Topic: Global

Never take your college education for granted, students at Appalachian State University were told during fall convocation Sept. 3. That caveat was delivered by Ishmael Beah, author of the memoir “A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier,” which was selected for the university’s Common Reading Program this year.

The choir was established in 2001 in Durban, the third-largest city in South Africa. The choir sings a variety of compositions, from Afro gospel, jazz and soul to traditional, indigenous music and opera.

Best-selling author and human rights activist Ishmael Beah will speak at Appalachian State University’s fall convocation. Beah is the author of “A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier,” which was the university’s common reading selection for 2015-16.

Three graduate students and a faculty member from the Center for Appalachian Studies at Appalachian State University presented papers at an international mountain studies conference held at Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada, in May.

Sixteen years after first exploring an academic partnership in Cuba, representatives from Appalachian State University and the University of Havana have embarked on a formal educational partnership.

Doing business in Cuba won’t be as simple as some people think, but that isn’t stopping governors, state legislators, U.S. business owners and others from exploring economic opportunities that might be available to them in the near future.

The film is about a Mexican immigrant who returns home to a small mountain village in Guerrero, Mexico, after years of working in the U.S. He struggles to rebuild his family and follow his dream of starting a band: the Copa Kings.