Photos celebrating the 3rd global experience in International Education Week
Seeing your language shine on the field. Rababa, one of the oldest stringed instruments, in the Wadi Rum desert of Jordan. Class photo in front of the Parthenon in Athens, Greece. These moments are experienced and captured in photographs by University of Iowa students who have studied abroad and by international students studying at Iowa.
They are among the winning images selected for the 2022 annual international education program photo contest as part of International Education Week — so that greater awareness can inspire more of the UI community to experience international education.
UI will celebrate International Education Week on 14-18. A joint initiative of the US Department of State and the US Department of Education, International Education Week celebrates the many ways international education and exchange opportunities prepare people for community building in both national and international settings.
In addition to this year’s photo contest winners, colleges and units across campus will also host several events and information sessions throughout the week, reflecting on the different work done across campus to promote global engagement.
“International Education Week provides our campus with an opportunity to promote and celebrate Iowa’s global engagement,” said Russell Ganim, III, associate program director and dean of international education. “Historically, UI’s global mission has extended from research opportunities in international destinations to recruiting thousands of international students and providing study abroad programs for countless Iowa students.”
A total of 2,063 international students studied or did post-graduate research at the UI in the fall of 2022. They came to Iowa from 106 countries and foreign countries. In addition, in the 2021-22 academic year, more than $520,000 was awarded to study abroad students, with 527 participating study abroad programs in 47 different countries.
Another important event that will take place in the lead-up to International Education Week will be the official dedication of the International Ballroom at the Iowa Union Memorial, which will present a permanent document of international flags to the home countries of all UI international students and scholars.
“The International Ballroom recognizes Iowa’s proud history of hosting international students and scholars,” Ganim said. “It also celebrates the many contributions to the UI community, while underscoring Iowa’s role as a leader in global education.”
The dedication will take place from 4:30 to 6 pm on Friday, November 11. UI President Barbara Wilson will welcome the remarks.
International Education Week is also a time to honor the recipients of UI’s annual International Impact and Global Student awards.
International Impact Award
The UI International Impact Award recognizes alumni and other individuals with significant connections to Iowa who have made significant international contributions.
Andy Code, mentor of the Impact Award and longtime supporter of Iowa, is the recipient of this year’s International Impact Award for his global efforts as an advocate for social justice and human empowerment.
Code holds a bachelor of arts degree in finance and an MBA from Iowa, and is the founder, partner and chairman of Promus, a private equity investment firm. Code’s continued and passionate concern for his wealth and happiness to work for the benefit of others inspired him and his wife, Susie Code, a graduate of the UI College of Nursing, to establish the Code Family Foundation in 1997. The foundation helped. young students receive quality education in their home countries and many students have been sent to study in the United States.
The writing of code by Haitian youth enrolled in the Tippie College of Business Institute for international business students inspires and promotes Iowa’s educational mission. She supports several organizations that are involved in health justice in marginalized communities around the world. And Codex’s family has made major contributions to the UI Carver College of Medicine and the College of Nursing, supporting health impact programs in Nigri and Eswatini, as well as pediatric care and a healthier future for children in several remote Ugandan communities.
Global Student Awards
The Global Student Awards recognize one undergraduate and one graduate student who are leaders in international education on campus or abroad. The International Award Programs and Student Life Division was established in 2019.
This year’s Global Student recipients are Ryann Hubbart, undergraduate student (international studies and economics) of Clinton, Iowa; and Frankline Matanji, a PhD student (journalism and mass communications) from Mumias, Kenya.
Hubbart’s extensive engagement includes the Critical Language in Jordan Scholarship, serving as a UI Arabic Peer Tutor, working as a social media and marketing specialist at the UI Center for Language and Culture Learning, and involvement in the Translate Iowa Project.
“Ryann is among the best and most globally engaged students I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with,” says nominator Ari Ariel, director of International Studies and Associates in History and International Studies. “The Division of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures, as well as the international and Arabic studies programs,” have benefited immensely from Ryann’s presence. We simply cannot do without it.
Matanji’s research focuses on Kenyan media outlets and how they make on-air decisions when covering Chinese investment in Kenya. T. Anne Cleary Dissertation Award, a Stanley Award for International Research, Graduate Care Corps Grant, served as a member of the International Student Advisory Board, as a member of the English Language Proficiency and Teaching Working Group; and as a peer mentor as part of the iPeer program, which supports other international students.
“Frankline is a leader and mentor to international students at the University of Iowa,” says her nominator, Melissa Tully, professor and associate director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. “He works both formally and informally to support international students and is particularly dedicated to sharing experiences and opportunities with other students from sub-Saharan Africa.” It epitomizes the qualities of the Global Student Award.
Ganim presented the International Impact Awards and Global Student Awards in a special WorldCanvass program on November 7.
Photo Conflict Winners
Hawkeye Ghost
FIRST PLACE
Sun Club
Name: Mariana Ruiz Nascimento
Graduate Student, College of Education, Literacy, Culture and Language Education
Country: Uberlandia, Brazil
Sun India, Old Capitol
“A few months ago, I found a club at university called the Sun Club. There is a group of people who go to the Old Capitol to watch the sunset. It’s simple, you just go and sit. I am so impressed with his work every day to the degree. The group emphasizes the importance of building connections and allowing yourself a break from studies to get to know what’s around you. This is a photo of my friend Sophia, one of the companions, watching the view.
SECOND
Lights in the Dawn
Kun Zhou, PhD candidate, journalism and mass communication, from Iowa City, Iowa
Lights on at Dawn at the Adler Journalism and Mass Communication Building
“When I was studying one day in the first week of this semester, I saw the dawn scene and I took this beautiful moment. I saw my familiar language in the light, which allows each international student to learn his own language. The academic environment at UI is wonderful and varies like a lighted light in the dawn. It is in my memory.”
Exploring Local Culture and Traditions
FIRST PLACE
Music Lessons in the Desert
Ryann Hubbart, a fourth-year student studying international studies and economics from Clinton, Iowa.
Host country: Jordan
Program: Critical Language Scholarship for Arabic, summer 2022
Music lessons in the desert, in Wadi Rum, Jordan
“I had a wonderful musical experience during my two months in Jordan, from one month of violin lessons in the city of Amman to group lessons of dabke (a dance style in the Levant). When we took the road to Wadi Rum, we heard a man singing with the rababa, a bowed string instrument. Before I left , I went to play ‘Mary the Little Lamb’ in the rababa.
SECOND
Kapchorwa: House of friends
Isabella Zortman, a fourth-year international studies student from Avoca, Iowa
Host country: Uganda
Program: SIT Global Development Studies, spring 2022
Kapchorwa: A family of friends, in Kapchorwa, Uganda
A Sebei woman sorting beans in front of her family’s shop in Kapchorwa during exportation.
Student Use
FIRST PLACE
Athens
Jordan Jones, Noblesville, Indiana studies classics
Host country: Greece
Program: Greece: Ancient Commentaries, Modern Eye Program, summer 2022
Athena was born near the Acropolis in Athens, Greece
Students organizing a reaction to the rising spire of the Parthenon in Athens, which shows the birth of Athena.
SECOND
Despising the seven miracles
Dean Omar, a sophomore from Ames, Iowa, studies health and human physiology
Host country: Jordan
Program: SIT CONSULTING and Humanitarian Action in Jordan, summer 2022
Of the Seven Wonders, the Rock of Jordan
“On a weekend excursion we were able to visit the ancient City of Rocks, known as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. This photo was taken on a rock just across from the red rose carved out of the rock that many know to be the “face” of the Rock. And of course, there is a Jordanian flag flying behind me too.