Fall 2018 Newsletter It’s a team effort With the new focus at Ferrum College on the internationalization of the campus, there has been a lot of activity. In July Dr. Patricia Sagasti Suppes took over the directorship of International Programs, changing her position with Spanish to half-time. Prof. Jacob Smith created our new logo, which you can see in the header of this newsletter. We are grateful to him for his creativity and hard work. We also owe thanks to Diana Yates, who put together the template for our new web page, and to Stephanie Perdue, who created a new brochure for Study Abroad. Our International Program Advisory Board, made up of Dr. Chris Mayer, Dr. Melvin Macklin, and Dr. Tim Durham, has been an essential support team. The work this past summer to get things ready for the fall semester, especially for welcoming the incoming international students, would not have been possible without the assistance of senior Leya Deickman. This fall we have international students from more than twelve countries, and we are working to make sure they have the best possible experience at Ferrum College. To that end, we have a new Cultural Ambassador program that teams returning domestic students with new international students, establishing mentorships and lifelong friendships. They have been key to helping our new students adjust to studies and life at the College. We want to extend a special thank-you to Dr. Aimé Sposato, who understood the vision of the program and has backed it from the start, and to Dr. David Johns for his constant and enthusiastic support.
Check out our new web page!
Summer and Fall Activities
International Programs had a table at PAWS this summer, and Dr. Sagasti Suppes was able to talk to interested parents and students about planning study abroad within the students’ academic programs.
We had our first-ever International Student Orientation, with new students and Cultural Ambassadors connecting and learning about how to succeed at Ferrum College.
Several students traveled to Greensboro in September for the North Carolina Folk Festival, where they saw acts from around the world and ate great food.
International students participated in the inauguration of Dr. David Johns.
During Hispanic Heritage Month, Ferrum College participated in the JOI (Joy of InterAction) Hispanic Culture Competition, competing in several categories with other colleges and universities in the region. We had a coordinated effort that combined International Programs, the Spanish program, and the Theatre program and we had huge success. We won in the category of Typical Dress, in which Theatre professor Rebecca Crocker and her students created a Honduran-style dress out of recycled materials. Based on videos of our students dancing, singing, and on the little house they decorated, we also won the popular vote and the judges’ prize. We look forward to continuing to participate in this event in the future. Thanks to Carolina Smales, founder of JOI, for all her hard work creating this contest.
Dr. Johns joined us in making pupusas, the national dish of El Salvador, as part of our celebration of our win in the Hispanic Culture Contest.
Dr. Sagasti Suppes is completing a year of training with the NAFSA Academy for International Education, as part of the National Cohort.
We’re proud of our students!
Congratulations to Helen Ogbole, Class of 2020, who was accepted to our exchange program in Sejong, South Korea. Helen will spend the spring semester studying Computer Science and Korean language and culture. We wish her the very best in her endeavors and we know she’ll be a great representative of Ferrum College abroad.
Congratulations to Tamiah Palmer, Class of 2019, who was accepted as a Peace Corps volunteer. Tamiah will start her training and service in Guyana in July of 2019. We’re proud of her accomplishments and look forward to hearing about her adventures.
Alumni Spotlight
Caitlin Fournier, Class of 2012, who studied in Spain through Ferrum College and who earned an M.A. in the Universidad de Alcalá in Madrid, is now teaching English as a Second Language in Brazil. You can read about Caitlin in our web page.
Congratulations to Delana Smith, Class of 2015, who studied in Spain and Mexico while at Ferrum, for finishing her M.A. at Old Dominion University in International Studies with a concentration in Foreign Policy and a Certificate in Women’s Studies. You can read about Delana in our web page.
Faculty International Summer Projects Dr. Jennifer Irish, Assistant Professor of Spanish and Coordinator of the Spanish program:
“This summer, I collaborated with Dr. Juan Carlos Galeano on his documentary film, "El Río," which provides an intimate look at the relationship between the indigenous people of the Peruvian Amazon and the land that surrounds them. Focusing heavily on the importance of rivers, the film is told from the perspective of diverse indigenous people and highlights contrasting ideologies between native Amazonian and Western cultures. For the past several years, including this summer, I have aided Dr. Galeano with writing and translating subtitles for the film from Spanish to English. In general, Amazonians speak very poetically about their relationship with the land, and our challenge has been faithfully translating that sentiment from one language to the next.”
Dr. Allison Harl, Associate Professor of English and Coordinator of the English Program: “First, we spent several days exploring Paris, France, the city of lights. A few highlights were the Gustav Klimt digital art museum, a riverboat tour on the Seine, and the Père LaChaise Cemetery where we found the graves of Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, and Frédéric Chopin. My world literature students will enjoy my photos from the ancient Greek and ancient Egyptian art galleries from our visit to the Louvre. We traveled for a few days through the fjords of Norway from Oslo to Bergen by railway, ferry, and bus. Our favorite place was Aurland, a small non-touristy village off the beaten path where ancient Norse myth, Viking lore, and trolls are still very much alive in the local culture.
Then we flew into Stockholm, Sweden and drove three hours north to Falun to see where our greatgrandmother Eda (pronounced YEDda) emigrated from by herself on a boat when she was 15. The sun never sets there in midsummer-- it gets just a little dusky for a couple hours. We came back to Stockholm where we saw ancient rune stones, ate Swedish meatballs, and swam in a bay in the middle of the city. We walked the clean, friendly streets in one of the most eco-conscious cities in the world.”
Dr. Chris Mayer, Associate Professor of Recreation Leadership and Coordinator of Ecotourism: “I work as an affiliate with Colorado State University's Center for Protected Area Management. This summer I worked with staff of Brazil's Anavilhanas National Park to design interpretive materials as part of their public use program. This has been an ongoing collaboration between USAID, the USDA Forest Service and Brazil's Chico Mendes Institute for the Conservation of Biodiversity.”
Dr. Delia Heck, Associate Professor of Environmental Science. Dr. Heck spent her spring semester sabbatical traveling back and forth and working in Haiti on a solar energy project. She will go back in May with her E-Term students to continue developing her projects there. You can read about her important work in this article by Leigh Prom in the Franklin News-Post.
Upcoming in Spring of 2019 We have big plans for this spring! The biggest news is our new physical space, which will be built in the front of Stanley Library, next to Hart International Plaza. We will have an atrium with information about programs, a meeting space, and an office where students can come for orientations, for consultations about study abroad, and to learn about our programs. In January we will welcome new international
students from Ghana, Nigeria, South Korea, and Canada. In February we will have a Study Abroad Fair, and will also celebrate Peace Corps Week. March will bring us a focus on international education and the Intercultural Festival. In April we will collaborate with Recreation Leadership on their Earth Week initiatives. And in May we look forward to hearing reports from our E-Terms in England and in Haiti. Throughout the semester we will also hold scholarship essay workshops, study abroad informational tables, promote a push to internationalize the curriculum, and run a faculty development series focused on short-term faculty-led programs. We will also continue to work with the Admissions office to develop strategies for attracting new international students to our campus. Keep an eye on our web page for news of our events, and look for another edition of this newsletter. We look forward to continuing to grow and learn as we work together to internationalize our campus. For questions about International Programs initiatives please contact Dr. Sagasti Suppes at psuppes@ferrum.edu.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Best Wishes in the New Year!