The Office of International Programs promotes intercultural understanding and creates opportunities for international engagement throughout the entire CSU community. As part of this effort, we organize a diverse array of programs that address global issues and promote multi-cultural awareness. Our goal is to help CSU students understand our changing world, and provide the tools needed to make a positive impact on the global challenges we face.

 

Distinguished Speakers & Events

 

A woman with a microphone speaking in front of a green banner.

AYESHA RASCOE – MARCH 5, 2024

Ayesha Rascoe is the host of Weekend Edition Sunday and the Saturday episodes of Up First. As host of the morning news magazine, she interviews news makers, entertainers, politicians and more about the stories that everyone is talking about or that everyone should be talking about. Prior to her role as host, Rascoe was a White House Correspondent. She covered three presidential administrations, gaining a reputation for her sharp questioning in the White House briefing room. The Office of International Programs proudly partnered with KUNC to bring this voice to campus. Event Recording.

Masih Alinejad – April 3, 2023

Recognized as one of Time’s 2023 Women of the Year, Masih Alinejad is an Iranian-American journalist and women’s rights activist who gained worldwide attention when she removed her veil, or hijab, and posted a photo on her Facebook page standing proudly with her hair blowing in the wind. From that, My Stealthy Freedom was born—her viral social media campaign against compulsory hijab that became the biggest civil disobedience movement in the history of the Islamic Republic. The Office of International Programs proudly partnered with the Asian Pacific American Cultural Center (APACC), and the Office for Inclusive Excellence to bring this voice to CSU. Event recording.

Naomi Tutu – March 8, 2023

In celebration of International Women’s Day 2023, International Programs at Colorado State University welcomed Race and Gender Activist Naomi Tutu to present to campus. Daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Naomi Tutu used the challenges she faced growing up black and female in apartheid South Africa to inspire her activism for human rights.

Ambassador William Taylor – Feb 28, 2023

The keynote speaker for our 2023 International Symposium, Former Ambassador to Ukraine, William Taylor was interviewed by Leigh Paterson, Senior Editor and Reporter, KUNC. Ambassador Taylor discussed the state of Russia’s war in Ukraine, questions it has raised abut the U.S. approach to foreign affairs more broadly, and how the invasion has upended the balance of geopolitical power. Event recording.

Susan Rice on stage

Susan Rice – February 11, 2020

Former U.S. National Security Advisor and UN Ambassador Susan Rice was the keynote speaker at Colorado State University’s Founders Day celebrations on February 11, 2020. Her conversation with Greg Myre, NPR national security correspondent, was free and open to the public as well as CSU faculty, staff and students.

Julia Gillard
April 8, 2019

Julia Gillard was sworn in as the 27th Prime Minister of Australia in 2010 and served in that office until June 2013. Ms. Gillard is the first woman to ever serve as Australia’s Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister. Gillard was central to the successful management of Australia’s economy, the 12th biggest economy in the world, during the Global Financial Crisis and developed Australia’s guiding policy paper, Australia in the Asian Century. Ms. Gillard championed vast national policy change including reforming Australian education at every level, creation of emission’s trading, improving health and elder care, national care for those with disabilities, and restructuring telecommunications. In foreign policy, Ms. Gillard strengthened Australia’s alliance with the United States, secured stronger architecture for the relationship with China, upgraded Australia’s ties with India, and deepened ties with Japan, Indonesia, and South Korea.

International Women’s Day: Portraits of Resiliency
March 5, 2019

International Women’s Day (IWD) is a globally recognized day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. To celebrate International Women’s Day 2019, we at CSU would like to acknowledge the global experience of women by focusing on the characteristic of resilience. International Women’s Day is a time to refl ect on progress made toward the liberation of women, to call for change to policies and practices that continue to hold women back, and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their nations and communities.

In honoring International Women’s Day, we honor the stories of CSU students, faculty, staff and alumna that highlight their resiliency to challenging moments and for whom their gender identity as women were/ are central to their trials and triumph.

Ryan Crocker
October 9, 2018

Ryan Crocker retired from the Foreign Service in April 2009 after a career of over 37 years but was recalled to active duty by President Obama to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan in 2011. He has served as U.S. Ambassador six times: Afghanistan (2011-2012), Iraq (2007-2009), Pakistan (2004-2007), Syria (1998-2001), Kuwait (1994-1997), and Lebanon (1990-1993). He has served as the International Affairs Advisor at the National War College. From May to August 2003, he was in Baghdad as the first Director of Governance for the Coalition Provisional Authority and was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs from August 2001 to May 2003. He was assigned to the American Embassy in Beirut during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and the bombings of the embassy and the Marine barracks in 1983.

