Category Archives: Announcement

Announcement, Events

Highlights of the 2018-2019 Global Focus: Year of Ireland

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Professor Jim Pierson, Global Focus Coordinator this year, and his wife, Kathleen Pierson, standing on property that has been owned by her mother’s maiden family (the Smyth’s) since circa 1830, in County Armagh, Northern Ireland.

Global Focus Year of Ireland highlights the Opening Picnic with a great Irish menu on August 28; discounted tickets and free transportation to Pittsburgh Irish Music Festival; a screening of the Emmy-award winning documentary “Ireland’s Great Hunger & The Irish Diaspora;” a music recital by John O’Conor, an internationally acclaimed Irish pianist; and “A Reflection on Women’s Reproductive Rights, Considering Faith-Based Perspectives and Recent Ireland Historic Changes.” Plan to attend!

We are excited about our campus activities celebrating the Global Focus Year of Ireland, as well as our study-abroad trip planned for May 2019.  Opening convocation and picnic on August 26th kicks off with a “Six-Piece Flock of Riveting Celtic Music” from the popular local Irish group, the Wild Geese Band.

To align our taste buds to the Emerald Island, a great Irish menu will be served at the opening picnic, to include baked salmon, corned beef and cabbage, traditional Irish coddle, and vegan Guinness stew, along with traditional Irish sides and desserts.  All good!

Chatham students will be able to receive discounted tickets and free bus transportation to the famous Pittsburgh Irish Music Festival at a nearby venue.  This event attracts over 20,000 visitors over a three-day weekend and celebrates Irish music, culture, language, and other neat things, such as an Irish dog show.  Plan to attend!

To highlight just a few of the events planned during the fall for the Year of Ireland, on October 25th, we will present a documentary of “Ireland’s Great Hunger & The Irish Diaspora,” an Emmy award-winning documentary (48 minutes) and discussion by documentary Chief Historian, Dr. Christine Kinealy, Professor of History and Director of Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac University.

We will also have John O’Conor, an internationally acclaimed Irish pianist and former director of the Royal Irish Academy of Music, present a recital on campus, at 11:30 am, Tuesday, November 6th.

One other key event will be “A Reflection on Women’s Reproductive Rights, Considering Faith-Based Perspectives and Recent Ireland Historic Changes.”  This will be an important co-sponsored event by Global Focus, the Interfaith Council, and Chatham’s Women’s Institute.  In 1983, The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland, which strictly limited abortion, was adopted by a referendum vote of Irish citizens by a 2 to 1 majority. Fast forward to 2018, where the repeal of the 8th Amendment was adopted by a referendum vote of a 2 to 1 majority of Irish citizens.

However, in the United States, efforts to further limit women’s reproductive rights are in full display in 2018 as seen in political campaigns, legislative and judicial activity, and as an issue in the supreme court nomination process.  Thus, the issues of women’s reproductive rights are ripe for reflection, in context of faith-based perspectives, and in comparing and contrasting global perspectives between Ireland and the United States.

Stay tuned for more exciting updates on Global Focus activities during the Year of Ireland!

Announcement, Immigration

The importance of maintaining immigration status

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The importance of maintaining immigration status

While studying in the United States, it is important to follow the rules and regulations for your visa category.

Your student status aligns with your primary purpose in the United States: to study. If you do not follow the regulations for your student status, you risk losing your student status in the United States (termination).

Actions that may lead to termination include, but are not limited to,

  • working without authorization;
  • taking less than full-time course load without authorization;
  • failing to make academic progress;
  • and failure to report a change of address;

Failure to maintain status can lead to serious consequences, such as accruing “unlawful presence.” The accrual of unlawful presence may lead to deportation, and a 3-10-year or lifetime ban on entering the United States.

On August 9, 2018, USCIS updated their policy regarding when “unlawful presence” begins to be counted. If you fail to maintain your student or exchange visitor status, you will begin to accrue unlawful presence immediately.

If you are an F-1 student, you have 60 days after the program end date on your Form I-20,  to leave the United States. Failure to depart within this grace period could adversely impact your ability to re-enter the United States.

Always remember to talk with your designated school official (DSO) if you have any questions about maintaining status while studying in the United States. The Office of International Affairs sends monthly reminders on maintaining status.

For more information, visit the Maintaining Status page on Study in the States website (https://studyinthestates.dhs.gov/) for information and tips to help you maintain your status.

Additional information:

If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Emory at the Office of International Affairs:

k.Emory@chatham.edu  |  412-365-1388

Announcement, Deadlines, Opportunities, Research, Teaching

Fulbright US Student Program 2019-2020

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The Fulbright 2019-20 US student program is open! Please see https://us.fulbrightonline.org/applicants/getting-started

Through this program, recent graduates can research, study or teach abroad.  There are over 2,200 awards available for 2019-20, an increased number of English Teaching Assistant (ETA) placements and an increase in Master’s degree program placements.

