Thursday March 28th, 2024 6:45PM

Brenau University expands its international program

Students come from all over the world to study in Gainesville, not only learning English but also what life looks like as an American. Brenau University has partnerships with several countries, including China, and now Panama, allowing students to come from those countries and study here. University President Dr. Anne Skleder says it not only benefits those international students who participate in the program but the American students, as well.

Dr. Skleder recently spoke on WDUN’s Newsroom talking about how the partnerships are good for American students, international students, and even our communities.

Being able to have a cultural view of the world is an important part of education, according to Dr. Skelder. “We owe a debt to our students to graduate them prepared for the world’s stage and no matter where they live, no matter what they do, they will be among people who are different from them, have different languages, and have different backgrounds. And we need to make our students need to be world-ready. They need to be ready to walk on that global stage when they graduate,” she says.

The university has had a partnership with China, as well as others. Dr. Skelder says she is excited that Brenau is now expanding the program to move to new areas of the world. They are now partnering with the country of Panama, as well.  “Really the key for the relationship with Panama is that the country is committed to education. There is a commitment there to the education of students, both men, and women, to earn a degree and then to return to their home country fully bilingual. That is a commitment that the government of Panama has made.  They understand the importance of being bilingual. If their people aren’t speaking multiple languages, then they will be behind on the world stage, as well.”

The students first arrived last spring. After an initial quarantine, the students were able to start going to classes where they were really immersed in English and cultural learning about the United States. Dr. Skleder says the program is going great. In fact, it’s going so great, a handful of students have already advanced faster than anticipated. Even though it’s been less than a year with their English, several of the students are ahead of schedule. The others will start this next semester in their four-year degree program.

These students will be learning a lot about life in the States, but part of their job is to help the students here to learn about life in Panama, as well. “It needs to be a two-way street,” says Dr. Skleder. “Not only do we need those students to learn about our culture, but we need to learn about theirs. Actually, Panama requires the students to teach the campus about their culture, so we had a Panamanian culture day on our campus where we learned about their food, their dance, their history, and their economics.”

The other side of that is helping those students adjust to life in North Georgia. A Friendship Program helps them to make local connections. “The Friendship Program is another example of how that two-way street works. They are paired up with locals to attend holidays, dinners, camping, hiking… various activities depending on the interests of the students and the families. That creates an individual bond and shows them what is it like to be an American on a daily basis and how is it similar or different than life as a Panamanian,” explains Dr. Skleder.

The program hopes to build an interest in different cultures for the students on campus, as well. “Not every student here, especially those who are first in their families to go to college … they can’t always go abroad,” says Dr. Skleder. “But they can live with and work with students from another country in that setting rather than having to travel, because not everybody can do that.”

She hopes, as a result, the students learn some beneficial lessons. “I hope that our American students learn first of all that they need to get to know people as people without making determinations about groups. It’s very hard to stereotype when you know this person as a human being. It’s much harder when you’re sitting down in the cafeteria or going on an excursion with that person. I hope they get to know people as people,” says Dr. Skleder.

Finally, she says she hopes that having international students on campus are an inspiration to the ones already there. She hopes those Brenau students will be encouraged to learn more languages and get interested in other cultures. “It’s wonderful that the world looks to us,” says Dr. Skleder, “but we also need to look to the world.”

  • Associated Categories: Homepage, Local/State News
  • Associated Tags: Brenau University, brenau, Panama, Anne Skleder, international students
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