CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — International Education at Illinois staff members often find themselves fielding this question from students: “do you run study abroad programs?”
Even though the answer is no, Yun Shi — the director and founder of IE — uses the question as a nifty opportunity to shift the conversation toward the programming IE does offer to students. At a university with about 15,000 international students from across the globe, students who do not or cannot study abroad can encounter some of those same global experiences without leaving campus.
“We can inspire you to go study abroad,” Shi said. “Or we inspire you to study abroad on campus. You are sitting with people from all over the world right here.”
IE’s mission centers on “the three Es,” according to Shi: embrace world cultures and global perspectives, engage international and domestic students and empower all students with global learning opportunities through co-curricular activities and programs. Those programs include monthly Tastes of Culture events featuring international snacks and cross-cultural activities, the weekly Intercultural Dialogue series and the Global Engagement Lounge, the immersion program GLOBE, as well as break programs for students staying on campus during holidays.
This year’s Homecoming theme — Illinois. Together. Forever. — shares a special resonance with IE, which is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its founding this year. IE’s programming is dedicated to all students, both international and domestic, and a packed schedule of events during Homecoming Week aims to bring those students together to learn more about each other and their respective cultures.
“We’re all different, but we’re all the same,” Shi said.
Two annual events on the Homecoming Week calendar will take place Tuesday with the International Day Celebration Lunch followed by the Global Talent Show and Dinner. Wednesday will mark a special Homecoming edition of IE’s RECHARGE program, in which students can make DIY crafts, eat snacks and chat with other students, alumni and IE staff.
Finally, the celebration week concludes Thursday with past and present students and members of the GLOBE program participating in the Alumni and Students Panel and networking event at the Asian American Cultural Center. The panel represents both a culmination of the decade of success International Education has achieved and a sampling of the transformative learning and experiences that occur when students from different backgrounds begin to understand each other and share common ground.
“I truly believe that if we are able to be in the same room with each other and learn from each other, this world would be a better place,” Shi said. "When we put the students in the same room, they start this conversation that’s really transformative.”
International Education Homecoming Events:
- September 10
- Homecoming International Day Celebration Lunch — Tuesday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., University YMCA, 1001 S. Wright St.
- September 10
- Homecoming Global Talent Show and Dinner — Tuesday, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., University YMCA, 1001 S. Wright St.
- September 11
- IE Homecoming edition of RECHARGE — Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., University YMCA, 1001 S. Wright St.
- September 12
- IE 10th Anniversary Alumni and Students Panel — Thursday, 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., Asian American Cultural Center, 1210 W. Nevada St. (dinner provided)