IEW Brought the BU Community Together With Wide Range of Events Offered
Each year, International Education Week (IEW) celebrates BU’s global engagement, and this year’s IEW had more than 30 events on offer for students, faculty, and staff across campus – including globally at several of BU’s Study Abroad locations. From international film screenings to research seminars to cultural events, there was a wide range of both academic-related and community building events on tap.
Global Programs applauds the BU community’s commitment to creating opportunities for exchanging ideas, building community, sparking curiosity on global issues, and broadening worldviews.
A Noteworthy Multidisciplinary Panel Discussion
Global Programs and the Center on Forced Displacement welcomed more than 150 faculty, staff, and students – in-person and virtually – to an IEW panel discussion on “The Growing Crisis of Forced Displacement.” Globally, in 2022 more than 100 million people were estimated to be forcibly displaced, according to UNHCR.
A multidisciplinary panel of BU experts discussed the drivers of forced displacement, international human rights law, and the unimaginable trauma that many displaced people experience. They also explored why humanizing forced displacement is critical and how art activism can play a role, as well as what STEM innovation and research can contribute in the face of humanitarian crises, whether acute or prolonged.
Each faculty member shared their expertise as it intersects with the issue of forced displacement. Leonella Castellano Thiébaud, Director of BU Geneva Programs, moderated the discussion. Earlier in her career, Leonella spent six years at the UNHCR, where her role involved legal and operational responsibilities in various duty stations such as in Russia, Central Asia, and the MENA region.
View the full recording of the panel event here.
Faculty Presentations
“The solution to this humanitarian crisis is complex, but the basis must be grounded in protecting and restoring human dignity – the premise that every human being has intrinsic and equal worth and value, no matter what borders they cross.”
– Sondra Crosby, MD, Associate Professor of Health Law, Ethics & Human Rights at the School of Public Health
“There is no concept under international human rights law of an illegal migrant or an illegal person. Human Rights law rests on the core notion that no human being can be illegal anywhere in the world.
– Susan Akram, Clinical Professor of Law and Director of BU Law’s International Human Rights Clinic
“We [the U.S.] have a variety of interests that get in the way of human rights protections…We need to do a much better job of thinking about what is forcing people to leave and to begin to take action that is preventative.”
– Tim Longman, Professor of Political Science and International Relations; Director of the BU Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs
“We’re seeing increasing issues around data access and privacy. The most recent case, but not the only one, was in the Rohingya camps in Bangladesh where the data of the vulnerable communities was first captured without consent and then shared with the Myanmar government, the vary government that is involved in persecuting these people.”
– Muhammad Zaman, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor, Founding Co-director, Center on Forced Displacement, Professor, Dept. of Biomedical Engineering and International Health
“Another wonderful activist performance art piece is Teeter-Totter Wall by architects Ronald Rael, Virginia San Fratello, and the Mexican Art Collective Colectivo Chopeke. They installed 3 bright pink teeter-totters at part of the border wall separating Mexico & New Mexico. For about 40 minutes children from both countries got to share a moment of play at this site of violence.”
– Carrie Preston, Director of Kilachand Honors College, Professor of English and Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies, and Founding Co-director of the BU Center on Forced Displacement
Photo courtesy of Carrie Preston
Some Cultural Events and 6 Different Languages Represented
The Center for English Language & Orientation Programs (CELOP) hosted several different cultural and community building events during IEW, which brought together not only CELOP students but also students across BU.
The event “International Tongue Twisters” featured CELOP students and staff trying to say popular tongue twisters in their native language. Mandarin, Arabic, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and English could be heard throughout the CELOP lobby during this fun challenge.
CELOP also hosted an international fashion show or traditional dress showcase with eight countries represented, including five Saudi Arabian students with variations on their thobe, keffiyeh, and farwa bisht. Each participant explained what they wore and where it comes from.
CELOP students also volunteered at the nonprofit Community Servings during IEW and boxed more than 4,400 meals for Boston area families who are helped by the nonprofit.
Global Feature
Global Feature
Global Feature
