Global Encounter: Framing MSUs Global Engagement for the 21st Century, held on campus April 20, provided members of the university with an opportunity to think collectively about the strategic direction of MSUs international engagement. ... Additional forums with either a regional or thematic focus will convene in the future, starting with Global Encounter: China, on May 18 in the International Center. Future forums will build on the broad themes that emerged from the April 20 event, wh

Global Encounter: Framing MSUs Global Engagement for the 21st Century drew approximately 350 members of the MSU community to the Breslin Center on April 20. The all-day open forum, a first step in charting MSUs future international direction, was hosted by Kim Wilcox, provost, and Jeffrey Riedinger, acting dean of International Studies and Programs.

The National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University is not only home to the nations premier rare isotope facility, its also home to the co-recipient of the 2006 Sackler Prize in the Physical Sciences. Thomas Glasmacher, professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and associate director of operations at the NSCL, is one of two physical scientists selected from an international pool of researchers to receive the prize this year.

New research shows Chinas farmers stretched to the breaking point between the countrys booming economy and slow-moving government bureaucracy. The data help explain the significant public discontent in Chinas countryside, said Jeff Riedinger, acting dean of International Studies and Programs at Michigan State University and a co-author of the study that will appear this fall in the New York University Journal of International Law and Politics.

A new e-publication/website, MSU Today International Edition, debuted on April 27. The quarterly publication is a collaborative project of the units represented on the Forming International Partnerships Committee. To view the publication on the web and to subscribe to future issues, go to http://www.international.msutoday.msu.edu/

Among spotted hyenas, being a supermom is less about packing lunches, and more about packing a hormonal punch that gives her cubs a powerful head start. In a study appearing in the April 26 edition of the international science journal Nature, Michigan State University zoology professor Kay Holekamp and her former graduate student Stephanie Dloniak along with Jeffrey French from the University of Nebraska, report that high-ranking, dominant spotted hyena mothers pass to their offspring high l

On the heels of the adoption of Michigan high school graduation requirements that include online and foreign language courses, a new Michigan State University partnership will establish a pioneering research-based institute providing online Chinese language courses for K-12 and adult learners. The partnership with Chinas National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language and a major Beijing university forms the Michigan State University Confucius Institute. The center joins an expandi

The downtrodden urban work horses of southern Brazil have friends at Michigan State University. Nine undergraduate women and Animal Behavior and Welfare Group director Adroaldo Zanella will spend three weeks in Brazil in June working along side students and faculty there. The MSU Equine Welfare Interaction Strategy-Action team (EQWIS-Action) will assess and improve the lives of some of the more than 6,600 working horses in and around Porto Alegre and Passo Fundo, Brazil.

MSU Federal Credit Union Study Abroad Scholarships Support 104 in 2005-06 In 2003 the MSU Federal Credit Union established a $2.5 million endowment for MSU study abroad scholarships. More than 150 MSU students have already received support through this program. In 2003-04 eleven students were awarded MSUFCU scholarships for a total of $14,000. 47 students received a total of $51,000 in 2004-05. The two funding rounds in 2005-06 yielded at total of 104 awards.

Two Michigan State University professors who conduct international research with hyenas and pandas are among 187 winners of the 2006 Guggenheim Fellowships, awarded to artists, scholars and scientists for distinguished past achievements and exceptional promise of future accomplishments. The MSU faculty members are Kay Holekamp, professor of zoology, and Jianguo Jack Liu, Rachel Carson Chair in Sustainability in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and director of the Center for Systems In

Victoria Moeller, a Chicago native, will be working in the worlds largest particle physics laboratory this summer as part of an internship with the European Organization for Nuclear Research, one of the most prestigious research facilities in the world. Moeller, a Michigan State University senior majoring in physics in the Lyman Briggs School of Science in the College of Natural Science, has been awarded an internship with the European organization also known as CERN, located on the Franco-Sw

Recent global events involving terrorism, the rise of political Islam, and contested notions of free speech highlight the importance of discussions related to Islamic law and its interpretation. Islamic law scholars from the United States and abroad will consider Islamic law approaches, trends in scholarship and the impact of external viewpoints during a conference, titled The Future of Islamic Law Scholarship, from 9:00-5:00 p.m., Thursday, April 13, at Michigan State University College of L

More than a dozen scholars from the United States and abroad will gather at Michigan State University during a two-day conference to discuss Wahhabism, a form of Islam that insists on a literal and strictly constructed interpretation of the Islamic scriptures. The Muslim Studies Program will host the conference "Understanding Wahhabism" Friday, April 7, and Saturday, April 8. The conference is free and open to the public and will take place in Club Spartan on the third floor of Case Hall.

MSU announces the first competition for 10 awards of up to $5,000 each for foreign travel of MSU Ph.D. candidates at the predissertation stage in the Colleges of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Arts and Letters, Education, and Social Science. These awards will support travel abroad to the awardees intended dissertation research sites for a minimum 60-day stay during 2006.

A team of health-care workers, including MSU faculty and students, recently returned home from Playa del Carmen, Mexico, after spending a week providing volunteer medical care for the people of that area. Among us were physicians, nurses, surgical technicians, physical therapists and speechlanguage pathologists from MSU, Sparrow Hospital, and other institutions, all of whom provided a variety of services to the people of the region. Story by Keith Apelgren, Lawrence Prokop and Peter LaPine

Three MSU students were honored for their winning entries in the universitys third annual international student essay contest. More than 70 international students wrote responses to this years questions, designed to help students and people in the greater Lansing community know, feel and appreciate what it is like to be an international student at MSU. News Bulletin story by Geoff Koch

Michigan State University chemical engineering senior Timothy Howes has been selected to receive a prestigious 2006 Churchill Scholarship to pursue graduate study at the University of Cambridge in Great Britain. Hoew is the fifteenth MSU student in the history of the program to be named a Churchill Scholar. Only 10 to 12 Churchill Scholarships are awarded annually.

With a passion for protecting the environment and educating others about conservation, Jacob Phelps, a junior from White Lake, Mich. (by way of Escazu, Costa Rica), has been selected as a 2006 Truman Scholar, making him the 14th Truman Scholar from Michigan State University. Phelps currently is an intern with the nongovernmental organization Community Conservation in La Democracia, Belize. He is working with residents of a rural community to create a group that promotes local involvement in c

Eleven MSU faculty, staff, alumni and students, and two members of the greater Lansing community, will be honored at the universitys annual international awards ceremony on March 29. The public ceremony, to be held on the third floor of the MSU International Center, begins with a 3:30 p.m. reception and will be followed by a 4 p.m. awards presentation. MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon and Provost Kim A. Wilcox are among those scheduled to give remarks.

Eleven MSU faculty, staff, alumni and students, and two members of the greater Lansing community, will be honored at the universitys annual international awards ceremony on Wednesday, March 29. The public ceremony, to be held on the third floor of the MSU International Center, begins with a 3:30 p.m. reception and will be followed by a 4 p.m. awards presentation. MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon and Provost Kim A. Wilcox are among those scheduled to give remarks. The event, now in its 16th y