Book Talk with Dr. Rajika Bhandari: “America Calling"

1957 E Street Northwest,Washington DC 20052

24 March, 2022

Description

Discussion with Dr. Rajika Bhandari about we can better support international student on U.S. campuses. Join us for a conversation with author Rajika Bhandari, a thought leader on international students and cultural diplomacy, as she shares her personal education and immigration experience. Dr. Bhandari reflects on what it means to be an international student in the United States in her recent book, “America Calling: A Foreign Student in a Country of Possibility.” Kirkus Reviews calls it “a valuable study of an extremely important area of ‘soft diplomacy,’ dispelling all sorts of easy and false assumptions.” A formal conversation about her book with an open Q&A will take place 5:30-7:00pm, followed by a book signing and coffee chat. This event will take place in-person, and will be streamed on Zoom. This event is hosted in collaboration with No Lost Generation GWU, South Asian Society, International Student Association, and the Refugee Educational Advancement Laboratory (REAL). This event is part of the George Washington University South Asian Heritage Celebration. About Dr. Rajika Bhandari: A global expert in international education, Dr. Rajika Bhandari is the author of six academic and nonfiction books and several publications that touch upon the themes of movement, migration, and crossing borders. She has written for the Guardian, Times Higher Ed, the Huffington Post, the Chronicle of Higher Education, University World News and Diplomatic Courier; been featured on NPR, PRI International and Voice of America; and been quoted in the BBC, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Times of India, and Time, among others. With a career in education that spans over 25 years, Dr. Bhandari has held senior leadership roles in the private, academic, and nonprofit sectors and is a widely regarded thought leader in international education. She served most recently at the President and CEO of the IC3 Institute, prior to which she spent over a decade at the Institute of International Education (IIE), one of the world’s oldest and largest international education nonprofits, where she led IIE’s research, impact and thought leadership activities, including the flagship Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange–the most definitive resource on international students and scholars at U.S. colleges and universities and Americans studying abroad. Dr. Bhandari has served on the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO and was one of 100 recipients worldwide to be awarded an IIE Centennial Medal in 2019, marking the Institute’s 100th anniversary. She has also taught as an Adjunct Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University and frequently guest lectures at universities in the U.S. and abroad. She currently serves on the Boards of ISEP Study Abroad and Education Credential Evaluators (ECE). Dr. Bhandari has lived first-hand the experiences she studies and writes about: she came to the U.S. as an international student from India in 1992 to pursue a Ph.D. in Psychology at North Carolina State University, prior to which she obtained her B.A. (Honors) in Psychology at the University of Delhi, India. About moderator Mahima Jain: Mahima Jain (she/her) is a second year undergraduate student at The George Washington University studying International Affairs and Economics with a concentration in International Development. Mahima is involved in the Welcoming Campus Initiative (WCI), a program within No Lost Generation (NLG) which works to promote refugee access to higher education, and she is passionate about the expansion of higher education access to international audiences.