What is IEW? A joint initiative of the U.S. Departments of State and Education that celebrates the transformative benefits of international exchange worldwide—a mission perfectly embodied by our panelists!

The dynamic event was hosted by Sarah Morgan, Study Abroad and Away Advisor (CGEE), and featured six remarkable panelists: four current Augsburg students (including two international students) and two distinguished faculty members. Each shared their unique, powerful insights into how global experiences have fundamentally shaped their worldview and helped them develop an invaluable sense of community.

Meet the Panel of Global Auggies

The panel was rich with perspectives from students who traveled abroad and international students who brought the world to Augsburg:

• Everlyn Balvoa-Granda: An Augsburg student who gained hands-on experience by studying and interning abroad through CGEE’s program in .
• Aidan Wippich: An Augsburg student who broadened their academic horizons on an exchange program at .
• Yan Urrizalqui: A current international student from Spain, sharing her experience navigating life and academics in the U.S., and feeling welcomed by the Augsburg staff immediately upon arrival.��
• Tommy Maritan: A current international student from Italy, who offered his perspective on studying at Augsburg, and his experiences making friends in Minneapolis and connecting with staff and faculty to feel welcomed.��

Faculty: Bridging Global Gaps

Adding another layer of compelling experience, two faculty members reflected on their own journeys that started as international students in the U.S., demonstrating how their backgrounds enrich the classroom today:

• Bernardo Andrade: Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Augsburg, who grew up in Brazil before coming to the United States as an international student.
• Jayoung Koo: Associate Professor of Marketing at Augsburg, who grew up in South Korea before embarking on her journey to the United States as an international student.

The panel was a testament to the powerful exchange of ideas and the creation of community that happens when the world meets at Augsburg!

Auggies, are you interested in studying abroad? Head to the to begin your search.

International students, are you interested in studying at Augsburg University? Head to our International Admissions website to get started.��

The post International Panel Highlights Augsburg’s World Reach appeared first on Center for Global Education and Experience.

It is hard to believe that we have been in the beautiful country of Mexico for a little over a week now. It feels much longer and I owe it to the new experiences that have been brought to us. One of the biggest highlights for me has been getting to know other students from across the US at Casa Augsburg. Along with the staff and our IRA, Diana, have played a huge role in making sure that we were all comfortable in our transition to living in Mexico for the semester. They have all been so kind and welcoming. As we’ve settled in, we have had the chance to explore our neighborhood and surrounding towns. One thing that I think we all can agree on is how the food is a big part of understanding the culture. Trying different traditional foods, apart from my mothers cooking, has been an experience that I have enjoyed.

Alongside adapting to living in a tropical climate, we have had the time to explore Cuernavaca, Morelos and Mexico City. While visiting different towns and places, my favorite has been our trip to Amatlan. We stayed for 4 days with host families, immersing ourselves in their local culture. Living in someone else’s home, helping prepare meals, and experiencing a part of their daily routine has helped us become more aware of the place in which we stood. Additionally, we have started our classes and have the privilege to hear and speak to guest speakers. Everyone is taking Spanish and a majority of us are taking social work classes. As a group, we have been learning about social work in a latin social context.

Beyond our classes, we had the opportunity to meet with IHouse students; who are Mexican students who are studying English. It created a good space for our language exchange. It has been fun getting to know them a little bit and learning from each other. One of our highlights has been going to a waterpark for a day. Every day has been so much fun and I am excited to see how our next couple of months are going to be.

The post Social Work: One Month In! appeared first on Center for Global Education and Experience.

��On a Sunday in September, we met with a very confident and knowledgeable lady named Fabiola in Amatlán. She has one daughter and a fun fact about herself was that she is a dancer. Fabiola is a cofounder of the group called Women for Women in the town of Amatlán and other surrounding towns. Before she talked about her group and what they do, the first made a prayer asking the guardian to make everyone comfortable and to be able to understand and take away something from what she was going to tell us. That was interesting to hear.

