World-wise DU

In any given year, you can find DU—our students, faculty and alumni—at work in every corner of the globe. University of Denver ambassadors not only study the cultures and challenges of other countries, but they volunteer and serve in them as well. The world also comes to DU to learn from our experts and to share knowledge. 

Here’s a glimpse of the University’s global presence in 2009–10 (view larger version).

Afghanistan/Pakistan
On his visit to the DU campus, Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea, accepted $550 collected from Josef Korbel School students, staff and faculty in support of his Central Asia Institute. The money will fund a year’s law-school tuition for a woman in Central Asia.

Students from DU and the American University in Afghanistan participated in a teleconference focused on exchanging leadership best practices. The conference was organized, in part, by Linda Olson, executive director of learning communities and civic engagement.

Argentina
While participating in DU’s Lawyering in Spanish Overseas Externship Program, law students Gracie Chisholm and Conor Filter helped to translate “Why Has Argentina Been Unsuccessful in the Development of Microfinance?” The report highlights the reforms necessary to make microfinance a viable sector in Argentina.

Botswana
As one of 574 Cherrington Global Scholars studying abroad, Matthew Reisenauer took a full load of courses covering everything from the demography of Botswana to African architecture in Gaborone.

Colorado
917 international students from 92 countries arrived on DU’s campus to advance their education and join our global community.

The University unveiled its new SIÉ CHÉOU-KANG Center for International Security and Diplomacy, which provides leadership training for international security specialists and diplomats from across the globe.

The Frederick S. Pardee Center for International Futures, a DU endeavor focusing on long-term forecasting and global trend analysis, published Advancing Global Education, the second in its annual Patterns of Potential Human Progress series.

Chen Hao, one of China’s premier landscape painters and an associate professor at Beijing’s Renmin University, spent a year on campus, painting and sharing his knowledge with students and the community.

Tim Sisk, director of humanitarian assistance at the Josef Korbel School, hosted a symposium on “Sustainable Peacebuilding: Regional Approaches and Pivotal States” in Vail, Colo. The symposium is the research track of a larger project aimed at filling an important gap in our understanding of peace building.

Brazil
More than 30 judges from Brazil came to the University for an intensive educational seminar focusing on American law in eight areas, ranging from criminal law to environmental law.

Brazilian guitarist Marcus Tardelli journeyed to DU to share his talents at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts.

Canada
Alumnus Paul Stastny, who played two years of hockey with the Pioneers, won a silver medal with the U.S. men’s hockey team at the Vancouver Olympics. DU alpine skier Leif Kristian Haugen skied for Norway in the games’ giant slalom and slalom events, while alumnus Tom Zakrajsek coached U.S. women’s champion Rachael Flatt to a seventh-place finish in figure skating.

China
The Center for China-U.S. Cooperation presented “China on the World Stage: The Struggle of a Rising Power,” a one-day conference in Denver.

DU’s Bridges to the Future program explored the serious challenges facing China. Among the speakers visiting campus: James Fallows of The Atlantic Monthly; and Wang Gungwu, chairman of the East Asian Institute and University Professor at National University of Singapore.

Eight students in the master’s-level Social Work From a Chinese Perspective class spent 10 days in China studying social work practices in urban and rural settings.

Costa Rica
Through his newly founded nonprofit, Habitat Healers, alumnus Bill Valaika enlisted a group of volunteers to clean beaches to ensure that sea turtles have a safe place to lay their eggs. The group removed and recycled more than 5,500 pounds of trash from coastal habitats.

France
Law Professor Ed Ziegler presented “American Cities, Sustainable Development and Obama’s New Green Initiatives” at Pantheon-Sorbonne, University of Paris.

Greece
Alan Gilbert of the Josef Korbel School took students in his Socrates in Athens course to Greece’s capital city to explore the trial and death of the classical philosopher.

Guatemala
A multidisciplinary team of geographers, chemists, energy experts and anthropologists from DU, Galileo University, Universidad del Valle and Berkeley conducted basic research on firewood use in rural areas in hopes of designing an improved wood-burning stove that will better serve humans and protect the environment.

Haiti
Stephen Haag of the Daniels College of Business traveled to Haiti to volunteer on construction projects and in an orphanage in the aftermath of the January earthquake.

The DU community raised more than $13,000 for earthquake relief.

India
Twelve students immersed themselves in the culture and geopolitical significance of northern India with Project Dharamsala, one of DU’s longstanding international service learning programs.

Along with several graduate students, Marilyn Williams of the geography department launched a capacity mapping study in New Delhi. The project includes an assessment of local health centers for three slum areas.

Kazakhstan
Elena Augustine and Justin Kimmons-Gilbert, students in the Josef Korbel School’s Peace Corps master’s international program, traveled to Karaganda and Taldy Korgan for service.

Kenya
Alumna Karambu Ringera supported grassroots self-help initiatives for African youths and HIV/AIDS victims through the organization she founded, International Peace Initiatives.

James Herbert Williams, dean of the Graduate School of Social Work, traveled to Nairobi to attend a U.N. expert group meeting on national sustainable development strategies in countries emerging from conflict. Williams was the only American invited to attend.

Mali
DU alumnus Aaron Huey’s photographs of Mali appeared in Smithsonian, illustrating an article about the looting of the country’s antiquities.

The Netherlands
Alumna Brenda Hollis was appointed special prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone in The Hague. She leads the team prosecuting Charles Taylor, former president of Liberia.

Peru
Four members of the Pioneer Leadership Program journeyed to Lima and Pucusana to assist a volunteer team of medical professionals associated with Project C.U.R.E. The trip was funded by DU’s Student Scholar Travel Fund.

Sudan
From its Denver vantage point, DU’s Center on Rights Development hosted an on-campus Darfur crisis simulation, providing students an up-close lesson in conflict-resolution techniques.

Tunisia
Daniels College of Business students taking an interterm course on global perspectives in real estate stopped in Tunisia to visit with local builders, developers and governmental officials. Other stops included Italy, Spain and Malta.

Turkey
From Istanbul, Cherrington Global Scholar Jessi Jones reported, via her blog, that the Turkish Parliament had outlawed the DTP party, the main supporter of Kurds and Kurdish rights. DU students studied in 41 countries in 2009–10.

United Kingdom
Ilene Grabel, professor of international economics at the Josef Korbel School, shared her groundbreaking research on the International Monetary Fund’s response to the current global financial crisis on the London-based Bretton Woods Project website.

New York
In the days following Chile’s 8.8 earthquake in February, alumnus Heraldo Muñoz, Chile’s ambassador to the U.N., acted as a vital communications link to the world from his New York offices, granting interviews to many news agencies.

Washington, D.C.

DU alumnus and U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey hosted a lunch for 35 students from the Josef Korbel School. The students were in town to network with future employers.