Students learned about Taiwan food culture during a virtual visit to Ximen Market in Taipei.

Interactive Site Visits in Taipei

During week one, students enjoyed a virtual tour of Ximen Market, one of the most well-known night markets in Taipei. During this sessions, students learned about Taiwan food culture and historical Japanese influence through the architecture and food stalls that get their flavor from Japan. During another session, students visited a Confucian temple that was built in the 19th century and learned about the origins of Confucianism.

During the second week, students learned about Dihua Street, one of Taipei’s oldest streets with sections in existence since the rule of Dutch Formosa from 1624 to 1661. Students learned about preservation and conservation efforts by the city to ensure future generations learn about Taipei’s unique history.

In the program’s final week, students visited the Chaing Kai Shek Memorial, and explored the unique architectural features that symbolism prosperity and good health in Chinese culture.

Language Exchange & Exchange with Indigenous Populations

To reinforce their classroom language learning, students were afforded the opportunity to develop authentic connections with their peers in Asia. During one module, students from Xi’an Jiaotong Liverpool University (XJTLU) in Suzhou, China joined Texas State University students as virtual language partners. With topics that aligned with those the Texas students had been covering in class, the pairs conversed about such things as their families, traveling, the weather, and giving directions.

Also, students had the unique opportunity to learn about and engage with indigenous minority communities from Taiwan. In collaboration with ATAYAL, a global organization with a mission to preserve indigenous peoples’ language and culture, Texas State students took part in a language and culture exchange through multiple small-group sessions.

The post The Asia Institute Supports Texas State University’s Integrated Chinese Language Program for Second Summer    appeared first on The Asia Institute.

Student teams present solutions to environmental impact challenges related to coffee byproduct waste for Indonesia-based Rinjani Coffee Co.

The projects featured companies from Turkey and Indonesia and included challenges such as market entry and diversification, sustainable farming, and renewable energy. Students assigned to work with FERLED, a Turkish LED light manufacturer, researched the energy markets in Germany to devise a market entry strategy that emphasized the company’s sustainability goals. Students assigned to Duru Bulgar, a food manufacturer in Turkey, focused on an international marketing campaign to help global food consumers, especially those in Asia, become more familiar with the nutritional benefits, history and heritage of bulgur wheat. Finally, students working with Rinjani Mountain Coffee Company in Indonesia worked on the environmental impact challenges related to coffee byproduct waste and designed a new product to re-use the waste material to benefit the local economy.

Student teams devise a market entry strategy for Ferled Lighting that emphasized the company’s sustainability goals.

Students that participated in the competition hailed from universities across four continents (North America, Africa, Europe and Asia), thus adding to the international diversity of the program. Aside from the competition, students enjoyed participating in cross-cultural communication workshops and small group mentor sessions, and lectures from international marketing experts. In the end, the multi-week project provided a terrific opportunity for students to learn from one another and develop key skills such as flexibility and complex problem solving, that will serve them in the future careers. In a post-event survey, participants commented that the competition was challenging, valuable and enjoyable. The Asia Institute looks forward to hosting another global business case competition in the near future!

Aside from the competition, students enjoyed participating in cross-cultural communication workshops and small group mentor sessions, and lectures from international marketing experts.

The post The Asia Institute Hosts Global Business Case Competition in Partnership with XJTLU appeared first on The Asia Institute.

Some ways that you could utilize these include sharing the logins with students preparing to go abroad to Japan or South Korea, sharing a login with a language faculty member and/or students studying the target languages or utilizing a login in your offices’ marketing and recruitment as a way to generate interest in Japan or South Korea. To view CulturaGo’s introduction video, click the link below.

If you and your students can benefit from these initial log ins at no cost, please contact Ann Hubbard at The Asia Institute ann.hubbard@asiainstitute.org.

The post The Asia Institute Partners with CulturaGo to Provide Students with Unique Pre-Departure Resources appeared first on The Asia Institute.

During the XJTLU – International Business School Suzhou Virtual Business Project Competition students will engage in a unique opportunity to work on real challenges faced by organizations in Asia. Included in this experience, students will:

• Work in diverse groups, collaborating on a projects focused on helping a business or organization to solve a current issue.
• Understand a specific issue or situation for an Asian business/organization while researching possible solutions
• Incorporate the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals into how the group’s proposal addresses solutions
• Examine transferable (“soft”) skills from working in a diverse group and understand how to articulate them to potential employers

Interested students should fill out the application form by June 15th. Following the form submission, we will be in touch with additional information to confirm your participation in the competition. If you have any questions, please contact us at ann.hubbard@asiainstitute.org.

The post The Asia Institute to Co-Host Virtual Business Project Competition this Summer! appeared first on The Asia Institute.