According to Fabiola, Women for Women is an organized group of indigenous women that came together to unite and talk about their stories, struggles and other things that women go through and create a sisterhood. She said that she has also met with indigenous women from Peru, Ecuador, and the United States. Fabiola talked about how for a while she only saw herself as a woman from Tepoxalin, but travelling and being among different group of women made her realized that she was different. Another interesting thing that she said was that she is not married, and not being married made her work a little easier for her, because she doesn’t have an extra obligation to a man apart from being a mom. She also said that some of the women that she works with are not married neither. She also said that being in their group, she recognized that most the of the women had something in common. The thing that they all had a common was that they have all experienced some form of abuse, sexism, and racism. They had different kinds of violence in different ways. She also said that they don’t hate men even though they have experienced some type of violence from men. She said they are not what you would call “modern day” feminist. She said that they support their men and work beside them to stop violence. She said that their goal is to live free of violence and take full control of their lives.

The post Field Note from Amatlán: Women for Women appeared first on Center for Global Education and Experience.

One of my fears of studying abroad in Mexico was the fear of being lonely. I was coming to a country where I didn’t know anyone. I couldn’t speak the language, and I was not sure if my two years of Spanish classes in college was going to work for me. I knew that there were students from my college coming as well, but at that moment, I had never met anyone of them. I had a lot of anxiety about things not going well. I reached out to Ann, the director here in Mexico to talk to her about some of my concerns about studying abroad, and she was kind enough to connect me with a student that had study abroad here in Mexico the previous semester. The student was very kind as well and she reassured me that everything was going to be okay once I arrive in Mexico.

My time here in Mexico has been amazing. The students here that I am studying abroad with are amazing. Maddy, Angelica, Bella, Savannah, Henry, Antonio, Towns, and Tori have all made my study abroad experience an amazing experience so far. It is great to have people that you can talk and relate to in other ways given that you all are going to the same experience. We have all been taking care of each other in ways that we know how to. For example, when I had some stomach issue during our trip to Amatlan, one of the students Angelica made me some tea and kept checking on me to make sure I was doing good. The same happens for other students as well. When someone is going somewhere cool, they extend the invitation to everyone in the group. We are like a family here.

The staff here at Casa Augsburg are more than amazing. Ruti our RA is amazing. She goes above and beyond to meet our needs. She takes everyone needs very seriously. I can say that I feel comfortable going to her about my needs. I am sure the other students feel the same way. Ann and the other professors have been amazing as well. Sometimes everyone has lunch together after class and just talk about what is going on at the moment. Everyone has been respectful of each other’s boundaries. We haven’t had a problem with that. The staff are open to questions that we have, and they are always more than happy to answer them. Having lunch together with everyone and talking has been one of my favorite parts of my study abroad experience.

My both my host parents in Amatlan and Cuernavaca is amazing people. My host parents in Amatlan were what I would call “cool” they had tacos stand at night and we would go there to play cards and board games with my host sister and host brother. They even told us to invite our friends to the stand. We invited our friends, and they had an amazing time. One of my favorites parts of the homestay was walking our host brother to school in the morning and picking him up after school. My host parents here in Cuernavaca are great people as well. My host mom makes sure that my dietary needs are met, and she encourages me to ask for things when I need them. My host dad is amazing as well along with my host sister. We have been to their family gatherings, and I had a great time meeting the extended family. I love both families.

In conclusion, I am having a great time in Cuernavaca Mexico! The people are very welcoming, and I have never been made to feel like I don’t belong. A word that I have used a lot in this post is “amazing” because that is the only way that I know how to describe my experience. There are days that can be a little hard because I get home sick sometimes, but I am enjoying the experience at the same time. I am making new friends and family here and it feels great to have that community of people who are supportive and loving.

The post Student Ambassador Post: Creating Memories, Family, and Friends Abroad! appeared first on Center for Global Education and Experience.

This event has coincided with Augsburg CGEE’s launch of our newest semester program out of the city Derry-Londonderry, titled “.” On this program, our students learn about the history and cultural context that led to the Troubles as well as the peacemaking process. With all of the excitement, our two students on the inaugural program were able to attend the and meet Bill Clinton and shake his hand. The following post is written by Daisy Vinkemeier (Augsburg ’26). Thanks to Daisy for the reflections and the photos!

