International Week

I-Week 2020 Reimagined

We are dedicated to stopping the spread of COVID-19 around the world and in our own community. Because of the importance of this, we are moving all I-Week to a virtual format. Rather than having all of our virtual programming centered in one week, we are spreading out our exciting events and programs throughout the fall semester. So please join us as we celebrate the Center for Global Engagement’s newly reimaged International Week:

Global citizenship compels us to transcend singular identities and nationalities and to recognize that rights and responsibilities belong to all of humanity, regardless of location, race, gender, political borders or politics itself. Now more than ever, being a Global Citizen requires us to think critically, engage civically, and care deeply for the fates of people we may never meet and the planet that we share with them. Read more

The idea of global citizenship builds on the knowledge we gain through international education, which helps us understand different worldviews, approaches to living, and problem-solving, whether we learn these truths at home or abroad. Global citizenship compels us to transcend singular identities and nationalities and to recognize that rights and responsibilities belong to all of humanity, regardless of location, race, gender, political borders or politics itself.

Much has changed since we first devised this theme for I-Week 2020 back in January. Since then, not only has the COVID-19 pandemic upturned our lives, but the Black Lives Matter movement has resurged to its rightful place at the forefront of national and local conversations as we continue to confront the racism built into the fabric of our country. The events of this spring and summer have adjusted our gaze both outward and inward. While our own personal spheres have become constricted, our focus has naturally shifted to the world “out there”. We’ve experienced kinship with those singing on their balconies in Italy; applauding nightly for healthcare workers in New York; fighting for democracy in Hong Kong; and marching for justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and so many others in our own communities as well as communities the world over. At the same time, we’ve had to turn inward and continue to critically examine our own biases and how we might be failing to create equity at home and abroad. While daily life looks very different than it did six months ago, global citizenship and advocacy are not only still relevant, but crucial to the work we must do to rebuild and heal.

As we move forward into this new decade, it is critical that each of us continue to develop our own sense of what it means to be a global citizen and an advocate for others. Global citizenship is not merely being connected technologically or economically: now more than ever, being a Global Citizen requires us to think critically, engage civically, and care deeply for the fates of people we may never meet and the planet that we share with them.

• The Harrisonburg community is one of the most diverse areas in this region: one of 33 Church World Service Refugee Resettlement sites (and one of the sites with the highest rate of refugee resettlement per capita) and one of the most diverse school systems in Virginia (56 languages represented and with more than half of students have a language other than English spoken at home). 
• More JMU students participate in study abroad than most of our peers (#1 for total number of students studying abroad on short-term programs) with 1,380+ students studying in 55+ different countries each year.
• Our international student body has been increasing steadily over the past 5 years and continues to grow. Right now at JMU we have international students representing 75 countries.