2026 Global Colloquium Schedule

Registration and check-in begins at 8:30am in the Kirby Ballroom. Coffee, tea, and pastries will be available to all conference participants.

Presented by Kerry Fierke, Gardner Lepp, and Kailee Grahek

Health professions education increasingly emphasises preparing globally minded leaders who can collaborate across cultural and healthcare system boundaries. As pharmacy practice becomes more globally interconnected, opportunities for students to engage with peers from different countries can broaden their understanding of professional roles, leadership, and healthcare delivery. These experiences also support the development of important competencies such as communication, networking, and cultural awareness. Experiential learning initiatives that facilitate dialogue among international peers provide a valuable avenue for cultivating these competencies. Such experiences may also encourage students to critically reflect on their own professional identity and leadership growth

The Global Leadership Connection (GLC) was designed to connect pharmacy students with international peers for semi-structured discussions about leadership and professional development. This study examined student reflections following participation in the GLC to identify what aspects of the experience were most influential for their learning and professional growth.

Presented by Molly Williams & Oliver Yehlik

URSA is a short documentary that follows UMD undergraduate researchers as they travel to Morocco with academic goals in mind, and return forever changed. But what makes this place, program, and people so unique? Through conversations, reflection, and immersion in a new culture, “URSAns” confront questions of race, belonging, and global citizenship. What begins as research evolves into a story about empathy, confidence, and the transformative power of stepping beyond what you know.

Film run time: 18:28
Discussion to follow 

Presented by Natalie Belsky & Amelia Fischer

This session will focus on the Twin Ports & Northland Shoah Stories project which explores the local ramifications of the Holocaust. Project interns working with Dr. Belsky explore the way in which the Holocaust helped shape our community and how our community was impacted by and responded to these events. Students conduct hands-on research, exploring historical documents (such as Jewish community records and survivor and liberator testimonies) to answer these questions. In our session, we will share the key ideas and concepts behind the project and share some preliminary findings. 

Presented by Olha Podvalna

This presentation highlights first-hand clinical experience providing psychological care during an active war and the realities of supporting clients while living and working under conditions of ongoing threat. While focusing on sleep-related difficulties, it also situates them within the broader context of the daily challenges faced by people living in a war zone. The presenter reflects on navigating the demands of both private practice and volunteer work, as well as the ethical and personal dilemmas clinicians encounter when maintaining professional responsibilities, patient care, and personal safety in a conflict environment.

Presented by Molly Roethler (Podcast Host), Joey Boyd, and Klara DeVries

We talk frequently about the impact of study abroad. But how often do we center students in defining that impact?

This live edition of Wanderlust Wednesday, UMD’s student-led global learning podcast, brings the voices of three returned study abroad participants directly into the Global Colloquium. In a moderated, real-time conversation, three students will move beyond highlight reels and travel anecdotes to examine the harder questions: What disrupted their assumptions? What felt isolating? What nearly prevented them from going? What has actually endured?

This session positions students not as testimonials, but as analysts of their own global learning. Faculty, advisors, and administrators will gain unfiltered insight into how global programs are experienced on the ground and what campuses might rethink as a result.

By transforming a student platform into a public institutional dialogue, this session challenges us to ask: If global learning is central to our mission, are student voices central to the conversation?

Presented by David Beard and Sara Newman

"Going the Distance" can be metaphorical, it can be literal. For example, (a) one can run a marathon as a distance itself, or (b) one can run the metaphorical distance of transforming oneself into a marathon runner. In Spring 2025, students from the University of Minnesota Duluth expanded their annual project, creating a published anthology, to include students from Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador. Together, they talked about distances and they wrote about distances and they edited works from university and community creators from multiple continents.

Presented by Chelsey Miller

Often known for their livelihoods as reindeer herders, the Sámi people's culture and worldview is centered around the natural world. Their homelands extend across Norway, Sweden, Finland and into Russia. A large portion of Sápmi (homelands) exists above the Arctic Circle. I will share a bit about the Sámi people overall and the issues that have impacted their culture in the past and present day. 

Presented by David Woodward & Steve Matthews

This presentation outlines a comprehensive, long-term project exploring the deep, multi-layered historical and archaeological landscape of Western Ireland. This research offers a holistic view of Irish heritage, spanning from prehistoric settlement to nineteenth-century social history through integrating hands-on institutional internships with historical field surveys.

The project’s methodology successfully bridges public history with active archaeological investigation. Experiential learning was conducted through internships with prominent heritage organizations, including the 14 Henrietta Street Tenement Museum, the Irish National Labour History Museum and Archive, and Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, among others. These internships provide critical insights into heritage management, the curation of working-class narratives, and the public interpretation of vernacular life.

