Our Global Campus Podcast

Engage the World through Illinois

Our Global Campus wordmarkThe podcast Our Global Campus: Engage the World Through Illinois features the international and intercultural experiences of students and professionals, who dare to explore life on the other side of their cultural assumptions.

Hosted by the International Programs Team in the College of LAS, each episode unpacks the complexities that often attend the journey of finding one's place in the world.



The podcast can also be accessed via multiple streaming platforms listed on the Spotify for Podcasters platform. 

Jump to Season 1  
Jump to Season 2
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Ashish Gaur
About the host

​​​​​​Ashish Gaur is a doctoral researcher in Philosophy of Education at the College of Education, UIUC. As an educator who values the process of unlearning and continual growth, his passion for meaningful conversations that inspire thoughtful reflection and fresh ideas brings him to this podcast.

Jasmine Morkeh
About the host

​​​​​​Jasmine Morkeh is an undergraduate student studying political science in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois. She is also a member of the 4th cohort of the LAS Global Leaders Program. 

Nikia Brown
About the host

The Our Global Campus podcast is hosted by Nikia Brown, LAS Associate Director of Intercultural & Global Learning, International Student Experience. She directs the LAS 100 orientation course for international students & Global Leaders Program.

Brown was also the host of seasons 1-4 of Our Global Campus Podcast. 


Season 5 episodes

Photo of Cindy Wilson wearing t-shirt with text "too much soul" printed across
Multicultural Circumstance
Cindy shares her perspective on her struggles with social identity and belonging while growing up in the South with an African American family as a Korean adoptee.
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Qiaoyi Nie and Alesha Lewis
The RACE to Presidency
Qiaoyi Nie and Alesha Lewis employ their research backgrounds in Political Psychology and Racial Politics to assess the various factors that will govern who will win the race to the presidency.
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Season 4 episodes

Episode 1, season 4 of Our Global Campus Podcast
Connecting the Dots
Marissa Lombardi discusses how following her passions and a non-linear path led to a career in education abroad.
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Jude Mensah
Language as a Tool for Connection
Jude Mensah's passion for language learning and teaching is neatly juxtaposed with his thoughts on language as a vehicle for cross-cultural communication.
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Global studies senior Eva Sypsis
Behind the Scenes of Study Abroad
Eva Sypsis takes a behind-the-scenes look at at some of the challenges and triumphs that accompany education abroad.
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Dr. Charles Fogelman, professor of Global Studies at the University of Illinois
Profit or People: How Multinational Corporations Use Power
Dr. Charles Fogelman, whose research focuses on the relationship between land and people, discusses corporate social responsibility (CSR) with guest hosts Isabel and Sameer from the LAS Global Leaders Program.
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Season 3 episodes

Episode 1, season 3 of Our Global Campus
LAS & KSA Welcome New Korean Students
Jiwon Lee, president of the Korean Student Association, reflects on a new student event in Seoul and shares her goals for the KSA.
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Episode 2, season 3 of Our Global Campus
War’s Disruption of Language, Culture & Identity
Ekateryna (Kat) Bondareva details how she is personally affected by the war in Ukraine and the ways in which it has brought into question her language, culture and identity.
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Episode 3, season 3 of Our Global Campus
Iconically International
Students boldly address the challenges facing international students on UIUC’s campus and their plans to help mitigate some of these barriers.
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Episode 1: Korean - 신입생 한국 학생 환영회 LAS & KSA
 

