By Peggy McInerny, Director of Communications

UCLA International Institute, December 1, 2022 — The International Institute led a busy International Education Week (IEW) 2022 at UCLA from November 7 to 10, bringing together faculty, students, alumni and staff to commemorate the value of international education and exchange.

Supported by 27 campus sponsors, IEW offered 38 in-person and virtual events that spanned cultural performances, career events, fellowship information sessions, academic skills training, martial arts workshops and lectures on global issues. Slightly more than half of all IEW events were held in person — the largest percentage since the coronavirus pandemic began in early 2020.

The campus favorite “Bruins Around the World” evening spilled into the following week and attracted a large audience at Carnesale Commons on November 15, where performances by diverse student cultural associations were enthusiastically received.

The signature event of the week, the UCLA Global Conversation, was held at the UCLA Faculty Club on November 10. Cosponsored by the Los Angeles Consular Corps, the gathering made a tangible connection between the global priorities of foreign nations and the work their diplomats do at the local level. In a sign of its global importance, Los Angeles is home to 97 consuls general, who collectively comprise the third largest consular corps in the world.

The well-attended public diplomacy event began with introductory remarks by Dean of the LA Consular Corps and Consul General of Romania Cosmin Dumitrescu, followed by a brief address by UCLA Chancellor Gene Block on “Global Challenges, Local Responses.” Vice Provost Cindy Fan then moderated a panel discussion on the same topic with Consuls General Marcela Celorio (Mexico), Julie Duhaut-Bedos (France), Jane Duke (Australia) and Ahmed Shaheen (Egypt).

Programs that explored international careers and life abroad constituted a big percentage of IEW programming, including respective events hosted by the U.S. State Department, the Burkle Center for International Relations and the Peace Corps. Among additional career events were an online international career fair (preceded by a prep session) organized by the UCLA Career Center and a conversation with alumni living abroad hosted by UCLA Alumni Affairs. And for the first time ever during IEW, the UCLA Undergraduate Research Center offered skills training sessions in research proposal writing, interviewing and quantitative skills.

Informational meetings on FLAS and Fulbright research and study fellowships were complemented by two events in support of international scholars and students held by the Dashew Center. The UCLA Study Abroad Office also hosted an event on study abroad programs on the Hill during the busy student lunch hour.

Cultural events at IEW 2022 included film screenings by the UCLA Film & Television archive, workshops on the martial arts of Lau and Naginata at UCLA Recreation, a reading and Q&A with Czech author Bianca Bellová at UCLA Library, a Medleys a cappella performance at the Fowler Museum and a concert by Decoda, the affiliate ensemble of Carnegie Hall.

Lectures on global issues also took place throughout campus, including two that addressed health equity and human rights (David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA) and Ebola and vaccination research in the Democratic Republic of Congo (UCLA Fielding School of Public Health), respectively.

Many events at IEW 2022 explored the history, culture and societies of countries worldwide, including programs on singing in Arabic language teaching (Center for World Languages), the suppression of the Uighur population in China (Asia Pacific Center), binational and bilingual children’s experience of the education system in Mexico and the U.S. (Latin American Institute), Filipino contract labor abroad (Center for Southeast Asian Studies), the recent Israeli elections (Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies), and the emergence of Black identity in Puerto Rico (Program on Caribbean Studies).

The UCLA International Institute thanks all its cosponsors for their support of IEW 2022, as well as all university units that organized events. We look forward to commemorating international education and exchange with you next year!