From November 18 to November 22, the Global Youth Advancement Network (GYAN) at Michigan State University took part in International Education Week, a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education that celebrates the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide. This initiative is part of the effort to promote programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn and exchange experiences.

GYAN hosted three signature events as part of IEW. The first was an info session on “Documenting Global Learning through the Spartan Experience Record.” Presenters Sarah Schultz (Director, My Spartan Story), Shannon Logan (Coordinator, Spartan Experience Record), and Opal Leeman Bartzis (Assistant Dean for Global Learning and Innovation & Executive Director of Education Abroad) discussed the Spartan Experience Record (SER) as an opportunity for students to collect, document, and verify all of the experiences that shape their education, from research opportunities to leadership positions to on-campus employment. The panelists shared ways for advisors, coordinators, and instructors to add relevant global learning activities into the record, and taught students how to use the SER to enhance their transcript and resume.

GYAN also hosted a faculty panel discussion on the importance of providing MSU students with a global education. Panelists Siddharth Chandra (Professor, James Madison College & Director, Asian Studies Center), Cholani Weebadde (Associate Professor, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources), and Sara Bano (Assistant Professor, College of Education) discussed the question of why it is important for MSU to provide students with a global education, and how the benefits of global learning need not be restricted to the "mobile few" who study abroad. The panelists shared advice on how global and intercultural dimensions can be intentionally integrated into the formal and informal curriculum for all students, optimizing opportunities for students' intellectual advancement and development of intercultural competencies by incorporating global into campus-based curricula.

GYAN also helped sponsor the "Attached to the Soil" exhibit at Global Festival. This exhibit showcased a sample of Professor Peter Glendinning's photographic portraits created during his Fulbright service in South Africa in 2019. Each portrait was the result of collaborations between Professor Glendinning and two others, both a young person whose soil-related metaphor conveyed their sense of some aspect of the nation that they will inherit from past generations, and a portrait subject who shared stories from their lives related to the metaphor. 

GYAN was also proud to share an exhibit of visual letters created by children from Taiwan as part of the Michigan 4-H Children’s Visual Letter Art Exchange in collaboration with MSU Extension. This educational program allows children from across the world to gain a better understanding of each other’s everyday lives through visual letters.

In addition to organizing these events, GYAN played a key role in planning International Education Week (IEW) at MSU. The team continued to facilitate the planning committee made up of faculty and staff from various campus departments to coordinate and promote activities to highlight the value of international engagement and its crucial contribution to MSU’s mission of advancing knowledge and transforming lives. Thanks to the committee's efforts, IEW provided an opportunity for MSU to showcase how every Spartan can embrace becoming a #GlobalSpartan.

This year’s IEW saw participation from a wide range of MSU colleges and departments, including International Studies & Programs, MSU Libraries, the College of Education, the Broad College of Business, the College of Music, and others.

We would like to extend our gratitude to all the panelists, moderators, and organizers for their engaging discussions. A heartfelt thank you also goes to the planning committee, the participating units across campus, and everyone who contributed to making this year’s International Education Week such a success!