Greg Myre
September 17, 2018

Greg Myre is a national security correspondent with a focus on counter-terrorism, a topic he has covered in the U.S., the Middle East and in many other countries around the world for more than two decades. He was previously the international editor for NPR.org, working closely with NPR correspondents around the world and national security reporters in Washington. He heads the Parallels blog and is a frequent contributor to the website on global affairs. Prior to his current position, he was a senior editor at Morning Edition from 2008-2011. Before joining NPR, Myre was a foreign correspondent for 20 years with The New York Times and The Associated Press.

Gina McCarthy
February 28, 2018

A career public servant in both Democratic and Republican administrations, Gina McCarthy has been a leading advocate for common sense strategies to protect public health and the environment for more than thirty years. As the head of EPA under President Obama, she led historic progress to achieve the administration’s public health and environmental protection goals and Climate Action Plan. In 2015, McCarthy signed the Clean Power Plan, which set the first-ever national standards for reducing carbon emissions from existing power plants, underscoring the country’s commitment to domestic climate action and spurring international efforts that helped secure the Paris Climate Agreement. During her tenure, EPA initiatives cut air pollution, protected water resources, reduced greenhouse gases and strengthened chemical safety to better protect more Americans, especially the most vulnerable, from negative health impacts. Internationally, McCarthy worked with the UN and WHO on a variety of efforts and represented the U.S. on global initiatives to reduce high risk sources of pollution.

Julia Ioffee: “What Russia Wants”
November 7, 2017

Julia Ioffe is a U.S. politics, national security and foreign policy reporter for The Atlantic. Prior to early 2017, she was a contributing writer at POLITICO Magazine where she covered the 2016 election, worked as a contributor at Huffington Post’s Highline, and was a columnist at Foreign Policy. Previously, she was a senior editor at The New Republic from 2012 to 2014, and a Moscow-based correspondent for Foreign Policy and The New Yorker. Ioffe has been a finalist for the Livingston Award twice: for a 2013 profile of Sen. Rand Paul and a 2011 piece on Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. In 2009, she received a Fulbright scholarship to live and work in Russia.

Dr. Mara Karlin: “National Security in the Age of America First”
October 25 , 2017

Dr. Mara Karlin joined the Johns Hopkins Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies faculty as Associate Professor of the Practice of Strategic Studies in June 2017. She also serves as associate director of the school’s Strategic Studies Program and executive director of The Merrill Center for Strategic Studies. Karlin has served in national security roles for five U.S. Secretaries of Defense, advising on policies spanning strategic planning, defense budgeting, future wars and the evolving security environment, and regional affairs involving the Middle East, Europe, and Asia.

Asma Khalid
April 10, 2017

Asma Khalid leads BostonomiX – a WBUR (Boston’s NPR News Station) team covering the people, startups and companies driving the innovation economy. Asma was drawn to tech reporting after two years on the presidential campaign trail – where she consistently saw the effect technology has on policy and politics. She’s particularly interested in stories around automation and the future of work. Asma covered the 2016 presidential campaign for NPR – focusing on the intersection of demographics and politics. She attended rallies for nearly every presidential candidate on both sides of the aisle and crisscrossed the country to hear from voters in key battleground counties. She was also a founding member of the NPR politics pod squad. Prior the presidential election, Asma reported on a range of stories — including the Boston Marathon bombings and the trial of James “Whitey” Bulger.

Leymah Gbowee
March 6, 2017

Ms. Leymah Gbowee won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for leading a women’s peace movement that brought an end to the Second Liberian Civil War. She is a founding member and former coordinator for Women in Peacebuilding/West African Network for Peacebuilding, as well as the co-founder of the Women Peace and Security Network Africa. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Nobel Women’s Initiative, Gbowee Peace Foundation and the PeaceJam Foundation. Gbowee is currently the President of Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa where she fights for greater inclusion of women as leaders and agents of change in Africa.

Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland: “Our Common Future: Sustainable Development and Addressing Climate Change”
March 3, 2016

Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway, is a physician and an international leader in sustainable development and public health who chaired the World Commission on Environment and Development — the Brundtland Commission — which defined the term “sustainable development” in its landmark report, “Our Common Future.” After serving as Norway’s youngest ever Prime Minister from 1990 to 1996, she was appointed Director-General of the World Health Organization in 1998. In 2007, she was named United Nations’ Secretary General’s Special Envoy on Climate Change. She is also deputy chair of The Elders, a group of 11 leaders called together in 2011 by Nelson Mandela and chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who contribute their wisdom, independent leadership, and integrity to tackling the world’s toughest problems with the goal of conflict resolution and making the world a better place.

