Among the many experiences lost as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has been studying abroad. Given the stay-at-home orders and health directives, the prospect of students traveling overseas became dangerous and study abroad programs have been canceled or moved online since March 2020. However, as vaccines begin to be distributed, hope for a travel-filled future lingers in the air and provides possibilities for students dreaming of a study abroad experience. 

Global Affairs has launched a new fund, the Global Aggie Award for LGBTQIA+ Rights, thanks to the generosity of former UC Davis Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor and former Interim Chancellor Ralph Hexter and his husband Manfred Kollmeier.

On March 4, the sixth annual International Connections Reception, hosted by Global Affairs, brought together the UC Davis community in an online forum to celebrate globally engaged faculty, staff, and scholars. The event included the announcement of this year’s Academic Federation and Academic Senate honorees for the Excellence in Teaching in Study Abroad Awards, conferred jointly between the Academic Senate and Global Affairs.

Christal Juarez, a recent UC Davis Letters and Science grad in anthropology and international relations, shares the impact of her global learning experiences while at UC Davis and explains the importance of accessible global education for all students. Read about Christal's global learning journey.

The 2020-21 UC Davis Global Education for All Fellows are working together and with others across and beyond UC Davis to advance Global Education for All, a campus goal aiming to provide 100% of undergraduate, graduate, and professional students with global learning opportunities that change their lives and our world. In addition to providing input into the Global Education for All Steering Committee work – such as future course development – the fellows are leading projects of their own based on their backgrounds and interests.

Although this year has brought unprecedented challenges, Global Affairs remains proud to welcome the world to UC Davis and connect UC Davis with the world, albeit virtually at the moment. As we leave 2020 behind, we celebrate the Global Affairs news and announcements featured this year with this top 20 of 2020.

The University of California, Davis, has been named as the only university to earn the 2020 Platinum Institutional Award for Global Learning, Research and Engagement from the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, or APLU. As the highest honor from APLU’s Commission on International Initiatives, the award recognizes UC Davis’ institutional achievement in developing and implementing comprehensive and inclusive strategies across global learning, research and engagement.

In recognition of its extraordinary global learning, research, and engagement efforts, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) today named the University of California, Davis the Platinum Award level winner of the 2020 Institutional Award for Global Learning, Research & Engagement. The Platinum Award is APLU’s highest-level award granted to a member institution in recognition of inclusive and comprehensive efforts to internationalize their campus.

Committed to educating the next generation of problem solvers and change makers, UC Davis is working towards Global Education for All—a goal aiming to provide 100% of our undergraduate, graduate, and professional students with global learning opportunities that change their lives and our world. Here are some ways students engaged in remote global learning this summer.