The Global Perspectives Program (GPP) offered a unique opportunity to observe and explore ways in which the arts play a role in international higher education. As a member of the GPP, I observed and explored areas of arts impact and interdisciplinary arts integration at various universities throughout Switzerland, Italy, and France. This essay explores the […]
VT-shaped individual: graduate student focus
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Shortly after his arrival at VT, President Timothy Sands established an initiative entitled Beyond Boundaries and challenged the university to envision the future for Virginia Tech informed by four concepts: VT-shaped discovery, communities of discovery, nexus of discovery, and continuous … Continue reading →
The Ethics of Sight-Seeing: Connections & a Reflection
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There are other sorts of beauty on this globe, but this sort of beauty is fully realized here. This sort of beauty cannot get any more beautiful, any more detailed, any more rich or perfect. -Juliana Spahr, This Connection of Everyone With Lungs. I wander. As early as middle school my interest in connecting […]
Smells of GPP’16
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Before leaving for the Global Perspectives trip, we were repeatedly warned that we’d find ourselves a bit more sweaty and smelly than we are used to in formal settings. It was also made clear that it was more or less okay over there. Summer is hot, and wearing a suit in a place that doesn’t bother with air conditioning … Continue reading Smells of GPP’16 →
Community, Culture, and Conversations
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I’m struggling to put into words all that I learned during my recent visit to Iceland, Germany, Switzerland, France, and Italy to learn about higher education. But I will try to highlight some of the lasting lessons that I took away. I’m a pretty quiet person to begin with, and when I travel, I am even quieter. I try to blend in and not stand out in new places. I prefer to observe what is going on around me as…
GPPSwiss16: People!
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It’s not easy to write about reflections of our recent #GPPSwiss16 trip, given that I’ve spent long time since I came back in thinking about lots of personal reflections. Trying to collect, organize, prioritize, or categorize these thoughts would be a hard task, so I decided to just sit down, and write! Before travelling, I […]