Episode 4, season 3 of Our Global Campus
Goalbalization
Ava Marginean and Kayla Constabileo, LAS Global Leaders and soccer aficionados, discuss the interplay of soccer, globalization, and identity.
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Episode 5, season 3 of Our Global Campus
Study Abroad & Sustainability: Steph’s Estancia in Spain
Global Studies major, Stephanie (Steph) Lepak, shares how her passion met a problem that subsequently revealed her purpose.
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Episode 6, season 3 of Our Global Campus
Global Initiatives + Environmental Justice
LAS Global Leader Colette Schlie and McKenzie F. Johnson, assistant professor of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, discuss the implications of global governance.
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Episode 7, season 3 of Our Global Campus
A Testimony of Transformation Through Travel
Martin Källstrand set out to visit all 195 countries 25 years ago. On the heels of his visit to his final country, Eritrea, he shares an exclusive interview about his life-changing journey around the world.
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Season 2 episodes

Episode 1, season 2 of Our Global Campus
The What and Why of Representation
Dr. Isabel Molina-Guzmán discusses her journey to becoming the Associate Dean of Diversity & Inclusion for LAS.
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Episode 2, season 2 of Our Global Campus
Trading My Suit in Kazakhstan for Swag in Illinois
Assel Aryn, Vice Rector of AlmaU in Kazakhstan, describes what it’s like to push pause on a career and study abroad later in life.
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Episode 3, season 2 of Our Global Campus
Home: A Re-Evaluation
Students discuss how as they cross national and cultural borders, they develop transnational identities and are able to find a sense of home.
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Episode 4, season 2 of Our Global Campus
How Study Abroad Led to a Lifetime of Service
Catherine Barry, former U.S. State Department Foreign Service Officer, details how study abroad led her to engage with the world.
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Episode 5, season 2 of Our Global Campus
Enabled Abroad: Amideast Talks Access & Agency
Ahmed Shehata and Ahmed Abdelaziz (U.S.–Egypt Higher Education Initiative) discuss how international education programs help students with disabilities study abroad.
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Season 1 episodes

Episode 1 of Our Global Campus
Graduating Senior Reflects on Life & Leadership
Shaojing Gao takes us on her journey from China to her varied experiences as a student and campus leader at UIUC.
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Episode 2 of Our Global Campus
Survival Tips from an International Transfer Student
LAS TA HyeJin Tina Yeo talks with Jeongeun Seo, a junior in chemistry, about transferring as an international student from South Korea.
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Episode 3 of Our Global Campus
From Indonesia to Illinois
Fisca Aulia, a development planner in the Ministry of Planning in Jakarta, details her journey as a graduate international student.
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Episode 1: Mandarin - 來自中國的大四畢業生回首在伊利諾伊大學的生活與領導之路
Episode 2: Korean - 국제 편입 학생을 위한 서바이벌 팁

 

Episode 4 of Our Global Campus
Korean, Yet Culturally Black
Cindy Wilson discusses her experience growing up as a transnational Korean adoptee with an African American family in the southern U.S.
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Episode 5 of Our Global Campus
Negotiating Hybrid Identities Abroad
Robert Whitmore and Issy Marquez discuss what it means to be African American and Latina abroad.
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Episode 6 of Our Global Campus
One Adventurous Third Culture Kid
Katrina Rbeiz shares her diverse experiences growing up as a Lebanese-American in the Middle East and how they are influencing her studies.
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Episode 7 of Our Global Campus
Campus in China, Class in Illinois
Yunong Zhang and Yiren Dai discuss their experiences studying at UIUC from China.
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Episode 8 of Our Global Campus
Lessons from Tram 49
Emily Freiburger recounts the ways German shifted from a language to a love through her time abroad in Vienna.
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Episode 9 of Our Global Campus
Togetherness by Design
Christopher Earney, Head of the UN Secretary General’s Crisis Insights Team, speaks of the critical interplay of mental health and innovation.
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Episode 7: Mandarin - 在中國校園裡的伊利諾伊大學課堂-新常態下的混合學習項目
Episode 8: German - Illinois in Vienna Programs oder Weisheiten der Straßenbahn 49

 

Episode 10 of Our Global Campus
Being Black in China Means...
Angelique Evans, doctoral student in U of I’s College of Education, takes us on her incredible journey as an international student and Black professional in China.
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