This fall, the University of Virginia welcomed 416 students from India to Grounds, a significant increase from previous years and part of a larger trend in international education in the US.

The Graduate and Professional Students of Africa (GAPSA) hosted its inaugural ball and awards ceremony this month. Founded just two years ago as part of the International Student Citizen Leader Fellowship, GAPSA began as “a small, informal gathering of African graduate students sharing food and fellowship in their apartments during the pandemic,” said Nnenna Onyima, a Nigerian PhD candidate in French and GAPSA’s founder. Today, GAPSA is a registered CIO with over 100 members and a six-member Executive Board representing diverse programs across Grounds.

Omokolade Omigbule is a third-year anthropology doctoral student and an interdisciplinary doctoral fellow in Indigenous studies at the University of Virginia. He is a budding Black Atlantic archaeologist from Osun state, southwest Nigeria. In this interview, he discusses his journey into archaeology and his hopes to empower communities through history, and the importance of open-mindedness in the pursuit of knowledge and cross-cultural connection.

In a world where democratic values are increasingly at risk, young Sudanese activists offer a powerful example of resilience and determination. Through UVA’s Democratic Futures Project (DFP), these activists are exploring pathways toward a more inclusive and just political future in Sudan.

Ten years ago, the University of Virginia launched a program designed to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Today, the Global Studies Program empowers hundreds of students to tackle the complex global issues that will shape their futures and the world around them.

With a robust lineup of over 30 events, this year’s Global Week engaged students, faculty, and staff in learning and celebrating UVA’s global connections and featured an exciting range of activities, including panels, cultural showcases, and information sessions.

Gregory Perryman is a third-year politics honors major from Cleveland, Ohio. He participated in the UVA in India: Global Internships program this summer, interning with the Jindal Global University Center for Environment, Sustainability, and Human Development, in Sonipat, India, where he conducted independent research on the political economy of climate justice for e-waste workers.

Katy Quissell, professor of public health, discusses her research project on moral social movements and policy change in Latin America. The project, co-designed with students, explores how activism in Latin America has led to policy changes in reproductive rights, contrasting with the U.S. context.

Jillian Manternach is a fourth-year undergraduate student majoring in Public Policy and Leadership with a minor in Middle Eastern Language and Culture. After studying abroad in Meknes, Morocco during Summer 2023 and again in Amman, Jordan during J-Term 2024, she decided to join the Education Abroad team as a student intern to encourage other students to have eye-opening global experiences like hers. UVA Global caught up with her to talk about her adventures abroad, the impact on her understanding of her studies, and her advice for other students interested in the global.

The 2024-25 academic year is shaping up to be UVA’s biggest year yet for undergraduate study abroad opportunities, with significant new financial aid that will enable hundreds of students to participate in dozens of previously inaccessible programs across multiple disciplines around the globe.

This summer, students embarked on a variety of Education Abroad programs, both established and newly introduced, that challenged them to explore the real-world impact of their studies within diverse cultural contexts. Immersed in these unique environments, they gained fresh perspectives that enriched their academic and personal growth.

Hang Nguyen is a third-year PhD student in Statistics and a former Citizen Leader Fellow (2022-2023). For her Citizen Leader Fellowship project, she set out to understand the disproportionate number of Honor reports among international students and conducted a year-long ethnographic study on international students’ perceptions of academic integrity. This project paved the way to her ongoing advocacy and involvement in Honor. She is originally from Vietnam and went to high school and college in North Carolina.

This spring, Abdulelah Alotaibi completes his MA in Linguistics in the department of Anthropology. Originally from Saudi Arabia, he first came to the United States in 2014 on a Fulbright Language Teaching Assistantship. He spent that year teaching Arabic at the University of Maine and came back from 2018-2019 to participate in a one-year exchange program for Saudi teachers, Building Leadership for Change through School Immersion, at Arizona State University. Alotaibi chatted with UVA Global on his varied experiences in the U.S., his teaching, and his plans for the future.

In a special recorded message at the opening of the Spring 2024 Diplomacy Lab Fair at the US Department of State in Washington DC last month, United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that for every problem, someone, somewhere has an answer, or at least an idea worth trying. Some of the ideas that he referred to came from the University of Virginia students participating in the Diplomacy Lab program.

Doctor of Juridical Science Candidate Jeronimo Lau Alberdi discusses the sharing of global legal knowledge and techniques among in Latin American legal systems, including the roles of Supreme and constitutional courts and international human rights education.

Pieter Giliomee is graduating with M.S. in the McIntire School of Commerce this year. In a conversation with UVA Global, he shares his international background, his reasons for choosing UVA, and his plans for the future.

Ben Ross is a fourth-year student studying global development, history and religious studies. He developed a deep interest in Kenya and Swahili while at UVA and plans to build on it after graduation.