A Global Tour of the U

A sampling of other international programs and departments on campus.

College of Social Work
The U’s College of Social Work offers a study abroad program designed to prepare social workers for the international arena. The program allows students to complete practicums outside the U.S. This summer, 32 social work students (BSWs, MSWs and undergraduates) completed practicums in Mexico, Japan, Botswana, Peru, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic. Students were required to gain practical training experience in individual, group, family, organizational, and community-based settings. Such training grants students a greater sense of cultural context, producing better social workers and helping to bridge the gap between cultures.

Middle East Center
The MEC, perhaps the U’s most high-profile international program, is composed of an interdisciplinary group of scholars, specialists, and students. It’s the only such center in Utah, and one of only 15 National Resource Centers devoted to studies and analyses of the Middle East. Headed by Prof. Ibrahim Karawan, the MEC hosts an annual series of lectures on current events and issues by prominent speakers. These talks are also available via podcast on the Internet, inviting a global audience to share in the discussion. The Center’s Aziz S. Atiya Library contains 160,000 volumes in Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Ottoman, and modern Turkish. Middle East scholars from all over North America recognize the library as one of the most extensive intellectual resources west of Cairo (see page 30).

Asia Center
Offering major and minor degrees in Asian Studies since 1993, the University of Utah this fall instituted an Asian Center. The arrival of University President Michael Young, a scholar of East Asian law, was the catalyst for establishing the new center, which will be a critical component in his vision to expand the U’s international focus. The center will not have its own faculty, but will serve the research and teaching interests of the more than 150 campus faculty whose work deals with Asia. In addition to housing the Asian Studies program, with its B.A. and a new M.A. degree, the center will offer lectures, executive seminars, teacher workshops, and cultural events to both the campus and the wider Utah communities.

Looking South

The U’s Latin American Studies program may be ready for the next step.

Thanks to the hot-button issue of immigration reform, Latin America took center stage in 2006. In April, tens of thousands of Latinos rallied in the streets of Salt Lake City to call attention to immigrants’ rights. On May 1st, a nationwide “Day without Immigrants” initiative called on Latinos to stay home from work, school, and shopping in order to flex their cultural and economic muscle. And in late May, Mexican President Vicente Fox stood before the Utah Legislature and implored the U.S. and Mexico to work together on immigration solutions, firmly stating that a wall between the countries was not the answer.

Education, on the other hand, just might be. The University of Utah’s Latin American Studies program is still in its infancy—just three and a half years old and currently only available as a minor—but work is afoot to expand and enhance the program. Professor Jim Lehning, interim director of the program, points to two factors that underscore the need for Latin American studies. First, he says, is the fact that immigration is not just from Mexico anymore. “The proportion of immigrants from Latin America who are from Mexico is decreasing,” says Lehning. “You’re seeing larger and larger proportions from Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Peru.”

Second is the expansion of immigration to areas outside of traditional states like Arizona and New Mexico. “If you think in terms of the Intermountain area,” says Lehning, “immigrants from Latin America are having more and more of a presence farther north. If you project another 30 or 40 years, it’s going to be even more significant, and even farther north.”

With that in mind, Lehning sees the need for the U to step into the big leagues, with more faculty, more resources, and the creation of an academic major. “For Latin American Studies to develop in a way that will make it useful,” he says, “it is going to require a strong commitment from the University and from the State.”