both degrees within five years by double counting some of their courses. Sophomore Nick Aguilera, who was accepted into the program last fall, states, "I have been very glad to be on an advanced track, taking upper level classes, and working towards the accelerated degree." The program is a good opportunity for students who know at the beginning of their academic career that they will pursue a bachelors and masters in the field. Currently, ten students are enrolled in the accelerated program. The increased interest in upper-division coursework has allowed the College to offer additional advanced courses, which also benefits students enrolled in the traditional masters program.
|
International Security Studies an Increasingly Popular Focus for CIS Students
With 95 students majoring in the field, International Securities Studies is a rapidly growing discipline within the College of International Studies. Designed for students looking for careers in national and international security agencies, humanitarian organizations or the Foreign Service, the ISS program offers specialized classes that train students to understand the global issues and actors that affect security around the world. Majors are required to complete an international experience, which they can fulfill via an education abroad program, overseas U.S. military placement, or by holding a job or conducting research abroad. Read more here...
|
Course Offers Perspectives on Oklahoma's Place in the Global Community
Last semester, former Oklahoma Secretary of State Susan Savage taught a course focused on why it is important for Oklahoma to connect internationally and how the state is doing so through business, education, and government. As part of "Oklahoma and the World," and a series of related career lectures, Secretary Savage invited many distinguished guests to offer their experiences and observations about the importance of Oklahoma's growing international presence and opportunities for state actors to utilize their creativity to further connect to the global community. Read more here...
|
OU Education Abroad Introduces New Faculty-Led Program
Associate Professor of Spanish Grady Wray will teach Spanish courses in Argentina as part of a new study abroad opportunity for University of Oklahoma students.
The semester-long program, OU in Buenos Aires, begins July 2012 and will give students the opportunity to complete a Spanish minor or fulfill 12 credit hours of a Spanish major. Wray will teach two language classes, and students will enroll in additional courses on Latin American history or civilization offered by Belgrano University in Buenos Aires. Read more here...
|
P.I.G. Round Up Raises $700 for Study Abroad Scholarship
CIS students, faculty, staff and friends gathered in Hester Hall on November 30 to break open their piggy banks for a good cause. Part of the College's Promote International Giving (P.I.G) initiative, the event marked the end of the second fundraising drive for which participants collected change in CIS-branded piggy banks. In addition to turning in their cash, attendees decorated new pigs in preparation for the next drive, played a live-action version of the game "Angry Birds," and bid on several donated silent auction items. Auction proceeds helped raise the day's tally to $700. Scholarship awardee Cara McGrath will study in Pretoria, South Africa next semester.
|
|
CIS Offers Pilot Course for International Students
 This semester the College of International Studies offers a free course, "How to ACT (American and Cultural Transition): Understanding Student Life in the USA," to incoming international students who wish to better prepare themselves for student life in the United States. The course highlights key issues that international students face as part of their academic and cultural transition and attempts to help them avoid the often frustrating experiences of living and learning in a culturally unfamiliar environment. Janice Levi, CIS International Programs Adviser, developed and teaches the course. Read more here... |
Campus-wide Activities Promote International Education and Exchange
OU hosted its second International Education Week in October to celebrate the benefits of global education and encourage students to take advantage of international opportunities both here and abroad. IE Week is a national, joint-initiative of the U.S. Departments of State and Education that promotes programs to prepare Americans for our increasingly globalized community. Thirteen OU departments and organizations joined together to offer a variety of lectures, workshops and cultural activities. Events included a Career Services tutorial on how to leverage study abroad experience, a seminar on international concepts of gender and sexuality, a student mixer for returned study abroad participants, and various activities that highlighted some of the diverse cultures represented on campus - such as a Chinese tea ceremony, a French cheese tasting and an Israeli folklore dance.
View all IE Week 2011 activities. |
|
|
