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Shelley George and Jui-Chi Wang, MMC students in public relations at the reception. |
Cox Center Organizes Program For Incoming International Students
Graduate students from around the world and around the U.S. studying in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia gathered in September to meet each other and share their initial graduate experiences.
The meeting was organized by the James M. Cox Jr. Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research, a unit of the Grady College, to showcase the contributions of the international students to graduate education in the College. The Graduate Caucus, the graduate student organization of the College, co-sponsored the session.
In attendance were Shushanik Navasardyan, from Armenia, Jisu Huh and Jin Soh, from Korea, and Vandana Shankar from India. Navasardyan is a Muskie Fellow hosted by the Cox Center, while Huh, Soh and Shankar are graduate students in the Cox Center. Elvina Mustafaieva, another Muskie Fellow in the Cox Center, was out of town at the time of the meeting.
Approximately 25 students attended the luncheon gathering. Included were students from Hungary, China, Taiwan, and the Philippines, as well as the countries represented by students in the Cox Center.
Cox Center Director Dr. Lee B. Becker welcomed the students to the Grady College. He also presented a brief overview of the work of the Cox Center.
Dr. Tudor Vlad, assistant director of the Cox Center and a former journalist and journalism professor in Romania, told the students he has always found Americans to be open and friendly and encouraged the new students to get to know their American colleagues.
Dr. Carolina Acosta-Alzuru, advisor to the graduate caucus, told the international students that they make an important contribution to the diversity of perspectives in the classroom of the Grady College. Acosta-Alzuru, a Venezuelan who earned a master's degree and a doctorate in the Grady College before joining the faculty, encouraged the students to share their experiences and perspectives during their time in the College.
Dr. Becker also introduced to the graduate students Yuanxin Dai, a broadcast journalist from China serving as a visiting scholar in the Cox Center. Ms. Dai has been visiting graduate classes to learn about journalism education in the United States as part of her visit.
