Ithaca may be “centrally isolated,” but Cornell students, faculty and staff are anything but. Roughly 500 U.S.-based Cornell students participate in study, research, service learning and internships abroad each year. More than one-third take part in some sort of international program during the course of their studies.

Cornell will join universities around the country in celebrating global learning in a series of events across campus marking International Education Week, Nov. 13 to 17. The week is a joint initiative of the U.S. Departments of State and Education to promote programs that “prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn and exchange experiences.”

This last objective is especially timely as the United States debates its laws and attitudes on immigration, says Laura Spitz, vice provost for international affairs. More than 6,000 international students and scholars study, teach or conduct research at the university.

“Our Cornell community includes students and faculty based in Ithaca, and students, faculty and alumni from around the world. Collectively we challenge each other to evaluate our assumptions, beliefs and biases and to consider new approaches and solutions,” Spitz says. “As a global institution of higher education, Cornell educates the world’s leaders – wherever across the globe they may choose to live and work.”

The Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies organizes International Education Week at Cornell. Among this year’s highlights:

• The Middle East, the Academy and the Production of Knowledge (Nov. 12): This one-day conference on the eve of International Education Week is organized by the Einaudi Center’s Middle East Working Group.
• Rise for Rohingya Week of Action (Nov. 13-17): Daily events are organized by more than two dozen student organizations. A symposium will take place on Nov. 16.
• Language House conversations (Nov. 13-17): Daily meals and conversation hours in French, Spanish, Japanese, German and Arabic.
• Land Rights and Land Tenure of Afro-Brazilian Communities (Nov. 13): The Latin American Studies Program sponsors this seminar by Isabelle Picelli of Brazil’s National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform.
• Cyber Diplomacy: New Tools in the Fight Against Hackers, Attackers and Other Threats (Nov. 15): The Einaudi Center’s annual Bartels World Affairs Lecture features Christopher Painter ’80, until recently the coordinator of cyber issues at the U.S. State Department.
• CALS Global Fellows Program Showcase (Nov. 15): Twenty-two students from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences who interned overseas will share their experiences through posters and presentations.
• “The Destruction of Memory” (Nov. 15): This 2017 documentary examines the intentional annihilation of artwork, artifacts, historical sites and their stewards. With filmmaker Tim Slade. Co-sponsored by Cornell Cinema and the Department of Near Eastern Studies.
• Cornell International Education Network field trip (Nov. 16): Everyone is invited to a presentation at Cornell Health about its services for international students, scholars and travelers. Breakfast is at 8:30 a.m., and the formal program starts at 9 a.m.
• International Coffee Hour (Nov. 16): Join international students for coffee and conversation at the Big Red Barn from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Sponsored by the International Students & Scholars Office.
• “Graduation” (Nov. 16): This 2016 feature film is set in Romania and co-sponsored by Cornell Cinema and the Cornell Institute for European Studies.
• Protean Power: Exploring the Uncertain and Unexpected in World Politics (Nov. 16): Seminar by Peter Katzenstein, the Walter S. Carpenter Jr. Professor of International Relations at Cornell, sponsored by the Judith Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies.
• Sage Social (Nov. 16): International Education Week is the theme of this week’s meet-up at the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business.
• “Hamlet Wakes Up Late” (Nov. 16-17): This political satire, written by Syrian playwright Mamduh Adwan and directed by assistant professor Rebekah Maggor of the Department of Performing & Media Arts, explores events in Syria and resonates with the current political conversation in the United States.

Jonathan Miller is associate director for communications at the Einaudi Center.