Global Engagement Across Campus

Though CIS is the hub of all things international at OU, every college at the University of Oklahoma pursues global engagement activities, from faculty research to study abroad programs to courses and events. Below, we have compiled some highlights of global engagement across campus during the 2021-2022 academic year.

This year, the Gallogly College of Engineering has facilitated three successful study abroad programs: two in summer session and one in the fall semester. The two summer programs took place in Clermont-Ferrand, France (pictured below), and in Arezzo, Italy, and the fall semester program is currently running in Arezzo. These programs brought a total of 52 students abroad in the College of Engineering's first cycle returning from COVID-19. Additionally, eight of the students participating in this fall's program are international UWC/Davis Scholars, reflecting the College of Engineering's large population of international students.

The College of Engineering has also been working hard to give students a well-balanced cultural and academic experience. This past year, the college has focused on creating cultural activities, where applicable, that promote themes covered in the classroom.

Several students in Gibbs College programs in architecture and interior design spent the spring 2022 semester studying abroad in Rome, Italy. There, they took courses while also engaging with Rome's leading architects and participating in site visits. Students wrote about their experiences for the Gibbs College blog, and even made a video of program highlights, all of which can be viewed at gibbs.oucreate.com.

Another story of global engagement comes from architecture professor Dave Boeck, who in summer 2022 developed an art workshop in the Barefeet Theater in Lusaka, Zambia. The two-week workshop involved teaching 20 local youth art techniques, including sketching, watercolors, acrylics, stitchery and beadwork. The workshop ended with a weeklong exhibit and sale of the students' work. Boeck, who has been traveling to Lusaka regularly over the last decade, recently published a book of sketches (pictured above) related to service-learning trips he has taken there with students. Read more about his work at https://gibbs.oucreate.com

Price College of Business facilitated a number of study abroad programs over the past year, including the MBA Global Business Experience to Arezzo, Italy (spring break 2022), the MBA Global Business Experience in Israel, EMBA in Energy international module in the Netherlands and England, Global Business Experience in France, Global Business Experience in Spain, Global Business Experience in Arezzo, Global Leadership in Arezzo, and the EMBA in Energy international module in London (all summer 2002). The Executive MBA in Energy programs are unique in that they include a one-week international residency in which students take two courses, learn from the international business experience of their instructors and participate in company site visits.

Price faculty have also been active on the global stage. William L. Megginson, professor and Price Chair in Finance, presented at international conferences in France, Italy and Iran (online). Agnes Cheng, professor of accounting and Dale Looper Chair in Accounting, currently plans and organizes international conferences for the Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance and Journal of International Accounting Research and serves on the board for the Asian-Pacific Conference on International Accounting Issues. And Pradeep Yadav, W. Ross Johnston Chair and professor of finance, is member of the Strategy Committee of the European Finance Association, associate editor of British Accounting Review, and is a research fellow at the Center for Financial Research, University of Cologne, Germany. He also spoke at conferences in India. In July 2022, he completed a research project formally funded by the National Stock Exchange of India, jointly with faculty members from London Business School and Queen Mary College at the University of London.

This summer, professors Lloyd Cracknell and Judith Pender led a group of students on an exploration of Renaissance Theatre in Italy. They traveled throughout the country from Rome to Venice with an extended stay at OU in Arezzo. On the final night, the students presented a performance at the Rooney Family Center, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Monastery: Performances and Musings by Students from the Helmerich School of Drama, directed by Pender and Cracknell (group pictured above). The performance featured scenes and monologues from Shakespeare and Goldoni, presentations on dramaturgy and design, poetry by Petrarch performed in Italian, and original poetry inspired by a dramaturg’s experiences in Italy. The standing-room-only crowd consisted of colleagues from other OU programs in Arezzo, OUA staff and their families and friends, and new friends from the city of Arezzo. The group was delighted by the enthusiastic response, and noted that it was the first time a mayor of Norman attended a performance of OU students in Italy!

Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences, Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education, OUHSC Colleges of Nursing and Allied Health, Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication, Honors College, College of Atmospheric & Geographic Sciences, College of Law