Shiza Shahid: “There Are No Superheroes, Just Us”
March 9, 2015

Shiza Shahid is the Co-Founder and Global Ambassador of the Malala Fund, the organization representing Malala Yousafzai. Malala is the young Pakistani activist who was shot by the Taliban for her campaign for womens’ education. Shiza, a graduate of Stanford University and a previous business analyst at McKinsey & Company, now leads the fund to empower girls through education to raise their voices, to unlock their potential, and to demand change. Shiza was recently named one of TIME magazine’s “30 Under 30 World Changers” and to Forbes “30 Under 30″ list of social entrepreneurs.

Alan Arnette: “K2: Fighting for the Summit and for Life”
February 9, 2015

Alan is a world-acclaimed mountain climber, professional speaker and Alzheimer’s advocate. Prior to his early retirement in 2007 to oversee the care of his mother as she entered the final stages of Alzheimers, Alan was an HP executive running global businesses. At the age of 38, Alan began climbing and has summited many of the world’s highest peaks including Mt. Everest at the age of 54. In 2011, he climbed the 7 Summits in under a year to raise $1M for Alzheimer’s research and to increase awareness. In 2014, and on his 58th birthday, he became the oldest and 18th American to summit K2, the world’s 2nd highest and most difficult mountain. Alan’s latest campaign is Project 8000, in which he will climb 11 of the 8,000 meter mountains to raise $1M for Alzheimer’s research and reach 100M people by 2020.

Mary Robinson: “Climate Justice and the Right to Health”
October 27, 2014

Mary Robinson served as the first woman President of Ireland from 1990-1997 and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997-2002. She is now the President of the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice. Mary is a member of Elders, a member of Club of Madrid, a board member on the European Climate Foundation, and UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Change. She is the recipient of numerous honors and awards throughout the world including the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama. Mary has dedicated most of her life as a human rights advocate.

Girl Rising
March 4, 2014

Girl Rising is a global movement for girls’ education based primarily around the 2013 feature film. From Academy Award-nominated director Richard E. Robbins, Girl Rising spotlights the unforgettable stories of nine girls living in the developing world, striving beyond nearly insurmountable circumstance to achieve their dreams and reach their full potential. This film uses the power of storytelling to share the simple truth that educating girls can transform societies and to inspire action that gets girls into classrooms worldwide.

Christopher Hill: “Dissecting Syria”
October 8, 2013

Ambassador Christopher Hill was the Dean of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at The University of Denver, a monthly columnist for Project Syndicate, voice in the media on international affairs, and highly sought after public speaker. Ambassador Hill is a former career diplomat and a four-time ambassador, nominated by three presidents, whose last post was as Ambassador to Iraq. Hill has served as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, as U.S. Ambassador to Poland, as Ambassador to the Republic of Macedonia, as Special Envoy to Kosovo, and as Special Assistant to the President and a Senior Director on the staff of the National Security Council. Ambassador Hill received the State Department’s Distinguished Service Award and was a recipient of the Robert S. Frasure Award for Peace Negotiations. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Ambassador Hill served as a Peace Corps volunteer.

Patrick Mureithi
March 5, 2013
“Until Hope is Found”

Patrick Mureithi is a Kenyan documentary filmmaker and Artist in Residence at Drury University in Missouri. Between 2007 and 2009, he produced, filmed, and edited “ICYIZERE: Hope,” a documentary about forgiveness and reconciliation between 10 victims and 10 perpetrators of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide. ICYIZERE (ee-cheez-eh-reh) has been shown on college campuses all over the US, as well as in 8 different countries. His most recent documentary, “Kenya: Until Hope is Found,” is a film about healing from PostTraumatic Stress Disorder after Kenya’s 2007/8 Post-Election Violence that left more than 1,200 dead and 500,000 displaced from their homes. CSU showed both documentaries and led a discussion afterwards.

World Bank Presentation
February 26, 2013

Angelica Silvero is head of the World Bank Speaker’s Bureau. Established in 1944, and based in Washington DC, the World Bank is made up of two unique development institutions owned by 188 member countries: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA). Each supports the Bank’s mission of global poverty reduction and the improvement of living standards. Together these institutions provide low-interest loans, interest-free credit and grants to developing countries for education, health, infrastructure, communications and many other purposes. For Colorado State, Angelica discussed the World Bank and its role in international development.

National AIDS Quilt
December 2012

The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt began in 1987 when a small group of strangers gathered in a San Francisco storefront to document the lives they feared history would neglect. Today the Quilt remains the largest community art project with more than 48,000 individual 3-by-6-foot memorial panels — mostly sewn together by friends, lovers, and family members to commemorate the life of someone who has died of AIDS. The mission of this Archive Project is to preserve the powerful images and stories contained within The Quilt while expanding AIDS awareness and HIV prevention education efforts. Since 1987 over 14 million people have visited the Quilt and the NAMES Project Foundation has raised over $3 million for AIDS service organizations throughout North America. Colorado State University hosted 20 panels.

