Since we're nearing the start of the fall semester, I wanted to present a few excellent opportunities for students to get in touch with an international perspective at Penn State.
Rooms Filled with Resources
Being an International Politics major and an avid language learner, I am constantly seeking methods by which I can keep in contact with the world that surrounds me. Naturally, I go about this process in just as many ways as possible. I look at it as a win-win way to pass the time; these resources assist me later in the classroom, and, as the New York Times put it best, also allow me to "join the conversation." Consequently, I don't have to feel so bad when I get completely distracted from impending class assignments.
Pattee Library has become a sort of hub away from HUB in the quest for what I've termed the Local's International. There are a number of international resources within the Pattee that I use on a daily basis. In two years at Penn State, they have provided me with endless entertainment, yet a hunger for more. One room I frequent is the News and Microforms Library on the ground floor. Including its physical and database formats, the N&M Library boasts a collection of more than 1,700 newspapers from 92 countries in 48 different languages. Included nearby is a collection of 30 news magazines, with several of them imported from overseas.
A read through the Times, a few articles from
Le Monde, and one skim through an issue of
Le Nouvel Observateur later, I almost forget that I have other resources at my disposal. Advancing further through the room, students can also borrow headphones to view television news in Hindi, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, and English, based on
this schedule.
It was by chance that I sat down in Stacks 2a one day across from a considerable section of Arabic scripts--history, poetry, fiction novels, Arabic-French-English dictionaries, and even learning texts. Of course the work I'd initially come there to complete would be left undone for several hours, but what I quickly discovered was that the entire floor was loaded with literature from French to Spanish to languages I'd never even seen before. Fascinated by another international discovery, Stacks 2a developed into a new and decidedly wonderful place to study, read, and explore.
Another room filled with international resources is the Arts & Humanities Library. Here, I whet my cultural appetite with a long list of foreign language films, CDs, and personal interest periodicals on site.
Involvement
Whenever possible during the semester, I attend the International Coffee Hour, which is organized by the Office of Global Programs at Penn State. Every Thursday from 3:30-5:00 p.m., students gather in the lounge on the 5th floor of the Boucke Building. Almost every week, students and organizations of a different country or ethnicity host the event, and all who attend enjoy a sampling of the coffees, teas, cuisines, and music from each respective part of the world.
Often, the sessions serve as a way for international students to build confidence in their English-speaking skills, but with a gathering of people from such wide-ranging ethnicities and backgrounds, there's no telling who or what carries the conversation each week.
Plenty of
organizations at Penn State motivate an international perspective, as well. Despite this being my third year as a student at Penn State, I am certain to attend the Involvement Days in Alumni Hall during the first week of the semester to see what else I might like to join this year.
Additionally, the Office of Global Programs has several
unique opportunities to get involved, including the Global Ambassadors, Peer Advisers, and Conversation Partners programs. Having participated as a
conversation partner, I know it serves as a particularly beneficial program for the culturally curious. I was matched with Mohamed, a fellow Penn State student from Oman. I was glad to offer what help I could in English, and in exchange he offered lessons in Arabic, his native language.
Late last spring, Mohamed invited me to Arabian Nights, an extraordinary celebration of great music, art, dance, and, of course, food. I found myself at a table of Omani students describing with excitement how a celebration such as this might look in the Arab world. Surrounded by conversations in Arabic, performers dancing the dabka, a fashion show of each nation's traditional dress, and a playlist of rhythmic sing-alongs from the region, I couldn't help but smile.
The
Education Abroad Fair approaches in the fall semester, as well. Rather than trying to get an idea of where to spend a semester abroad online, take advantage of the fair, when coordinators and past participants from many of the programs gather in one room. This can really help to get a better idea of where you like, the program you like in the place that you like, and even when and for how long to go.
Another fall event full of multiculturalism is International Education Week. For those in the College of the Liberal Arts who are seeking international career opportunities, this week also holds a fair to present various options for volunteering, interning, and working abroad.
These come paired with what I would guess to be hundreds of opportunities, events, and resources I've yet to explore at Penn State. Throughout the semester, be sure to check for the dates and more upcoming events on the
University Office of Global Programs homepage.
How have you achieved your Local's International?
Dr. Sophia McClennen, Professor of International Affairs and Comparative Literature, Center for Democratic Deliberation Affiliate Faculty, and author of Colbert's America: Satire and Democracy, appeared as a guest on the Wall Street Journal "Live Lunch Break" on Thursday, October 4, 2012. Dr. McClennen talked about the power of political comedy and elections as it relates to the Rumble 2012: Stewart vs O'Reilly debate. 
