Getting to know the world, one culture at a time 

University of Arizona Global Initiatives will host its second Global Wildcat Festival with international students enrolled in Study Arizona: Short-Term Programs. 

During the summer, Study Arizona: Short-Term Programs hosts international undergraduate and graduate students in STEM fields and social sciences. Students spend 10 weeks in Tucson, living on the UA campus, participating in faculty-mentored research projects, and immersing themselves in a number of different cultures during their experience. 

“We host students from different parts of the world, and the faculty and staff here (at UA Global) thought it would be a good idea for international students to interact with other students participating in this program,” Director of Study Arizona: Short-Term Programs Nadia Alvarez said.

Last year, Study Arizona hosted their first-ever Global Wildcat Festival, bringing students together by collaborating in a showcase of their different cultures. Students with original ties from other parts of the world shared their culture’s food, history, fashion or language in order to find common relationships in the heritage or culture of their peers. 

“This is not a traditional festival, where people are divided by country. There is a different dynamic when the students can identify and create an activity that maybe has an intersection between different cultures,” Alvarez said. 

This time around, graduate students in the program will be joining the festival and will be part of the festival’s intercultural showcase at MAC Gym in the UA Rec Center. 

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