 

Additional events

Preparing Students for a Changing World: Global Teaching and Learning – Fall 2017

Open to faculty and instructors from all colleges and departments, this series emphasized active learning and critical thinking as means of increasing students’ disciplinary learning and global awareness. Invited guests and CSU faculty provided examples from their own teaching, discussions and workshop opportunities that demonstrated how global learning outcomes may be integrated with other learning goals to develop graduates ready to participate in an interconnected world. Participants were welcome to attend one event or the entire series.

Organized by: Office of International Programs, Semester at Sea, and TILT with support from U.S. Department of Education: Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Grant.

Workshop: Integrative Global Learning: Strategies and Practices for Global Learning Across Curricular and Co-Curricular Experiences

Thursday, September 21, 9:00-1:30m LSC 376-378

Dr. Dawn Michelle Whitehead, Senior Director for Global Learning and Curricular Change,

American Association of Colleges and Universities

In this interactive workshop, participants explored opportunities to integrate global dimensions into their courses and prepare students for life and work in today’s society. Participants drew on their own experiences and CSU opportunities for students as they considered revisions to their courses or the creation of new courses with an integrative global perspective. Workshop participants also engaged with global learning goals and outcomes as they connected their courses to broader campus initiatives.

Global Learning and Inclusive Excellence: How the Two Powerful Practices Contribute to Student Success in Life, Society, and Work

Friday, September 22, 10:30-12:00, LSC 376-378

Dr. Dawn Michelle Whitehead, Senior Director for Global Learning and Curricular Change,

American Association of Colleges and Universities

Global learning and diversity initiatives have diverse origin stories that historically have defined their places on many college campuses. Over time, their paths have become interconnected and in today’s increasingly connected world, it is critical that institutions think strategically, intentionally, and meaningfully about how these initiatives can inform and advance student success without losing their unique elements. This presentation addressed how global learning and inclusive excellence could do more than co-exist; they could truly enhance the educational experiences of students when institutional connections are made.

Situating Oneself in an Interconnected World through Activity-Based Learning

Oct 25, 3:00-4:30, Lory Student Center, room 386

Dr. Toni Zimmerman, Professor, Human Development and Family Studies

Dr. Sophie Esch, Assistant Professor, Languages Literatures and Cultures

This presentation engaged students in learning by using dynamic activities that stimulated their imagination. This interactive presentation used two examples to explore how drawing, experiential activities, and identity exploration could be used to teach complex topics. By making lessons relevant to the lives of students, participants walked away with a deeper understanding of their discipline as well as greater awareness of themselves as thinkers and actors in an interconnected world. Discussion allowed participants from all disciplines to share their own techniques for engaging students in activities-based learning.

Photography Exhibition: Learning about Culture through the Visual Lens of Photography

October 14 – 23, Lory Student Center Gallery

Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century: Educating the Whole Student for Global Ecological Challenges

November 14, 12:15 – 1:30, Lory Student Center, 376

Dr. Robert Kling, Associate Professor of Economics

Dr. Jody Donovan, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs/Dean of Students

Dr. Ursula Quillmann, Assistant Professor, Forest and Rangeland Stewardship

Ecology in the 21st century requires cross-disciplinary and international collaboration. This session explored how to prepare students for those collaborative practices while engaging students in their own learning processes. CSU staculty (faculty and staff who sailed on Semester at Sea) shared what they have learned from engaging students in research, co-curricular experiences, collaborating across divisions, and developing cross-national partnerships. While facilitators shared specific examples of engaged learning, discussion allowed participants to share what methods have worked (or not) as a means of engaging students in global issues and concerns.

The Office of International Programs, with support from Office of the Provost for Undergraduate Affairs, and TILT, is proud to host invited speakers who present thought-provoking research on the internationalization of higher education. The goal is to bring global learning into discussions and applications of other instructional initiatives and to contribute to a holistic advancement of graduate and undergraduate teaching and learning.

Caryn McTighe Musil

“Global Learning and Action: What’s at Stake?”

October 15, 2014

Event details

Hilary Kahn

“Global Teaching: Encouraging Students to Transcend Borders and Care about the World” – April 25, 2014

“Global Learning: Interactive Global Course and Curriculum Design” – September 29, 2014

Event details

Faculty Notes on Internationalization

The Office of International Programs hosted two lunch discussions on the global dimensions of undergraduate curriculum in April 2015. The purpose was to explore global learning outcomes, current successful strategies, and ways to that the Office of International Programs can further support faculty/staff in the development of globalized curricula. Click here to see a summary of these discussions.