Complementing this institutional work, extensive fieldwork was executed across the western region. Key archaeological projects included the mapping of a potential early habitation site and passage tomb on the Aran Islands, alongside the documentation of an early ecclesial site in Roscam using Ground Penetrating Radar. The project also encompassed field surveys of Merlin Castle, detailed cemetery analyses, and a localized material culture study of a nineteenth-century blacksmith forge in Galway.

This presentation synthesizes these diverse findings, illustrating how combining public heritage practice with landscape archaeology creates a nuanced understanding of Ireland’s socio-cultural evolution. Through the examination of a spectrum of sites, from ancient funerary monuments and medieval ecclesiastical structures to urban tenements and rural industrial trades, this research demonstrates the immense value of interdisciplinary approaches in preserving and interpreting the physical remnants of Ireland’s past.

Presented by Ryan Goei, Dana Lindaman, and URSA Alumni

Get to know UMD’s study abroad program, the Undergraduate Research Study Abroad (URSA) program. Unlike most study abroad programs, URSA students chase their own academic interests, developing a research proposal of their choosing, then travel to Morocco to conduct that research. Combining intensive pre-trip cultural preparation, research training, and sustained individual support, URSA is an empowering, culturally immersive experience that transforms the lives of students. Join us to hear about this one-of-a-kind study abroad experience from its coordinators who will outline the structure and logic and alumni who will share their experiences with research and personal growth from URSA. 

Presented by Scott Laderman, Grace Zenk, and Emmett Sum

I began leading a short-term, surfing-based study-abroad program in Central America in 2017. This panel will feature two participants from the 2025-2026 winter-break program in Panama. I will chair and introduce the two panelists and they will discuss their experiences studying abroad while learning to surf.

Presented by Anna Gilmore and Alexa Oleson

Discussion of topics relating to and impacting international students at UMD and beyond, particularly as shaped by changing federal policies. There will be a short presentation tailored to help UMD faculty and staff understand current and anticipated issues followed by a Q&A with UMD international student advisors.

Presented by Julie Etterson, Becca Arends, and Joseph Mbaiwa

The Fulbright Outreach Lecturing Fund (OLF) provides universities with an important opportunity to deepen global engagement by hosting Fulbright Scholars for short-term visits. The recent visit of Dr. Joseph Mbaiwa to UMD demonstrates the many benefits of this program for the campus, the surrounding community, and the visiting scholar. 

Invited through UMD’s Institute on the Environment, Dr. Mbaiwa’s visit sparked meaningful conversations across disciplines. During his time on campus, he met with faculty, staff, students, and community members, sharing insights from his research and international experiences. These interactions created space for dialogue on environmental sustainability, conservation, and the social dimensions of environmental change, while allowing faculty to exchange ideas and explore potential collaborations. 

The visit also strengthened connections between the university and the broader community. By engaging in discussions beyond the classroom, Dr. Mbaiwa helped extend the impact of Fulbright programming and demonstrated how international scholarship can enrich local conversations about shared global challenges. 

Programs like the Fulbright Outreach Lecturing Fund show how even short-term scholarly exchanges can have lasting value. They provide accessible opportunities for institutions to connect with international experts, stimulate interdisciplinary dialogue, and expand global perspectives in teaching and research. 

Presented by Dan Nolan

This lightning round presentation invites faculty at University of Minnesota system campuses to propose new Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) projects that explore the value of international learning for sustainability education and climate action. In this program, curriculum development partnerships will be supported with faculty at the Free University in Berlin, the University of Applied Sciences Münster, and the University Duisburg Essen, as well as other German universities. Project proposals are welcome from all fields.

With funding from the Center for German and European Studies and the German Academic Exchange Service, UMN faculty in this program will receive four forms of support to carry out new curriculum development projects and develop strong international relationships. Faculty are first invited to explore partnerships with interested faculty at German universities. Faculty can then receive funding to cover all costs to visit their German counterparts. As faculty complete and implement projects, honoraria are available to support faculty as they report on project activities in coming years. Then in 2028, German partners are invited to travel to Duluth with support from grant funds to take part in a summit on the intersection of international learning, sustainability education and climate action. To further support these efforts, a six-week professional development series is offered during each year of the grant to guide faculty through the COIL co-development process, with emphases on equity in international exchange and sustainability education through COIL. Support will also be provided for faculty interested in publishing on their COIL projects. coil.umn.edu

Gather with us at the Global Impact Awards Lunch, featuring our spotlight speaker, Luis Islas, whose talk -- The Wixárika: History, Identity & Continuity -- will offer a compelling exploration of culture, identity, and resilience. The lunch includes the presentation of this year's Global Impact Awards, as we celebrate the incredible global engagement happening across our community.