Since the start of the Pandemic and the rise of virtual learning programs, The Asia Institute has put an emphasis on Project-Based Learning (PBL), whereby students work in small teams and collaborate with mission-driven NGOs and social enterprises, in real-time. The Asia Institute’s Social Impact Projects thus offer students an opportunity to design creative solutions to some of the world’s biggest challenges.

Below, we have highlighted several recent projects and initiatives that The Asia Institute and our University partners have been hard at work on. Projects involving sustainable development and eco-tourism in Thailand, Coral Reef Conservation in Vietnam, Sustainable Farming in Indonesia and Tourism Promotion in Japan have provided a unique platform for students to design solutions that make a tangible difference in people’s lives.

If you are interested in exploring collaboration with The Asia Institute through our Social Impact Projects platform, please reach out here!

Thailand | Sustainable Development & Eco-Tourism

In partnership with Thailand-based NGO OurLand, a wildlife sanctuary based in the Western Forest Complex,  student teams conducted research and provided recommendations to sustainably develop its land into an eco-tourist destination while ensuring human-wildlife coexistence. Read More.

Vietnam | Coral Reef Conservation

Coral reefs in Vietnam are under relentless stress from myriad global and local issues, including climate change, declining water quality, overfishing, pollution, and unsustainable coastal development. In partnership with a local company that develops coral reef growth kits, student groups are researching solutions that both benefit the local population economically and help to rebuild reefs that are facing a 98% rate of damage. Read More.

Indonesia | Sustainable Coffee Farming & Market Feasibility

In collaboration with a family-run coffee farm in a remote region of Lombok, Indonesia, student teams researched ways to re-use the farm’s coffee bean husks in a way that is both sustainable and profit-generating. The group also provided creative business solutions and recommendations including whether the company should export internationally, and working on a full market analysis of the company’s ideal customer, Read More.

Japan | Rural Tourism & Entrepreneurship Project

Students worked in groups to advise Forum Tauri Development Co., a Minami, Japan-based NGO to devise a strategy to keep young people from leaving Japan’s rural regions for the big cities, by encouraging entrepreneurship. Read More.

UCONN International Business Case Challenge (IBCC)

The Asia Institute served as a host partner in conjunction with the 2021 UCONN International Business Case Challenge (IBCC), an annual competition that brings teams of undergrads from around the world to compete virtually by solving real-life business issues. Read a Q&A with faculty advisor Arminda Kamphausen here and read a summary of the competition here.

The post Immersive Learning Experiences in Asia: Project-Based Internships, at a Glance! appeared first on The Asia Institute.

International Educators of Illinois (IEI) Scholarships: The Asia Institute and the International Educators of Illinois (IEI) award scholarships to undergraduate, graduate or doctoral students who are attending a university or college in the state of Illinois. The 2022 IEI Scholarship winner is Aden Van Hollander, DePaul University. 

Pennsylvania Global Scholarships (PaCIE)​: The Asia Institute and the Pennsylvania Council for International Education (PaCIE) award scholarships to undergraduate, graduate or doctoral students who are attending a university or college in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The 2022 PaCIE Scholarship winners are Ibrahim Ware (Bucknell University) and Annica Chiu (Temple Univesity).

Community College for International Development (CCID) Scholarship: The Asia Institute partners with Community Colleges for International Development (CCID) to grant scholarships to undergraduate, graduate or doctoral students who will participate in an education abroad and/or internship abroad program in Asia offered by CCID member colleges and universities. The 2022 CCID Scholarship winner is Victoria Carrion-Toledo (Valencia College).

International Engineering Scholarships​: Alongside the Colloquium on International Engineering Education, The Asia institute provides scholarships to undergraduate, graduate or doctoral students who are attending a university in the United States and whose minor, major, master’s or doctoral degree is in the field of engineering. The 2022 International Engineering Scholarship winners are  Arthur-Ventura Dacunha (University of Florida) and Benjamin Avila (Miami University).

The post The Asia Institute Announces Six 2022 Joint-Scholarship Recipients! appeared first on The Asia Institute.

Ann Hubbard (Middle) joined by Lisa Loberg, Director of Study Abroad at Loyola Marymount University and Gary Rhodes, Professor & Director, Center for Global Education at California State University, Dominguez Hills.

