Deputy Vice Rector for International Relations – International Projection, Associate Professor José Luis González, presented the UMH at various American university campuses, including Texas State University (San Marcos), University of Texas at San Antonio, Trinity University (San Antonio, Texas), University of California San Diego, Duke University (Durham, North Carolina), and North Carolina State University (NCSU; Raleigh, North Carolina). The main objective of these visits was to introduce the UMH and its academics and foster mobility of students and faculty in the United States. More specifically, José Luis presented the UMH’s Area of US Hispanic Studies and the new Mediterranean Cultural Studies Study Abroad program. Both initiatives were warmly received at the American universities.

José Luis González at UC San Diego with Dan Hallin and Carmen López.

Dr. Ryan Buck hosted Dr. González at Texas State University, and the UMH deputy vice rector also had the opportunity to visit with Professor Marcus Felson, a recipient of an honorary doctorate from the UMH. Activities on this campus consisted in a presentation of the UMH, the Area of US Hispanic Studies, and the study abroad program with Dr. Buck, Assistant Vice President for International Affairs; Isis de la O, Associate Director, Study Abroad Office; Dr. Lucy Harney, Departmental Chair, Department of Modern Languages, in addition to other faculty from this department. Subsequent to this, an interesting meeting was held with representatives from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, directed by Dr. Judy Oskam, and they were informed about the evolution of the Master’s in Innovation in Journalism program at the UMH. The Texas State University meetings concluded with a visit to the Center for the Study of the Southwest, wherein its director, historian Dr. Jesús F. de la Teja, was especially interested in the actions of the Area of US Hispanic Studies framework, such as joint seminars to address border problems in Europe and the United States. The visit to this Texas University concluded with a guided visit to its library, where the legacy of Chicano poet and Professor Emeritus Tino Villanueva was shown.

The UMH was also presented to prestigious Trinity University, and here Associate Professor González had the opportunity to meet with his counterparts, Dr. Nanette C. Le Coat and Dr. Katsuo A. Nishikawa, who positively assessed the UMH internationalization strategy and expressed their interest in visiting our university in the spring of 2017.

The University of Texas at San Antonio was one of the universities interest most in the UMH Mediterranean Cultural Studies study abroad program, and with this university, a framework agreement has already been signed. Associate Professor Margarita Machado-Casas, responsible for international programs at the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies highlighted real possibilities for collaboration between both institutions.

UTSA meeting with Margarita Machado-Casas.

The meetings with American universities in this UMH internationalization process concluded at the University of California San Diego and in the state of North Carolina. In the former, José Luis González met with Professor Daniel C. Hallin; in the latter, presentations took place at Duke University and NC State.