"The further away from home you get, the larger home becomes"
Universities are quite possibly the best place to discover and experience a number of different cultures in one place – whilst being invited to share your own culture as well. In Britain, we have been welcoming students and teachers from around the world since the Middle Ages. International connections are noticeable in the earliest English scholarly writings, from the famous Old English poem, Beowulf (which is set in Scandinavia) to the famous plays of Shakespeare set in Venice, Athens and beyond.
Before the UK’s EU Referendum, Sheffield University began a campaign called #WeAreInternational highlighting the benefits international study can bring, not just for the students who come to the UK, but for the communities they come to. Since the referendum result, this hashtag has been taken up by many in the higher education community. The British Council, Universities UK and NUS are now working together on expanding the #WeAreInternational campaign to keep this unity going.
This video tells a little bit about the #StandByMe Selfie Project that Sheffield did in 2014, which celebrates friendship, camaraderie and love between people from different places who met through university. The feeling behind it is at the core of Student World Online, and we look forward to seeing the #WeAreInternational campaign progress. Together, perhaps we can make the place we call home a little larger.
