At Buena Vista University, we are committed to nurturing global awareness in our community through coursework, co-curricular program, and an extensive range of international and domestic travel opportunities for students and faculty. The faculty and administration are profoundly committed to creating and increasing global awareness on campus, and the university therefore has made this goal a priority in it strategic planning, fundraising, and budgeting processes.
In the past several years, we have substantially increased the number of international students in Storm Lake who come for exchange programs or to seek a degree, and who contribute tremendously to the vitality and diversity of the student community. We have developed partnerships with numerous institutions abroad, in locations such as South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, and Japan that provide students and faculty with short- and long-term programs in many areas of academic interest.
During our January Interim term, we sponsor a number of exciting two-to-three-week international study trips that enrich students’ experience and provide them with diverse options for enhanced understanding. Recently, students and faculty have traveled to Italy, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Chile, Japan, and various other locations around the world, as well as diverse domestic locations such as New York City, Washington, DC, Florida, and Arizona. We provide substantial financial support to lower student costs for these experiences, and to assist students who seek internships in international or domestic locations far from Storm Lake.
On campus, our vibrant international student community and their friends sponsor informational and recreational activities throughout each academic year to share their cultures with the campus. We bring in speakers and other presenters to provide expertise and perspective on global issues and foreign countries. Our recently revised University Seminar program has been designed to introduce students to interdisciplinary examination of global issues and concerns, and our first-year common readings are selected to engage students with questions of global citizenship and intercultural understanding.
We systematically seek both to bring the world to our students, and to bring our students to the world, so they leave Buena Vista University as well-informed, culturally competent and confident individuals who are prepared to take their place in both their local communities and in the global economy. This site highlights many of these efforts, and I encourage you to browse and learn about the exciting opportunities at Buena Vista University.
Sincerely,
David R. Evans, Ph.D.
Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty
Spring Break Camping on the Great Wall of China
A group of Buena Vista University students and faculty spent the night camping on the Great Wall during their Spring Break trip to China. Read more...
