COVID-19: present and future
A panel of experts from Boston College and Boston University discuss the global pandemic and the policies to address it.
Boston College’s commitment to global engagement lies at the core of its educational mission. The Jesuit, Catholic liberal arts tradition, fostered through the links between Jesuit scholars across the world since the sixteenth century, is in its essence international. Our path for the future is expressed in the university’s Strategic Plan:
"Boston College commits itself to increasing its presence and impact through increased outreach to international students, recruitment of faculty with international backgrounds, and the development of programs that promote global cooperation.”
The BC Global Report recommends concrete strategies and initiatives to achieve these goals.
BC Global Engagement
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International Tailgate Party
On Saturday, October 19th, before the football game against NC State, international students—in particular freshmen—and visiting faculty were hosted by BC friends and alumni Lauren and Bijan Sabet at a typically American tailgate party. The intention of this first ever International Tailgate was to introduce some of BC’s international friends to these festive, jovial, and uniquely American parties that precede football games. On game days, regardless of the weather, many groups of family and friends dressed in team colors, enjoy informal, fun meals served from the trunks (or tailgates) of their cars. The International Tailgate party gave some of our international friends and family a memorable taste of game-day culture!
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Global Engagement Portal
This year, Boston College is excited to bring the Global Engagement Portal back to campus for eight weeks, reaching a larger audience, incorporating shared meals and cultural events, and connecting to new sites in Puerto Rico, Kenya, Bangladesh, and beyond. A Portal is an immersive, high-definition internet video connection that joins two small rooms across the world to provide a sense of spatial continuity, allowing participants to engage with one another naturally, at real-life size, making eye contact.
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Big Questions: Immigration
Immigration has become a flashpoint around the world and the faculty experts at the Lynch School of Education are trying to understand complexities surrounding families and children. Dean Stanton Wortham, Prof. Brinton Lykes and Associate Professor Mariela Paez explain their research and work with immigrant families.
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BC partners with Jesuit Refugee Service
Boston College will collaborate with the Jesuit Refugee Service—a Rome-based international Catholic relief and human services organization operating in more than 50 countries—to develop programs and activities aimed at improving the quality of life and care of refugees and forcibly displaced persons in areas of the world where JRS is involved.
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Arrupe Chile
Each year, more than 100 BC students participate in the Arrupe Program. They travel to parts of Central America and the Caribbean to humbly encounter, hear, and respect the stories of the people from the countries they visit in their own words. Through these stories, our Arrupe Chile group was able to better understand the complex realities of a country where the income of the top 10% is 26 times higher than the poorest 10% of the population.
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Truth and Memory
Participants in the Boston College seminar to Chile and Argentina discuss their experience. The seminars offer an immersive professional development experience, but also an invaluable face-to-face connection with their colleagues in different schools. Participants in the most recent seminar came from the departments of English, philosophy, history, sociology, communication and physics.
Spotlights from Colleges, Schools, and Centers
International Engagement
313
international faculty and research scholars
1878
enrolled international students
50%
of undergraduate students study abroad
246
students participated in an international service trip