¡BIENVENIDA! WELCOME! BIENVENUE!

 

Dear International Education practitioners, students, scholars, and collaborators:

 

Our goal with the creation of this space is  to feature original essays, articles, opinions, news, and information stemming from research and insights related to internationalization in its broadest meanings.   We are geared towards encouraging diverse global perspectives as we foster diversity and inclusion in Higher Education. As we set off on this journey, we invite you to share our love for the International Education field and the multiple topics that stem from it. When we speak of Internationalization, we want to set forth a vision and perspectives that encompass educational and cultural aspects, without losing sight of the human and social elements that are key to successfully internationalizing our campuses, as we create welcoming spaces and foster best practices.  We also aim at extending these views through our interactions in our immediate communities and the society at large. Besides the usual regulatory topics related to international students, scholars and researchers, we also want to expand our scope of vision to engage in an open conversation where diversity and inclusion find themselves  as central topics.  While all regulatory topics continue to be a priority of the utmost importance, along with keeping ourselves, and our international faculty, students, administrators and global partners up to date, we also want to emphasize the concepts that lead us towards a holistic vision of what the  international project really is, or can be. Internationalization is much more than study abroad, international students and scholars or student mobility by themselves, I guess we all know that.  Yet, if we were somewhat misled until now, the Covid-19 pandemic has definitely changed how we have been conceptualizing and practicing internationalization. This health crisis has shaken us all, presenting great challenges and giving us new opportunities to explore and continue expanding global perspectives with special emphasis on the local. My hope is that we have gained the momentum needed to continue fostering new mindsets and perspectives.  Our proven resilience will certainly continue to be essential as we face new challenges and continue to seize novel opportunities.  Our awakened creativity and the potential for deeper and more meaningful relations, and conversations with others, have resulted from this crisis.  Many of our daily tasks have been shaken to the core, giving us a unique opportunity to think in creative and innovative ways.  We have been cleaning up, reorganizing and, in so many instances, kicking off to a fresh start. We invite you to join us, and make this journey yours too!   Thank you, Dr. Frances J. Santiago-Torres, PhD, PDSO / ARO

Dr. Frances Santiago has a PhD in French Language and Francophone Literatures from the City University of New York – Graduate Center (1998); a Master’s Degree from the Romance Languages Department (French) at Syracuse University (1987). She is professor of French Language and Francophone Literatures at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez Campus, where she has been Chair of the Humanities Department, and is currently PDSO and DSO. Since 2014 she has been an active NAFSA member. She currently serves as Region VII as Puerto Rico State Representative (this is her second consecutive term as PR State Rep in the region’s leadership team). Her dedication to the field of International Education stems from her global perspectives as a professor of foreign languages, her experiences abroad and more recently, her work with international students and scholars at her institution. In this last aspect, as PDSO/ARO, she has gained great recognition among her peers and colleagues, in Puerto Rico, for her knowledge of regulatory issues, along with her insights regarding internationalization of Higher Education in Puerto Rico.    

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