If you have graduated (undergraduate or graduate study), or will graduate by spring 2019, you can apply. To help you get started, please review the archived information sessions available at  https://us.fulbrightonline.org/applicants/information-sessions

Chatham’s on campus Fulbright application deadline is September 10, 2018.  Please see the below timeline and checklist for further information.

April 2018:

Online application opens.  View awards by clicking on specific countries at http://us.fulbrightonline.org/countries/regions

April-May 2018:

  • Thoroughly read Fulbright website
  • Review differences between ETA (English Teaching Assistant) grants and Research/Study grants
  • Research your country and Fulbright commission (either grant). Carefully consider the profile of countries. Keep up with current events in the country.
  • Research your topic if you are applying for a Research grant; discuss your research topic with your academic advisor and department for ideas and input.
  • Begin networking and start looking for affiliations (names and universities) if you are applying for a Research grant. Make initial outreach to university abroad.  If you are unsure about how to approach universities, request assistance from your academic advisor, department and/or Fulbright Program Advisors (FPAs)
  • Work on your language proficiency (register for summer classes and/or self-study)
  • Look for opportunities to strengthen your candidacy. Become a language partner for the English Language Program.
  • Be in touch with FPAs to schedule advising appointments.

Summer 2018

  • Update your CV/resume
  • Start drafting statements for application
  • Fill out your personal details on the application
  • Start looking for language reference writers; continue language study
  • Think about your recommenders and reach out to them.
  • Follow up contact with the university abroad as necessary, secure affiliation letter
  • Request university/college transcripts (unofficial is okay) from all schools attended in US and abroad
  • Share first drafts of your essays with FPAs by July 16 (or earlier)

 August 15, 2018, Deadline to share revised draft statements with FPAs /Fellowship committee for feedback before campus deadline

September 10, 2018, Campus Deadline.  You must submit final drafts of your statements at this time and list your recommenders, language, etc.

September 17-21, 2018 On campus interviews with Fellowship committee. (exact days/times TBD). Campus committee evaluation completed.  (FPAs upload form to Embark system).

Applicants will be able to make additional revisions to application post-interview.

October 9, 2018, 5 pm EST.  Online application system closes at 5:00 P.M. EST.

Late January 2019. Finalists announced.

March-May 2019. Fulbright winners announced by country.

If you are interested in applying for a Fulbright grant, and for support in the application process, please get in touch with Karin Chipman, kchipman@chatham.edu or Chris Musick, cmusick@chatham.edu.

Announcement

Global Focus Year of Indonesia: Ecological and Human Diversity

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By Greg Galford

Global Focus Coordinator

Assistant Professor of Interior Architecture

The Global Focus country of the year for 2017-18 is Indonesia. This is due to the ongoing relationships that Chatham has had with the country for several years. Over the past few months, a series of activities have been planned for the upcoming year that should give students and faculty a basic understanding of the place. Indonesia is a country of 260 million people, making it the fourth largest country in the world. Being comprised of 17,000 islands and being the world’s most populous Muslim country attest to its importance. It is currently the sixteenth largest economy in the world and a major exporter of natural resources and manufactured goods.

The ENG 105 courses will be using the book, Supernova, by author Dee Lestari. She is a well-known singer and author within the country and her books are best sellers. This book presents unique characters outside the norms of traditional Indonesian society and is set within upscale modern Jakarta. Ms. Lestari will be visiting with Chatham students through a Skype discussion in November.

Global Focus will be presenting the film, The Peace Agency, by Sue Useem, in December as part of the Women’s Film Series. The director will be at Chatham that day to participate in a discussion about the film.

An event to showcase the music of Indonesia will include a presentation of the gamelan orchestra at the University of Pittsburgh. This event is currently being planned and a date and venue will be announced soon.

The Office of Student Activities is planning a badminton event for the fall or spring semester as it is the national sport of Indonesia.

Various faculty presentations regarding the history, culture, and art of the country are currently in the planning stages.

We hope to host the Indonesian ambassador on Chatham’s campus in the spring. Coordination is now under way for that event.

The Global Focus website is now current with Indonesia events. Please check that for further details

Announcement, Deadlines, Opportunities

Apply for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program

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While applications for 2018-19 Fulbright grants are due October 6, 2017, it’s not too early to start thinking about applying for 2019-20 grants.

What is the Fulbright U.S. Student Program?

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program provides grants for individually designed study/research projects or for English Teaching Assistant Programs.  A candidate will submit a Statement of Grant Purpose defining activities to take place during one academic year in a participating country outside the U.S.  For details see https://us.fulbrightonline.org/

During their grants, Fulbrighters will meet, work, live with and learn from the people of the host country, sharing daily experiences. Through engagement in the community, the individual will interact with their hosts on a one-to-one basis in an atmosphere of openness, academic integrity, and intellectual freedom, thereby promoting mutual understanding.  Grant lengths and dates vary by country. Please consult the specific country summary for details.