“Thanks to my internship with Northwest Cultural Partnership, Lauren Schenk [CGEE student from Macalester College] and I were able to attend “A Tribute to John Hume & David Trimble, 1998 Nobel Peace Prize Laureates” where former President Bill Clinton was the keynote speaker. The event reflected on the impact of Hume and Trimble, specifically in regards to the peace process here in Northern Ireland. The event MC was Bronagh Gallagher, and included performances by Roe, Neil Hannon, Phil Coulter, and the Ulster University Choir. It also had speeches by Nicholas Trimble (David Trimble’s Son), and Rachel Hume (John Hume’s granddaughter), and two young students.

Former President Bill Clinton gave an excellent keynote speech in honor of Hume and Trimble. He had spent time with them while they were alive and you could see the sadness of their passing in Clinton as he spoke ().

Following the event, we had the opportunity to shake hands with Clinton and grab a photo with him. Truly a life changing and inspiring event that I will treasure forever. I am very thankful for the opportunity to attend this event and thankful to Augsburg’s��study abroad program for all of my opportunities here in Northern Ireland.”

The Hume Foundation (approximately 1:10:05 is when Former President Bill Clinton begins his address).

The post Augsburg CGEE Students Meet Bill Clinton in Northern Ireland appeared first on Center for Global Education and Experience.

On Being Asian-American in Mexico

Mina Himlie, Augsburg class of ‘23

I am used to being the only Asian person in the room. I grew up in a small town that is 99 percent white, including my parents. I don’t have many Asian friends, and even in the Twin Cities I haven’t made any Chinese American friends. Before the start of my study abroad semester, I didn’t give much thought to how being Asian would affect me while I was in Mexico because I didn’t think being surrounded by a different race would be any different from my everyday experiences. Through the Global Twin Cities Scholars program I learned about Mexican culture and realities in terms of immigration. Between the cultural preparation and the completion of my intermediate level Spanish classes, I felt as prepared as I’d ever be to spend a semester abroad in Mexico. Even so, I was not prepared for the different way that Mexican culture constructs race and racism.

In my time in Cuernavaca, I have not seen many people visibly of Asian descent. I have, however, been asked many times by strangers where I came from. On its own, this is usually an innocuous question. People can usually tell that my friends and I are tourists, whether that’s from our English, our accents, our clothes, or something else, and they like to make small talk. However, it starts to come across as racist when they don’t accept “the United States” as an answer to their question.

One day I was out with my sister (also Asian) and her boyfriend (white). They were looking at some notebooks, and I was making small talk with the vendor. He asked where we were from, and I replied that we were from the U.S. He shook his head and pointed at my sister’s boyfriend. “He’s from the United States,” he said in Spanish, “but where are you two from?” This was the most direct anyone has ever been with me about my ethnicity. It also reveals something that we have talked a bit about in classes and discussions with Mexican students from International House: the popular idea in Mexico that only white people are from the U.S.

I could go on with countless other incidents like this one when people have asked, “Where are you from?” and gotten an unsatisfactory answer, so they proceed to ask, “Where are your parents from?” and “Where were you born?” until I answer with an Asian country, but I won’t. It is clear to me that when they ask, “Where are you from?” what they really want to know is my ethnicity. If it was just once or twice, it wouldn’t bother me. But it happens a lot here, possibly due to the social construction of race and racism.

One of the first guest speakers my group received was Dr. Raziel Valiño. She spoke on the topic of the social construction of race and class in Mexico. Dr. Valiño’s lecture introduced us to a phrase that I’ve heard too many times to be comfortable in the discussion of race: “Racism doesn’t exist in Mexico.” She, I , and the rest of my classmates disagree with this sentiment. She explained that because there was a lot of mixing between races in Mexico, the way Mexican culture constructs race is different, and almost everyone is considered “mestizo” or mixed race. So though it might not appear in the segregated way that it exists in the U.S., racism still shows up through colorism and classism.

Because of this mestizo reality in Mexico, it is not generally considered racist to comment on someone’s physical, ethnic appearance the way it is in the United States. Despite knowing this, the number of times it has happened makes me feel frustrated and exasperated. Like a microaggression, intentional or not, it builds up.��

In situations of intercultural communication like this, I feel that the CGEE program does a good job of emphasizing empathy and seeing things from the other culture’s perspective. What I had to remind myself of is that my perspective matters too, and both things can be true. Those strangers might not be intentionally saying racist things, and they still bother me because I interpreted them as microaggressions. They are allowed to bother me, but I’m not allowed to go off on someone for saying something. Being in Mexico, or any new cultural environment, requires self-reflection, not just cultural understanding.

