Jeff Lai, a student from Taipei City, Taiwan, and a recipient of a 2024 Global Student Award, is a dynamic force in the realm of international education at the University of Iowa. As a PhD candidate in higher education and student affairs, Lai weaves global perspectives into campus discussions and brings recognition to his peers by presenting collaborative projects at national and international conferences. His work extends beyond the classroom, engaging with the International Student Advisory Board (ISAB) to address issues impacting both domestic and international students. Driven by a commitment to social justice and collective transformation, Lai believes that meaningful change requires aligning our actions with our values. His passion for fostering an inclusive academic community underscores the vital role of international education in creating a more interconnected and empathetic world.
Learn more about Lai's engagement with international education below.
In what ways are you involved with international education?
International education takes place in my academic life in two different ways. First, I introduce international perspectives into local, domestic settings. Being a teaching assistant in several courses, I broaden the curricula and discussions by bringing in concepts and issues from international contexts. Also, I encourage students to explore the world. Second, I bring local collaborations at University of Iowa to national and international stages. I work with University of Iowa students on local and international topics related to higher education, pedagogy, and educational practices. The products of these collaborations were presented in national and international educational conferences since I believe that our fellow students at Iowa deserve recognition on scholarly platforms.
What are some other campus or community involvement activities you’ve been a part of?
The International Student Advisory Board is the community I am primarily involved in. This is a group of undergraduates and graduate students who work consistently and persistently on improving issues and structures on the campus. Most issues that we have been addressing affect not only international students, but also domestic students and scholars.
What is the most valuable thing you have learned through your international education experiences?
The most important thing I learned through my international education experiences is the alignment of consciousness and practices.
I believe that diversity, equity, and inclusion are crucial values for a democratic society. I also believe that by adopting a lens of decolonization, anti-authoritarian, and social justice, human beings can create a more just society. While these are the goals for most educators and scholars, it is difficult to be conscious about our own involvement and to put these ideas in everyday practices. There are multiple external and internal pressures, such as academic demands and the hierarchical social structure, that push us into competition, becoming selfish and reducing our collaboration. Under this circumstance, we may unconsciously behave in ways that discredit the contribution and efforts from other people, which belies our commitment to social justice.
Working with international and domestic students, faculty, and staff, on international and social issues, I learned that there are hopes and cultural practices that promote collaboration and transformation. I learned the Ubuntu philosophy that emphasizes interdependence among members of communities. I learned the practices of mindfulness from East and Southeast Asian philosophy that stresses the alignment between one’s behaviors and commitment. I learned critical consciousness from a South American philosopher discussing that individuals must recognize the power, social structures, and culture, when empowering transformative actions. I also learned the concepts of democracy and agency in Western philosophies that enable each individual to contribute to social change.
I believe, by integrating these different philosophies into our advocacy, we can make meaningful transformation. Through dialogue within diverse cultures and self-reflection, we can use our own actions to create an uplifting environment.
Please share a message with your fellow classmates about the importance of international education.
I think the biggest challenges for international students are scholarly production and adjustment. For the former, we may not be familiar with the use of academic languages, the types of scholarly outlet, and supports and tools for research and assignments. For the latter, we encounter concerns and problems about financial support, social network, housing, transportation, work-life balance, values, and life commitments.
However, the major issue behind these challenges is that we normalize the culture of competition. This competition makes us fight on how fast we can resolve these challenges, make adjustments, and race for scholarly outputs. We downgrade ourselves into competing against each other, against students of color, and against domestic students. Diverted into this competition, we fail to see these challenges as structural issues that should be resolved in a collective manner. Spending most of our time competing, we forget to devote time and effort to making collective advocacy and transformation. Further, we keep the challenges and the structure unresolved for the future, incoming students.
Perhaps what we need to do as individuals is to be mindful about our own practices and involvement in our community and in the larger global society. We can make change, but any change needs to start within ourselves. We need to realize that we, as individuals or a collective, have the agency to enable transformation.
Therefore, when addressing the challenges of scholarly production and adjustment, there needs to be ways that diminish the elements of competition. Rather than racing against each other in academics and adjustment, we can collaborate and achieve community uplift. Most importantly, we have known the values of collaboration, community, and justice for a long time in our cultures, and they should not be erased when we enter a scholarly environment. Let’s work together and create a better future!
What are your future academic or career goals?
My short-term plan is to keep collaborating with fellow students on conference and journal publications so the academic world recognizes the excellent contributions from students at the University of Iowa. My long-term goal after graduating from Iowa is to go back to my home country and take a faculty job. I want to introduce global themes in my teaching, identify how they reflect on local issues, and discuss how we can improve them. I also want to work with the local community on grassroot activities, which empowers students and community members to solve these local issues.
The combination of being an educator and an activist reflects the responsibilities that scholars should take. I believe that by teaching, which includes verbal instruction and behavioral illustration, students will realize that being a scholar is not only a profession, but a commitment toward the community, society, and the world.
International Programs (IP) at the University of Iowa (UI) is committed to enriching the global experience of UI students, faculty, staff, and the general public by leading efforts to promote internationally oriented teaching, research, creative work, and community engagement. IP provides support for international students and scholars, administers scholarships and assistance for students who study, intern, or do research abroad, and provides funding opportunities and grant-writing assistance for faculty engaged in international research. IP shares their stories through various media, and by hosting multiple public engagement activities each year.