A Message from the Associate Provost for International Programs

Welcome back Everyone! It has been quite a month of excitement at the start of the new year as well as navigating travel bans, visa restrictions, vaccination requirements abroad, immigration updates, and the ongoing need for intercultural communication and partnerships to support students, faculty and staff both in the US and abroad. Amidst all this, I find myself continually reflecting on the artist Hung Liu, a Bay Area local who passed away last month at 73.  

Liu’s work focused on portrayals of individuals overlooked by society through an intercultural lens. Her work included paintings of immigrants, refugees, soldiers, migrant laborers, sex workers, orphaned children, and other overlooked individuals in cross-cultural situations. Liu immigrated to the US in 1984 and the immigrant experience is expressed throughout many of her works. At a time when we find ourselves impacted by politics and pandemic, Liu’s allows us to focus on the individuals caught in the throws of situations beyond their control. While many of Liu’s works focus on individuals who have experienced tragedy, she displays the dignity of the individual and in these portrayals, ultimately, there is hope and humanity that we may encounter every day if we open our eyes to see it. Her work was often massive, and it was stunning. You can see photos of a couple of her pieces below.  

Hung Liu, Resident Alien, 1988

Hung Liu, Strange Fruit: Comfort Women, 2001

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC has launched a retrospective of Liu’s work, “Hung Liu: Portraits of Promised Lands” through May 2022 and you can view it online here. What the computer cannot capture is the thick, dripping paint and vibrant colors employed throughout her work, the massive scale of many of her pieces, and the visceral, physical environment she was able to create to transport the viewer into the perspective of another person, if only for a moment.  

I was fortunate to talk with Liu on two occasions; once at her exhibit at the Laguna Beach Museum of Art where she gave a talk and stayed long after in gracious conversation, and once at the Oakland Museum of California when she stopped by to check-in on her current exhibit, and when I recognized her she generously stopped to talk with me in front of an installation about her mother’s death. She was a prolific artist with constantly evolving techniques and subjects.

As we begin the new academic year, Liu’s work provides an opportunity to pause to reflect on the impact of intercultural experiences and complex identities and dignity in every individual. With that, I am pleased to share our exciting updates below.

Best, 

Susan Popko
Associate Provost for International Programs

Updates and Upcoming Events

Two More SCU Students Win Prestigious National Scholarships for Study Abroad. Congratulations to Casey Chang ‘23 and Chloe Tat '23 who received the Freeman-Asia Scholarship from the Freeman Foundation for study abroad in 2021-22. Casey is a Marketing major abroad in South Korea this fall on the CIEE Arts and Sciences program at Yonsei University. Chloe, is also a Marketing major who will be participating in our exchange program at Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan in Spring 2022. The Freeman-ASIA award is a nationally competitive scholarship designed to support U.S. based undergraduates with demonstrated financial need who are planning to study abroad in East or Southeast Asia. Award recipients are required to share their experiences with their home campuses or communities to encourage study abroad by others and fulfill the program's goal of increasing understanding of Asia in the United States.

Welcome new international students!  Over 500 international students are joining SCU for the first time in-person this fall. Our new students represent over 40 countries including: Australia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, China, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Croatia, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Madagascar, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Oman, Panama, Peru, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, Zambia.  

Fall Study abroad has launched. 179 students are studying abroad this fall on 27 programs in 12 countries. See here more on fall programs here.  

New Working Group on Diversity and Identity Abroad Resources Launched for 2021-22. This new 2021-22 working group will review and update existing resources addressing diversity and identity abroad for undergraduate and graduate students participating in programs abroad. As well the group will develop enhanced resources for faculty and staff leading global programs to help them in preparing and supporting students of diversity identities abroad and address identities in different cultural contexts.  Working group members include: Chris Hanson, Assistant Director of Study Abroad (Chair); Hallie Bodey, Program Manager for the Center for Global Law and Policy; Darcy Phillips Director of Immersions, Ignatian Center; Joanna Thompson, Director of Multicultural Learning; Cameron Barrilleaux, Director of Student Involvement; Andrea Jackson, LEAD; Keith Warner,Chief Learning Officer, Miller Center.  

