BOONE, N.C. — This year has provided many opportunities to develop new perspectives. Appalachian State University’s Office of International Education and Development (OIED) invited students, faculty and staff to express their perspectives by submitting photos taken during international education experiences — capturing local atmosphere, street life, landscapes, architecture, people and activities.

Each year OIED sponsors this photography contest, and winning photos are announced at App State’s Global Symposium during International Education Week (IEW). This year’s event was held virtually Oct. 28.

The pandemic closed the shutter on international travel for the last portion of the 2019–20 academic year, so OIED incorporated the year’s challenges in the photo contest theme — “2020 Resiliency” — and introduced five contest categories:

• First photograph taken abroad, with a description of why the entrant snapped the picture.
• New friendships, with a description of the relationship and why it was meaningful.
• Culture shock, representing a subject the photographer didn’t expect to learn about or find.
• What you miss the most about being abroad, representing a fond memory from travelers’ international experience — from food, to people, to natural beauty.
• Travel interrupted, representing travel cut short by the pandemic.

With 35 entries, participation in the contest was about one-fourth of the number of entries in a typical year, said Mark Hagen, OIED’s assistant director of education abroad. Recognizing the unusual circumstances — and new perspectives — of this year’s applicants, Hagen said the IEW committee decided to declare all entries as winners, embodying this year’s resiliency contest theme.

This photo gallery includes a sampling of the contest’s 35 entries. To view all entries, visit this virtual album.

For more information about IEW worldwide, visit https://iew.state.gov.

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International Education Week

A joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education

International Education Week (IEW) is an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide. This joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education is part of our efforts to promote programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn, and exchange experiences.

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Global Learning at Appalachian

It’s not enough to be globally aware. Appalachian graduates must be globally competent.

National surveys indicate that high school seniors and their families — as well as employers — expect college graduates to develop an increased global awareness and/or competency, as they will likely encounter coworkers, clients and neighbors from different cultures in their professions. Appalachian has adopted Global Learning for its Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), an important component of our accreditation.

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About the Office of International Programs

Appalachian State University combines a strong liberal arts foundation with a comprehensive, pervasive and integrated commitment to global engagement. The Office of International Programs assists App State in fulfilling its global engagement mission by working to develop awareness, knowledge, appreciation and respect of cultural differences — in both domestic and international contexts — in the university’s students, faculty and staff, as well as in the surrounding communities. Learn more at https://international.appstate.edu.

About Appalachian State University

As a premier public institution, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, affordable education for all. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.