Los Feminicidios

By Mina Himlie

In 2019 there were

10 cada día.

Yo no pude encontrar

More recent numbers,

Pero, does that matter?

No matter what

Hay demasiado.

Son un gran problema aquí en México

But they happen in the U.S. too.

We just don’t have the language for them

Escrito en nuestras leyes.

The United States

Ha declarado una guerra contra las mujeres

With the draft to repeal Roe v. Wade.

But that’s just the most obvious declaration of war.

What about las mujeres indígenas

Who are 10 times more likely to be disappeared

Or murdered.

“Missing” and murdered indigenous women are not missing.

They are disappeared.

What about las situaciones de violencia doméstica?

Las violaciones?

El abuso?

El miedo que sentimos when we walk alone?

Las cosas que hacemos para protegernos��

Without a second thought:

Keys between our fingers

Llamadas con amigos, reales y falsas

Theorizing escape routes

Mirando la mapa��

To be sure the Uber driver isn’t kidnapping you.

All of these things are part of

La guerra contra las mujeres

In both the United States y México.

Pero en los Estados Unidos and Mexico

We are fighting back.

We take to the streets.

We make our voices heard.

And we demand the right to live.

El futuro es feminino

So fuck the patriarchy,

And do it like a girl.

The post On Being Asian-American in Mexico & Student Poetry appeared first on Center for Global Education and Experience.

This is a guest blog post by Augsburg alum Eve, who writes about her global journey to Ireland.��

I ended up in Ireland because of Ernest Hemingway.

Let me backtrack a little. I’m writing this post from my partner’s family home in County Tipperary, supervised by his dog, Poppy. Ashley’s a Tipp man, born and raised, and I live (when I’m not out here) in the attic of house that once belonged to the playwright Kate O’Brien. I think my room used to be the servants’ quarters. I work running phones for a dental practice by day and copyedit, run a horror-themed column, and publish my own work by night.

I’m only out here in Tipp with Poppy because I met Ashley at an English Department shindig at the University of Limerick, which is where I did my MA in Creative Writing, and I only did that because I’d studied abroad in Dublin, which I’d only ended up doing because when I was 20, I became obsessed with James Joyce, and I’d become obsessed with James Joyce because of reading Dubliners, which I’d picked up because it was included on Hemingway’s .

That, of course, and the fact that my college made it ridiculously easy to study abroad.

Obviously, there are plenty of barriers still in place for students who want to do erasmus, as it’s called at UL (you have to be able to pay for the plane ticket, and you have to have the freedom from life and work commitments to jet off for a semester or so), but my semester abroad cost the same as staying at Augsburg would have. I had help picking a program that was right for me, accommodating professors, and generally everything I needed.

I don’t remember deciding I wanted to go abroad, exactly, but I remember entertaining the idea enough that I went for the CGEE center, cozily tucked next to the ECHO office with which I was already intimately familiar. I was lucky enough to have a friend who worked there, so I talked to him and ended up, to absolutely no one’s surprise, selecting the Dublin Writers’ Program with IES Abroad.

Before I knew it, I was on a transatlantic flight which, though murderously long, was probably nicer than my great-grandfather’s trip by boat (I did some digging and found the passenger list—it was in 1904, on a ship called the Eturia, that William Flavin came from County Cork to New York).

IES Abroad is a wonderful school, situated in an old post office in Rathmines, Dublin South. I stayed in an apartment above a grocery store and walked down every morning for classes on writing, Irish language (Gaeilge), and Celtic myths and legends. My writing teacher, Stephen, brought us tea and different treats every class, introducing us to jaffa cakes and other Irish delicacies while we workshopped each other’s pieces. We were off weekends and Fridays and encouraged to take advantage of it—as Stephen said: “This is not school; this is study abroad.”