Listen to our new podcast, Abroaden Your Horizons. Download each month on most podcast directories, including Spotify and Google Podcasts. This is a podcast where we will talk about study abroad, global programs and diverse cultural experiences. Our first episode includes interviews by peer advisor, Jacqui Ibarra-Garcia, with Susan Popko, Associate Provost for International Programs and Sara Branley, Director of Study Abroad as well as breaking out of the SCU bubble, selecting a program, and more.

Students interested in global experiences can explore opportunities throughout SCU at the Global Opportunities Expo held virtually October 11-15, 2021. Applications for 2022-23 abroad are due January 3, 2022. Apply and learn more here.

Student Global Engagement Fellowship applications for Spring 2021 due October 30, 2021. Fellowships will be available for students to pursue Global Innovation  or Community Engagement. Up to 5 fellowships will be awarded. Fellows work with a team of 4 to 6 peers to build essential skills of cross-cultural teamwork and collaboration, concept design, and to develop innovative business solutions to global challenges. Learn more about Global Engagement Fellow, Jacklin Kertayasa’s experience, below and contact studyabroad@scu.edu with questions.  

Annual State of Global Engagement is set for Tuesday, November 16, 12:00 noon. This event will take place during International Education Week (IEW), which is November 15 - 19 this year. Find more information about IEW events. 

Undergraduates: Consider adding an International Studies Minor to your degree.  

Are you a faculty or staff member traveling abroad? Register Individual Faculty/Staff Travel. University-sponsored travel includes all student, faculty, staff travel funded or organized in any way through SCU as articulated in the University International Travel Policy and COVID-19 Addendum. Find out more about what is considered university-sponsored travel.

Is your department interested in hosting an international scholar or researcher? The deadline for Spring Quarter is November 1, 2021. Submit Proposals to host a visiting researcher or scholar here. You can learn more about the benefits of hosting an international visiting faculty member or researcher in your department here or contact scholars@scu.edu.

Global diversity and intercultural learning are inherent in our work on campus internationalization at Santa Clara University. Learn more about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Global Engagement here.  

Updated resources for faculty supporting international students and working with global diversity in the classroom can be found here. 

Travel Restriction Updates. Changing travel restrictions to the United States and other countries around the world continue to impact international students and families, study abroad students and families, faculty researching abroad and the family members of many people in our global SCU community. As you may know, on September 20, 2021 President Biden announced an easing of travel restrictions for vaccinated travelers to the United States beginning in November. Read more about the announcement here. 

Immigration Updates. On September 14, the US Department of State announced in-person visa interviews for students will no longer be required for all students, allowing students to request interview waivers. This welcome information is impactful to SCU’s many international students who undertake costly and time consuming travel to US consulates abroad in order to obtain a visa to study at SCU. Stay aware of immigration updates impacting SCU here.

Global Engagement Fellowship Winner

Jacklin Kertayasa (‘23) was the winner of the inaugural Global Engagement Fellowship. A Marketing and Economics major, Her fellowship matched her with a group of five students from around the world who studied the UN Sustainable Development Goal #4, Quality Education, and created a business plan to address severe flooding in developing areas of Vietnam and impact on educational access.  

The Global Engagement Fellowship was held virtually this past year, but Jacklin shared that getting to know her teammates from Italy, Nepal and Vietnam  was the most rewarding part of her fellowship experience including combining each of their prospective academic and cultural backgrounds into a successful deliverable. Forming relationships and meeting new people was one of the greatest takeaways for her and she was most rewarded by working with open-minded teammates and sharing parts of their cultures while learning about others. Jacklin was a Marketing and Economics major and advises that the Global Engagement Fellowship is a great experience for any student interested in meeting new people or contributing and learning more about the UN Sustainable Development Goals during their time as an SCU undergrad student.

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