Who can apply?  

Applicants for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program include:

  • Recent graduates: Graduating seniors and recent bachelor’s-degree recipients have some undergraduate preparation and/or direct work or internship experience related to the project.
  • Master’s and doctoral candidates: Graduate-level candidates must demonstrate the capacity for independent study or research, together with a general knowledge of the history, culture, and current events of the countries to which they are applying.

For more information,  please contact Chatham University Fulbright Program Advisers:  Karin Chipman kchipman@chatham.edu  or Chris Musick cmusick@chatham.edu.

Announcement, Deadlines, Opportunities

Open Competition for New Fulbright ETA Awards in Brazil – February 2018!!

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Just announced:

Open Competition for New Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Awards in Brazil – February 2018!!
Special application open May 2, 2017- July 14, 2017

With funding from the Brazilian government, the Fulbright Brazil ETA Program is expanded for the Program Year 2017-18 with 76 additional grants to be offered.   A special open application period will be held from May 2 to July 14, 2017.  The deadline is Friday, July 14 at 5:00 pm Eastern Time.

To be eligible, applicants must be a U.S. citizen and hold a bachelor’s degree by July 14, 2017.  Additional requirements/preferences for this program include:

  • Must available for the full grant term: mid-February to November, 2018.
  • Cannot be residing in Brazil for more than three months in the 12 months prior to the grant start. Exception can be made for language immersion program enrollment.
  • Proficiency in a Romance language at the intermediate level (equivalent to 2-years college level study) is required at the time of application.
  • Experience working in an educational environment, specifically with classroom teaching or leadership is strongly preferred..

Persons who applied for a Fulbright U.S. Student Program in the fall 2017 but did not receive a grant offer for 2017-18 are also eligible to apply for this opportunity.  In this case, candidates will create a new application account in Embark with a different email address and complete the full application—respond to all questions, revise and upload new essays, request new Reference Forms (2 are required for this competition), request a Foreign Language Evaluation in one of the required languages, and upload the most recent transcript(s) of all degree level course work.  However, the Campus Committee Interview/Evaluation will not apply.

For further information after May 1, please refer to the Brazil Country Description.  (link to http://us.fulbrightonline.org/countries/selectedcountry/brazil)  If you have specific questions about this opportunity, please feel free to contact Jody Dudderar (jdudderar@iie.org, 845-212-5565) at IIE. Please note there is a separate application for this award that will be found in the country description. Applicants must apply through the appropriate portal to be considered. 

Chatham University encourages students and alumni from all disciplines to apply for a Fulbright grant and hope that you will consider submitting an application. Chatham students and alumni, for support, please contact the Office of International Affairs, internationalaffairs@chatham.edu.

Announcement, Education Abroad

Congratulations 2017 study abroad scholarship recipients!

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We are pleased to recognize the following Chatham students who are recipients of the following study abroad scholarships:

Vira I. Heinz Program for Women in Global Leadership – Kelly O’Donnell (Ireland), Carina Stopenksi (South Africa), and Maria Taylor (Morocco)

Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship – Sivan Nizan (Costa Rica)

Glenda Rich DeBroff ’60 Memorial Scholarship  – Eden Bloom (Spain)

Theo Colborn-Rachel Carson Endowed Scholarship Award for Environmental Studies – Sivan Nizan (Costa Rica)

Sally Mercke Heym ’63 Memorial Award for Cross Cultural Understanding – Jacqueline Litz (Russia)

Lorin Maazel-Rachel Carson Scholarship Award for Environmental Studies – Sivan Nizan (Costa Rica)

When will you study abroad?  For more information about study abroad options, scholarships and the study abroad process, please contact internationalaffairs@chatham.edu or visit us at the Office of International Affairs in Falk Hall, lower level.

 

Announcement, Events, Reflection

REFLECTING BACK AND SPRINGING FORWARD

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The 2016-2017 academic year has been marked with exciting international events at Chatham. Here are a few highlights of events and programs that the Office of International Affairs (co)-organized.

International activities and programming

Global Mixer Spring 2017

Students and staff played the Fruit Basket game in Spring 2017 Global Mixer. There was so much fun and laughter. The event also kicked off the newly-created International Student Ambassador Program.

Fall 2016 Global Mixer featured students’ poster presentations about their countries, some of which included India, Venezuela, Vietnam, and Britain.

International Student Ambassadors, Arief, Bandar, Xinran (Echo), Issareeyaporn (Eve), Laura, Bholika, and Jing (Katherine) posed for a picture in front of the Chatham Pond. The #YouAreWelcomeHere video created by students reached thousands of people on Facebook. It was a timely message during the time of heightened anxiety among international students and parents after the election.

