International students share experiences with area schools

Each year, more than 3,000 international students from more than 100 countries study on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus. Sharing that worldly experience with the community is the inspiration behind the program International Reach.

A service of International Student Services, International Reach brings foreign students to campus classrooms, local schools and community organizations to speak about their cultures and contemporary global issues. While providing international students with unique opportunities to interact with the campus and the surrounding community, Reach also gives students and citizens around Dane County a more personal and realistic view of different cultures around the world.

Over the next month, Internationa Reach students will be visiting school programs in Lodi, Madison and De Forest. And on Dec. 6 from 5-7 p.m. in the Pyle Center, international students will reflect on studying at UW–Madison as part of the international student graduation celebration.

More than 65 international students from 20-plus countries regularly participate in the program, giving presentations about their culture and country and discussing topics like globalization or global warming. In the community, the students have provided information to a choral group headed overseas, presented at a regional international education conference and spent time with a study group examining different cultural and religious traditions.

Marilee Sushoreba, university coordinator for the Reach program, says the program is always evolving and seeking new partnerships in the community. For more information about the program, please contact Sushoreba at (608) 262-9716, sushoreba@redgym.wisc.edu; or Stephanie Cowan, Outreach coordinator, at (608) 262-3468, cowan@redgym.wisc.edu.