While everyone else spent weekends globe-trotting in Europe, I never left the island. I went to a Finnegans Wake reading group in Sweny’s Pharmacy, spent my spring break exploring Dingle on my own, took weekend trips to Cork and Galway, watched hurling matches, and some days simply walked the city I was rapidly falling in love with.

We went on a writers’ retreat, which Stephen took great pains to keep secret from us, and I won’t divulge it here, as I (along with everyone else who’s ever been on it), was sworn to secrecy, but it was a divine weekend, probably my favorite of the whole trip.

When I returned, I knew I’d be back to Eire, but my plans were murky. I graduated the year after and began to try to manage real life, and Ireland lay in the back of my mind, a dream for later.

2018 was, for many reasons, the worst year of my life, and as it came to an end, I desperately tried to remember the last time I’d been really, actually happy. I realized it was when I went abroad. And so, I gambled on the idea that maybe I could be happy again if I went back to Ireland. I applied to a few grad schools, got into UL, quit my job at a cleaning company, dropped my stuff off at my parents’ house, and got a flight to Shannon.

I held my breath stepping off the plane. Would it be the same? Had my love for Ireland been a product of an idyllic semester, not a true connection? Had I just made the biggest mistake of my life?

I read the word as gaelige on the wall: failte, welcome. Through the fog of jet lag, I felt my stomach settle.

When I emailed my IES professors, asking for a good day to drop by, my Irish language professor, Regina, responded with dates and a promise to put the kettle on. The email began: “Eve—so glad you are home!”

Eve has a digital home at () and is on Twitter��@evetaft_��and Instagram��@e_e_taft��

The post Finding Home: One Auggie’s Global Story appeared first on Center for Global Education and Experience.

Poster Making Session

Date: Friday November 15th

Time: 5-6 pm​

Location: TBD

International students are encouraged to create a poster that represents your home country for a display during our poster day event on Wednesday, November 20th! This is an opportunity to share with the Augsburg community about your home country.��

Experiential Education Workshop: CGEE Edition

Date: Monday November 18th

Time: 2-3 pm

Location:��Hagfors 150A

Speaker: Joe Connelly,��CGEE Experiential Education Specialist

Description: The Sabo Center and the Center for Global Education and Experience (CGEE) present a learning opportunity on CGEE’s distinct experiential education pedagogy. What are the approaches and values that CGEE uses in its experiential education settings, and how might its elements and values be applicable to on-campus teaching and learning? Learn with Joe Connelly, long-time CGEE Experiential Education Specialist and Trip Leader.

Co-sponsored by Augsburg’s Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship and Center for Global Education and Experience.

Dialogue & Food

Date: Monday November 18th

Time: 6-8 pm

Location: Oyate Commons

Description: ISO will have a brave space to talk about issues that are affecting International Students with a panel of current students and alumni.

Chapel talk: “How study abroad changed my life”��

Date: Tuesday, November 19th

Time: 11:30-11:50 am

Location: Hoversten Chapel

Description: Joe Connelly (CGEE Experiential Education Specialist)��will speak in Chapel about how studying abroad in Latin America changed his life, and about the intersection of vocation, place, and social justice.

The Power of Language Tabling

Date:��Tuesday, November 19th

Time: 10am – 3pm

Location: Christensen Lobby

Description:��Power of Language is a tabling event where we will give out shirts while promoting the importance of different languages. It’s a celebration of diversity and respecting our differences. First come first serve! The Study Abroad office will also have a table to answer study abroad questions.

Study Abroad Info Session: Cuba + Costa Rica + Guatemala

Date:��Wednesday, November 20th

Time: 1:00-2:00 pm

Location: Marshall room, Christensen Center

Description:��Are you interested in seeing multiple countries during your study abroad semester? Would you love to learn all about social change and grassroots movements in Central America and Cuba, while also taking Augsburg courses? Come learn about Augsburg’s own semester program “Social Change in Central America & Cuba” on Wednesday, November 20th, from an insider! Drop by the Marshall Room any time between 1 and 2 pm to talk with Joe Connelly, CGEE Experiential Education Specialist, and alumnus of the Central America program who now lives in Managua, Nicaragua.��

Poster Day

Date: Wednesday November 20th

Time: 10:00am-2:00pm

Location: Christensen Center Lobby����

Description: Poster day will share information about the countries international students come from as well as information about studying abroad in those countries.��

Gear & Donut Day��

Date: Thursday November 21

Time: 10:00am – 3:00pm

Location: Oyate Commons

Description: Wear any ISO gear (Lanyard, T-shirt, Sweatshirt, Etc.) and get a treat in Oyate Commons. First come first serve!��

From Tanzania to Namibia: Stories from a Scholarship Winner

Date: Thursday, November 21st��

Time: 3:30-4:30 pm��

Location: OGC 100��

Speaker: Abdul Sharif

Description: Augsburg student,��Abdul Sharif, ’20 (Political Science and International Relations double major) will present about his two study abroad experiences, and the two prestigious national scholarships he won to get him there!

Abdul received a����to study Swahili in Tanzania last fall 2018, and then he won a����to study abroad on Augsburg’s own semester program��last spring 2019. Andrea Dvorak will support his presentation with information about Gilman, Boren and CGEE programs.

Study Abroad/Away Mini Fair

Date: Friday, November 22nd

Time: 11-2pm

Location: Christiansen Lobby

Details: Come learn about the short-term options available for study abroad!��

​Cultural Night​

Date: Friday November 22

Time: 6:00pm – 8:00pm

Location: East Commons, Christensen Center��

Description: Cultural Night is an event hosted by the International Student Organization (ISO) that showcases the cultural diversity at Augsburg University. Cultural Night performances range from musical performances to a fashion show that will showcase the beauty in the diversity of our different cultures. Email iso@augsburg.edu if you would like to get involved.��

The post International Education Week 2019 appeared first on Center for Global Education and Experience.

1.) Where did you study abroad? Why did you choose this location and/or program? How did you hear about the program?

I studied abroad in Southern Africa and had the honor of visiting South Africa and Namibia. I chose to study abroad through the Nation-Building, Globalization, and Decolonizing the Mind in Southern Africa program because of my interest in politics. I heard about this program through the Center for Global Education & Experience and the MSS office.

2.) What did you learn from this experience?

Of the many things that I learned during my four-months abroad, I would like to highlight learning about the political development in Southern Africa.����For my integrative project, I researched the poor governance in Namibia, and learned that the social, economic, and sustainability issues in Namibia stems from the abuse of power in the government. The research I conducted helped me better understand how government, politics, and law should work with the community in order to better create a fair society for all.

3.) Were there any challenges you encountered and how did you handle it?

One��difficult challenge to grasp��from my experience abroad was the issue of racism.�� Due to my lighter complexion, many local individuals considered me as a white person because of their past history of the liberation struggle from the Apartheid System. Another challenge I encountered was the language barrier. Namibia has 26 different languages and the program prepared me for the basic of one dominant language, Oshiwambo; which was not enough to maneuver around places. The racism I faced was not a threat, it was actually a privilege, but an uncomfortable experience. I handled these encounters by explaining myself and��informing others why it is problematic to generalize. Lastly, for the language barrier, I created flashcards through Quizlet and practiced Oshiwambo with friends or my��co-workers at my internship site.

The post TRIO Student Reflections from Abroad: Erika appeared first on Center for Global Education and Experience.

Arianna was a winner of the Gilman Scholarship Award, a prestigious national scholarship for study abroad. From the : “The Gilman Scholarship Program broadens the student population that studies and interns abroad by supporting undergraduates who might not otherwise participate due to financial constraints. ��The program aims to encourage students to study and intern in a diverse array of countries or areas and world regions.”

The event was co-sponsored by CGEE and American Indian Student Services. Special thanks to Jennifer Simon, Director of American Indian Student Services for additional support for this event!

Auggies – interested in winning a Gilman for your own study abroad? Join us at one of our two special Gilman Scholarship Workshops on campus soon!

Workshop 1:

Friday, Feb 8, 2019

3:30 – 4:30pm

Marshall room, Christiansen Center

Facilitator: Andrea Dvorak

Workshop 2:

Tuesday, Feb 19, 2019

11:00 – 12 noon

Augsburg room, Christiansen Center

Facilitator: Maren Stoddard Mack

Deadline to apply for the Gilman scholarship (for summer, Fall or next year) is��March 5.

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