Salisbury, MD – As Salisbury University’s fall 2023 semester came to a close, Art Department Chair Bill Wolff traveled to Barranquilla, Colombia, to strengthen SU’s partnerships with both the City University of Barranquilla (IUB) and the Universidad del Norte (UniNorte).
He was invited by IUB to lecture and engage with student artists as a visiting global expert during the university’s XIV Annual International Conference on Innovation and Technology.
Wolff’s visit to IUB was the latest in a series of collaborations in art, political science and conflict resolution involving SU and IUB faculty and students, which has included visits by SU faculty in 2018, 2019 and 2022. An exhibit at SU in 2021 featured art by IUB students representing ethnic and racial identity on Colombia’s Caribbean Coast (and remains available online through SU’s Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History and Culture at https://libapps.salisbury.edu/nabb-online/exhibits/show/identidad-cultural-en-colombia).
Following his work at IUB, Wolff engaged with colleagues in the Department of Art and Design at (UniNorte). His visit there came during the second year of bilateral student exchange between SU and UniNorte. The partnership has already seen students study abroad on exchange at both institutions.
“We have an excellent opportunity to develop a strong relationship with IUB and UniNorte,” said Wolff. “We have some great opportunities to continue to collaborate in the classroom with IUB. I am particularly excited to develop the new partnership between our art and design programs at SU and UniNorte’s robust Department of Art and Design.
“UniNorte has a beautiful campus with a great ‘family’ atmosphere, a large and supportive department dedicated to all kinds of study abroad, and design facilities that are comparable to ours. We have just enough overlap in graphic design areas that we have a huge potential for sharing our fine art and specialized crafts programs with students from UniNorte.
“In addition, SU students have the potential to study architecture or industrial design at UniNorte, two programs that we don’t offer.”
Wolff’s visit was part of SU’s intentional efforts to rebuild comprehensive global education during the post-COVID-19 pandemic era by focusing on strengthening SU’s worldwide portfolio of university partners.
“SU has world-class partners on five continents,” said Dr. Brian Stiegler, assistant provost for international education. “Through strategic collaborations with our university partners around the world, SU builds great capacity for global learning in many forms, from student and faculty global mobility, to online virtual global collaborations, to international joint research initiatives.”
Students can learn more about opportunities to study abroad in Colombia and at SU’s university partners around the world for the same amount as a semester in Salisbury by visiting http://salisbury.edu/studyabroad and clicking on the Exchange Programs link.
For more information about SU and opportunities to Make Tomorrow Yours, visit www.salisbury.edu.
