While most of the players on the Iowa men’s golf team hail from such Midwestern states as Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri, freshman Voramate Aussarassakorn’s home is much, much farther away - Around 8,541 miles.
Aussarassakorn is from Bangkok, Thailand, and he has been on the links since he was 8 years old.
Since that young age, golfing in the United States has always been his ambition.
No students have registered for the University of Iowa’s Overseas writing program in Cuba 10 days before the deadline, despite program managers opening its gates to graduate and non-degree seeking students.
Leslie McNelius, a study-abroad adviser and one of the pioneers of the UI’s program in Cuba, said she was not too concerned because she expects a lot of last-minute applications.
“We’ve had quite a few email and phone inquiries from potential participants in the last weeks," she said. "There’s an info session coming up … so some may turn in apps after that."
In her bicycle trek across Japan last month, Iowa City resident Michelle Gin met a number of hibakusha, the Japanese term for survivors of the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the U.S. in 1945.
One woman, a volunteer emergency aid worker, recounted to Gin her experience of rushing to the hospital just after the bomb dropped. The streets were filled with burned bodies and hands reached for her ankles for help as she walked by.
By Anna Theodosis, The Daily Iowan
9/10/2012
University of Iowa students may now study politics and economics on an international level without the hassle of studying in two different departments.
The new international-relations major, which is housed in the Political-Science Department, began this semester. Officials said the major was created in response to interest among students.
It's too big for one venue, so a new exhibit on the University of Iowa campus will be presented in both the Old Capitol Museum and the Iowa Memorial Union.
The exhibit, "Napoléon and the Art of Propaganda," features more than 120 drawings, prints, painting, sculptures, manuscripts, medals, and other objects. The exhibit opens Sept. 13 and continues through Jan. 29 in the Pentacrest Museums Gallery for Arts, Humanities, and Sciences in the Old Capitol Museum and in the Black Box Theater at the Iowa Memorial Union.
Even though two years have passed since the start of the Arab Spring, experts on Arab affairs in America are still trying to spread awareness about the revolution.
“The Middle East remains critical, as it is where we spend our biggest amount of money, is the source of lots of our oil, is the place where our main ally [Israel] is, and is a source of terrorism that has affected our shores,” said University of Iowa law Professor Adrien Wing.
The goal of the University of Iowa’s WiderNet Project is to deliver educational information to underserved places, so it’s fitting that the 500th eGranary Digital Library was installed this summer in the remote island village of Lamu, a UNESCO World Heritage Site off the coast of Kenya in East Africa.
UI President Sally Mason, fresh off a summer visit to China and Taiwan, highlighted the growing reach of UI as what she called a “global institution” Tuesday at a luncheon hosted by the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council.
Mason shared slides from the UI delegation’s trip to Asia, a 10-day visit in July designed to strengthen current relationships with alumni and partners in Hong Kong, Taipei, Beijing and Shanghai, and establish new ties.
About 700 first-time international students came to Iowa City this fall, bringing the international student total to about 3,700. These students represent 111 countries and are a part of every field of academic study available at UI.
For these students, making the move to Iowa City can be nerve-racking, exciting and, at times, a downright daunting experience. For 41 years, the University of Iowa Friends of International Students has worked to make the transition to America easier by connecting international students with members of the Iowa City community — called friends — to help the students feel more comfortable away from home and introduce them to American culture and customs.
University of Iowa officials are expecting to see a rise in international students in the graduate programs this fall, a trend that exists at the national level.
Graduate College Dean John Keller said the UI expects somewhere close to a 12 percent increase in the number of international students in its graduate programs.
Nationally, there was a 9 percent increase in the number of international students attending graduate schools, according to the Council of Graduate Schools.
University of Iowa freshman Yaqiong Wang came from China to Iowa City with competing feelings of nervousness and excitement. Now thousands of miles from home, she signed up for new UI program in hopes of finding her place on campus.
“I was a bit nervous,” she said. “We have many things different, different culture. If I signed up for this program I can make friends with American[s], which will help me to understand their culture and also practice my English.”
The UI’s first Friends and Neighbors Day program paired more than 200 international and U.S. students over the summer as pen pals. The partners were introduced to each other at an event Sunday.
Despite an already robust international student population on campus, University of Iowa officials are still looking to bridge the gap between the UI and other countries by hiring someone to focus specifically on recruitment in Asia.
The UI Admissions Office hired Ying Xu over the summer to take on the role of assistant director of Admissions for China and Asian recruitment. Xu told The Daily Iowan she was particularly excited to start working because the Chinese market of students is growing.
A group of University of Iowa professors and local media professionals hope that their summer trip to Turkey was a cornerstone to building further relationships with educational institutions and media entities in that country.
Led by David Perlmutter, director of the UI School of Journalism and Mass Communication, the group visited Turkey June 15-24 to learn about Turkish media and culture. The trip was hosted by the Niagara Foundation, an organization that promotes global fellowship. The Niagara Foundation paid for all costs except for airfare to and from Turkey and the registration fees, which attendees paid for individually.
Special to the China Post --University of Iowa President Sally Mason led a delegation to Taiwan last month, meeting with several local university heads to discuss interschool cooperation and to promote international cultural exchanges.
There is a long history of Chinese students at the University of Iowa, Mason said, adding that two education ministers from the Republic of China — Yen Cheng-hsin and Wu Ching — graduated from the university.
After spending half of her college career at the University of Iowa studying overseas, Michelle Gin already is an extensive world traveler with a global perspective.
Next month, though, she will see the world from an entirely different vantage: atop her bicycle. The Iowa City woman is one of about three dozen activists from around the world set to pedal across Japan in August on a two-week, 300-mile trek that will take her from Nagasaki to Hiroshima in the name of global peace and the end of nuclear proliferation.
