Mariana Garcés Grajales (BA communication studies, '22) participated in the USAC Reggio Emilia program in spring 2022 and shares what she learned.

Join us for the sixth installment in our Global Alumni Spotlight Series featuring alumna Meembo Changula (MS urban and regional planning '10).

Chelsea Prestien, an alum who earned a BA in journalism and mass communication in 2013, took a chance to study abroad which has made a lasting impact on her ever since.

Join International Programs for the fifth installment in their Global Alumni Spotlight Series featuring alumnus Geoffrey D'Souza (BS political science ‘01). D'Souza will talk with UI International Programs Associate Provost and Dean Russ Ganim about his experiences living and working in Ukraine and how the country has changed over the course of the past 20 years.

The recipient of multiple student funding research awards while at Iowa, Briana Smith attributes many of her successes to her time at Iowa and the support she received from faculty and staff mentors.

In a celebration of perseverance, accomplishment, and their collective experiences, international students at the University of Iowa held an affinity graduation ceremony on Thursday, May 12.

Megan Lederman, who received a BA with a double major in English and creative writing (emphasis in Native American literature) and French from the University of Iowa in May 2019, is the winner of a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship Award to Vietnam for 2022-23.

Trained as a chemical engineer both in India and in the United States, A. K. Parameswaran (MBA ‘89) entered the University of Iowa MBA program in 1987 with a prestigious scholarship. Currently holding an executive management position in India’s agricultural industry, Parameswaran says he has used what he learned from the Iowa MBA almost every day in his career over the past three decades.

As an undergraduate student at the University of Iowa, Elisha Smiley (BBA accounting ’01; MAc accounting ’02) studied abroad in Dijon, France. It was a semester filled with learning to adapt, meeting new friends, and expanding her worldview, but perhaps most impactful was the connection she made to food. This connection helped to spark a career change from accounting to that of pastry chef and instructor.

Lauren Smiley (BA journalism and mass communication; Spanish ’05) is an award-winning freelance journalist (https://laurensmiley.contently.com/) based in San Francisco, California. Writing for publications such as WIRED, The Atlantic, and The New York Times, Smiley feels her study abroad experience in Guadalajara, Mexico, as an undergraduate at Iowa helped her build skills that contribute to her success writing in-depth magazine stories—namely navigating the arrival in a new community with grace and resourcefulness. We caught up with Marion, Iowa, native Smiley to learn more about her study abroad experience and how it shaped her personally and professionally.

The generosity of Drs. Joel and Sandra Barkan led to the creation of a scholarship for undergraduate students to study abroad in non-Western countries. Both Sandra (PhD comparative literature ’84), formerly comparative literature professor and associate dean of the Graduate College, and her late husband, Joel, political science professor, had distinguished careers at Iowa and helped to infuse international education on campus.

Deja Williams (BA journalism and mass communication ’20) reflects on the importance of her global internship in London—an experience that expanded her worldview and opened new doors to professional opportunities, including her current role as public relations coordinator at Cashmere Agency.