“Be Bold, Wear Gold,” a photo by Trevor Jansma, taken at Roy’s Peak, Wanaka, New Zealand, received the Study Abroad Grand Prize in UI International Programs’ annual International Education Week Photo Contest. Jansma is from Holland, Michigan, and is majoring in finance. “I spent the night on top of a mountain away from any light pollution, witnessed a stunning sunset, a view of the Milky Way, and a sunrise all from the same spot. The sunset brought out an amazing blue hue over the lake and mountains in the distance.” See other prize-winners’ work in the accompanying photo gallery. Photo by Trevor Jansma.
Stunning photos capture UI student life, here and abroad
International Programs Annual Photo Contest one highlight of International Education Week
A geology field trip to a glacier in South Iceland. An awe-inspiring view from Roy’s Peak in New Zealand. A Hawkeye victory over Iowa State University at an international student’s first football game.
These are just some of the moments captured in photos by University of Iowa students—both students from the United States studying abroad and international students on the UI campus. The photos are among the winning images selected for the 2018 International Programs Annual Photo Contest as part of International Education Week—a way to inspire awareness of the many ways UI students can experience international education.To view a gallery of all semifinalists, visit the IEW 208 Photo Contest Flickr album.
The UI will celebrate International Education Week Nov. 12–16. This joint initiative of the U.S. Departments of State and Education celebrates the ways international education and exchange opportunities prepare citizens for community building in both domestic and international settings, whether it’s helping students develop global perspectives through study abroad or attracting a diverse and vibrant community of students from the around the globe.
In fall 2018, more than 3,600 international students from 115 foreign countries and territories are studying or conducting postgraduate research at the UI. In the 2017–18 academic year, more than 1,500 UI students studied abroad in more than 50 countries.
“International Education Week is a great time to take stock of the transformative dimensions of our connections around the world, and to consider new opportunities to advance the core missions of the University,” says Downing Thomas, associate provost and dean of International Programs at the UI.
Highlights of this year’s events include the launch of a GOLDrush crowd-funding effort to support an African student’s transition to the UI, a free multicultural showcase organized by the Organization for the Active Support of International Students and Campus Activities Board, and the naming of the UI’s International Impact Award recipient, which recognizes distinguished alumni and other individuals with significant ties to the UI who have made important contributions internationally.
The 2018 award goes to Rajat Jay Sehgal, a 1986 graduate of the UI (BBA management sciences). Sehgal and the Sehgal Foundation will be recognized for their leadership in support of community-based development activities, educational access, and the empowerment of women, particularly in rural India. The foundation will be honored for its multi-year partnership with the UI’s award-winning India Winterim study abroad program, which has involved more than 1,000 students and faculty since it was initiated in 2006. 
Thomas and UI President J. Bruce Harreld will present the award at 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 13, at MERGE, 136 S. Dubuque St. in downtown Iowa City, as part of a WorldCanvass program, “Educational Cross-Fertilization: the Iowa/India Connection.”
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