The event featured 50+ sessions, two of which featured The Asia Institute’s academic lead Ann Hubbard. Ann presented on March 22nd on a panel titled “Project-Based Virtual Program Design: Challenges and Successes Across Time Zones” and on a March 25th panel titled, “From Student Learning to Student Action Abroad: An Active Response to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals” These panels highlight opportunities for the field of Education Abroad to encourage action-oriented learning as part of program design. Ann was joined on this panel by Lisa Loberg, Director of Study Abroad at Loyola Marymount University and Gary Rhodes, Professor & Director, Center for Global Education at California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Leaders from The Global Learning Collective meet at Forum from March 21-25. From left to right: Bradley A. Feuling (The Asia Institute) Barry Rawlings (EDU Africa), Uli Leibrecht (CEPA) and Daniel Amgarten (Campus B)

The post The Asia Institute Participates at Forum on Education Abroad, the First In-person Conference since 2019 appeared first on The Asia Institute.

The Asia Institute Academic Lead Ann Hubbard will be presenting on the virtual panel “Project-Based Virtual Program Design: Challenges and Successes Across Time Zones” on Tuesday, March 22nd at 10:00 am CST. The session will examine best practices for the design and development of virtual project-based internship programs focused on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Additionally, Ann will be a panelist on the in-person session titled, “From Student Learning to Student Action Abroad: An Active Response to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals” on Friday, March 25th at 8:45 am CST. This panel will highlight opportunities for the field of Education Abroad to encourage action-oriented learning as part of program design to increase positive global impact in response to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

In addition, The Asia Institute will be exhibiting at the conference from March 23-25th alongside our colleagues at The Global Learning Collective. We look forward to sharing recent updates on short-term programs in Asia as well as project-based learning programs we are hosting with partners throughout the region. If you plan to be in Chicago, stop by booth 15!

The post The Asia Institute to Exhibit, Present at 18th Annual Forum on Education Abroad appeared first on The Asia Institute.

• International Educators of Illinois (IEI) Scholarships: The Asia Institute and the International Educators of Illinois (IEI) award scholarships to undergraduate, graduate or doctoral students who are attending a university or college in the state of Illinois. The deadline for applications is March 15, 2022. Learn more here.
• Pennsylvania Global Scholarships​: The Asia Institute and the Pennsylvania Council for International Education (PaCIE) award scholarships to undergraduate, graduate or doctoral students who are attending a university or college in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The deadline for applications is February 1, 2022. Learn more here.
• Community College for International Development (CCID) Scholarships: The Asia Institute partners with Community Colleges for International Development (CCID) to grant scholarships to undergraduate, graduate or doctoral students who will participate in an education abroad and/or internship abroad program in Asia offered by CCID member colleges and universities.The deadline for applications is February 15, 2022. Learn more here.
• International Engineering Scholarships​: Alongside the Colloquium on International Engineering Education, The Asia institute provides scholarships to undergraduate, graduate or doctoral students who are attending a university in the United States and whose minor, major, masters or doctoral degree is in the field of engineering. The deadline for applications is March 1, 2022. Learn more here.

The post The Asia Institute’s Study Abroad Scholarship Deadlines are Fast Approaching! appeared first on The Asia Institute.

Can you tell us a bit about the history of the competition and its global design?

The UConn International Business Case Challenge (IBCC) started under what was the UConn CIBER (Center for International Business Education and Research) and has continued under our Global Business Programs Office in the School of Business. The structure of the competition has always mixed international school teams in order to provide a truly global experience to the event as well as an international business problem to address.

How do students benefit from participation in the competition?

Students benefit through the opportunity to know and work with fellow students from other cultures and countries, as well as have the challenge of solving a demanding IB problem in an intense concentrated period of time. Over the past two years of offering the program virtually, students have learned to collaborate and plan across time zones, a truly critical skill for those moving in to the global marketplace.

Nengah Dana (left) and Komang Mandi(right), employees from the Rinjani Mountain Coffee growers, harvesting coffee beans. UConn’s International Business Case Competition was focused on providing solutions to the business challenges of several international companies. (Contributed Photo)

Why did you select The Asia Institute to work with for this year’s competition?

Over the history of the UConn IB Case Challenge, we have always looked to provide a project for students related to sustainability as well as in a different part of the world each time. Having learned about some of the projects Asia Institute was deploying for students’ virtual internships, I thought something similar might easily be adapted to our competition structure.

Why are projects incorporating UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) important for students to learn about?

This generation of students is not only interested in making a difference in the world, they demand that drastic changes be made and are eager to be the catalysts to ensure that change happens. We as educators must come alongside to help them access the knowledge and skills they need to do just that. Introducing students to the SDGs, supporting them as they deepen their understanding of the issues facing our world, and connecting them to students across the world who are equally committed to these goals should be a top priority for all institutions of higher learning, but especially for business schools. Without the cooperation of the corporate world, we will not reach the goals set by the UN. Developing business leaders who not only understand the critical importance of these goals but are committed to growth, inclusion, and sustainability must be our main focus.

The post Q&A with Arminda Kamphausen: Reviewing the 2021 UConn International Business Case Challenge appeared first on The Asia Institute.