Global Presence

Pacifique laying flowers at the Rwanda Genocide Memorial. Photo credit: Aegis Trust/Patrick Ndayishimiye

On July 10, Kent State students visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial, which serves as a place of remembrance and education, during the Kent State Kigali Summer Institute, a three-week education-abroad experience that includes the course Rwanda After the Genocide Against the Tutsi. 

Pacifique Niyonzima, far right, program manager of Kent State's Office of Education Abroad in Africa, based in Kigali, Rwanda, greets students taking part in the Kigali Summer Institute, upon their arrival in Rwanda on July 2, 2023..

Kent State University graduate Pacifique Niyonzima, who as a child survived the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda, is now back living in Rwanda leading Kent State’s outreach efforts there.

 

Kent State Today
Sarah Schmidt, Ph.D., far left, instructor in Kent State's School of Peace and Conflict Studies, and the students taking part in this year's Kigali Summer Institute in Rwanda.

A group of Kent State University students departed Saturday, July 1, for Kigali, Rwanda, where they will take part in the three-week Kigali Summer Institute.

Educators from Stow-Munroe Falls City School District will attend a peace education conference in Kigali, Rwanda. Pictured (from left to right) are: Jeffrey Hartmann, Ph.D., principal of Stow-Munroe Falls High School; Kristy Prough, BA ’99, MED ’02, EDS ’04, assistant superintendent and director of special services; Associate Principal Amanda Murray; and Assistant Principal Evelyn Haught, BSE ’07.

Jeffrey Hartmann, Ph.D., principal of Stow-Munroe Falls High School, said he was interested in attending the conference to learn skills to deal with his school district’s changing landscape. 

Kigali Rwanda on a map

Kent State University is building on the legacy of May 4, 1970, and the mission of its School of Peace and Conflict Studies, when it joins forces with the University of Rwanda in July to help advance peace education across the globe. 

 

American Academy Students in Curitiba, Brazil

For Brazilian student Rafael Bahls, being involved in the Kent State University American Academy in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil, has expanded his worldview in a multitude of ways.

Hollywood sign in Florence

Acclaimed television producer and writer Don Reo is coming to Kent State Florence as a guest speaker and to and receive a lifetime achievement award. 

Kent State students tour Florence, Italy, with Assistant Dean Kristin Stasiowski, Ph.D.

What first began in 1972 with a small group of Kent State architecture students and faculty traveling to Florence, Italy, for a few weeks has blossomed into one of the most prestigious education-abroad programs in the country.

Brazilian educators at Cleveland sign

A group of educators from Brazil spent two weeks at Kent State participating in workshops and field trips to area schools. 

South Korean Professor Yeonmin Kim, Ph.D., '13, spent the 2022-23 academic year at Kent State as a visiting scholar.

A literature professor from Chonnam National University in Gwangju, South Korea, is wrapping up a year as a visiting scholar at Kent State University with hopes of creating an exchange program between the two schools based on their historic campus tragedies. 

Before he leaves the Kent Campus at the end of June, Yeonmin Kim, Ph.D., ’13, hopes to have plans in place for a continued exchange of students between the two universities, to further the understanding and legacies of May 4, 1970, at Kent State and May 18, 1980, at Chonnam.