The Conversation Partner Program paired or grouped close to 100 students of different backgrounds in fall 2016 and spring 2017 for conversations and cultural exchanges. Many friendships were formed. In this picture are students participating in one of the Conversation Hours, organized by the English Language Program.

In this picture were students from the English Language Program and Chatham Semester during the Spring 2017 International End-of-Term Celebration. In the coming year, the OIA will capitalize on the English Language Program and Pittsburgh Pathways to attract more international students to Chatham and Pittsburgh. Also, congratulations to our 15 international students from 8 countries who graduate this term! Good luck to you all and please stay in touch with us!

Global Focus

The Global Focus Year of Canada culminated on Tuesday April 18 with the International Higher Education Summit, co-organized by the President’s Office and Global Focus. The Summit brought together university presidents, scientists, and leaders from Canada, Europe, and the U.S. In this picture, Chatham President David Finegold introduced the first panel discussion on the future of research and innovation with Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, President of the European Research Council; Subra Suresh, CMU President; Patrick Gallagher, Pitt Chancellor; and Chris Howard, Robert Morris University President.

Following the first panel, Professor Justine Cassell from CMU delivered an intriguing keynote speech, discussing some of the challenges and opportunities presented by the rapid development of artificial intelligence.

Another highlight of the summit was when Chatham students Indigo Baloch, Diarra Clarke, Maria Duarte, and Maria Taylor spoke about their passionate involvements in civil society.

Emerging from the summit, a “Declaration of Cooperation” signed by all institutions promised to build partnerships likely to augment the education offered to students at Chatham. The upcoming Global Focus Year of Indonesia (2017-2018) will continue to offer a robust program to enhance students’ global understanding and deepen relations with Indonesian nationals in our region and Indonesian universities. Professor Greg Galford will be the new Global Focus Coordinator. Many thanks to Professor Jean-Jacques Sène for his wonderful contributions to Global Focus in the past years!

Study abroad

Chatham students in Brazil, Maymester, 2015

76 students will have studied abroad by the end of Maymester. Especially, 6 students will have studied abroad for a semester and 34 students will study abroad this summer. With the current momentum, Chatham is on the right track to achieve its goal of having 42% of undergraduate students study abroad by the time of they graduate in 2020.

On April 5, Chatham welcomed Jennifer Connor from the Institute for International Education (IIE) and Shayak Sengupta, a Fulbright grant alumnus, to present information on the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.  Students interested in applying for a 2017-18 Fulbright Research/Study grant or English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) should contact the Office of International Affairs, internationalaffairs@chatham.edu for support.

International partnerships

Visitors from Kansai University, which plans to send 15 students to the English Language Program, starting in Spring 2018. These students will study at Chatham for 2.5 semesters as part of their degree requirements.

The University is also focusing on building strategic partnerships with universities overseas to allow students to study abroad for a longer term (one or several semesters) and create opportunities for joint research and joint degree offerings. Strategic partners will be identified among existing ones as well as new potential partners. These opportunities will provide students with rich international experiences and a comparative edge in the job market upon graduation.

Announcement

GLOBAL FOCUS YEAR OF INDONESIA (2017-2018) at CHATHAM UNIVERSITY: ECOLOGICAL & HUMAN DIVERSITY

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By Jean-Jacques Sene, Associate Professor of History, Global Focus Director

A gorgeous exhibition of students and faculty photographs in a collaborative research project titled “Connecting Through the Lens: Housing and Water Infrastructure in Indonesia” on February 2 in the Chatham University Art Gallery. The exhibition kicked off programming for the Global Focus Year of Indonesia. Picture taken by Greg Galford.

The name Indonesia, from the Greek language “Indian Island” or “Island of India” refers to a captivating archipelago made up of some 17,000 thousand islands! If total land and sea areas are factored in, it is one of the 10 biggest countries in the world. With a very diverse population of more than 250 million inhabitants, it stands as the largest Muslim nation of the planet.

The choice of Indonesia as the country of focus for next year’s Global Focus is a particularly important one for our academic community and its affiliates. For one thing, Chatham University belongs to the very small circle of institutions involved in the U.S.-Indonesia Partnership Program for Study Abroad Capacity (USIPP) sponsored by the New York-based Institute of International Education. The consortium includes only 6 universities in America; and Airlangga University, Bandung Institute of Technology, Bogor Agricultural Institute, Gadjah Mada University, the Indonesian Institute of the Arts/Yogyakarta, and the University of Indonesia.

The choice of country is also always motivated by the opportunities to engage with individuals and groups with strong connections to that area. The very dynamic Indonesian community in Pittsburgh has responded enthusiastically to Chatham’s invitation for a strong partnership.