University of Pittsburgh to Celebrate International Education Week Nov. 18-22 Pitt to host a forum titled "International Education: Asset or Liability?"

November 7, 2002

PITTSBURGH—The University of Pittsburgh will celebrate International Education Week 2002 Nov. 18 through 22, joining colleges and universities nationwide to recognize important contributions of international education to the United States.

The program represents the third annual International Education Week sponsored by the U.S. departments of State and Education. This year's theme is "Securing the Future Through Study and Exchange." International Education Week was introduced in 2000 in response to former President Clinton's call for an international education policy for the United States.

Pitt's recognition of the week features a forum hosted by the Office of International Services (OIS) and the University Center for International Studies (UCIS). The forum is titled "International Education: Asset or Liability?" It will highlight the benefits of international student exchange, as well as how area studies, language programs, and study abroad improve global understanding through language, culture, politics, and economics. Scheduled speakers are Victor C. Johnson, associate executive director for public policy at NAFSA: Association of International Educators (formerly known as the National Association of Foreign Student Advisors), and William I. Brustein, UCIS director and Pitt professor of sociology.

The forum, open to the public, will be held at 12:30 p.m. Nov. 18 in the Kurtzman Room of the William Pitt Union, 3959 Fifth Ave., Oakland.

Announcing International Education Week this year, Secretary of State Colin Powell said: "As we work to end the scourge of terrorism, let us also work to increase peace, prosperity, and democracy. … People-to-people diplomacy, created through international education and exchanges, is critical to our national interests."

"The University of Pittsburgh is a place where people-to-people diplomacy is a part of the educational experience, and it should always be so," said David Clubb, director of Pitt's Office of International Services. "The United States must find a way to achieve both the security objectives that ensure the protection of its citizens at home and the openness that assures its strong and effective leadership around the world. To sacrifice one at the expense of the other would be shortsighted and detrimental to our nation's strategic position in the world community. International education is not part of the problem; it is part of the solution."

For more information, call 412-624-7120.

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