The topic of refugees and immigration might seem far away from Grand View’s campus. Iowa is a landlocked state, far from the borders, and most of Grand View’s student body comes from Iowa. However, there are many immigrants and even refugees living closer to than we may think. Aws Saeed, a refugee from Iraq, is a current student at Grand View who shared his family’s compelling story of coming to the U.S.

Iraq-born Grand View student tells his immigration story

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This year’s Global Vision week theme is refugees and immigration, a topic that Grand View faculty felt was an area of interest to students as well as the community, having such a diverse student population and living in a historically immigrant-friendly and diverse area of Des Moines.  

Global Vision week is an annual event that happens on Grand View’s campus, bringing students and the surrounding community together to discuss a topic of interest and bring awareness to certain issues or ideas.

Laying the foundation for the week will be keynote speaker, Sayu Bhojwani a woman who is head of a student leadership organization called New American Leaders. The goal of Bojwani’s presentation is to share an opportunity to be globally aware; encountering belief systems, heritages, and perspectives that are different from their own. Bojwani’s presentation is labeled “Three Lies and a New American Truth.”  

Heather Brady, associate professor of liberal arts at Grand View is heavily involved in global vision week and said she feels passionately about this event. Brady shared that this year they received a grant from the Iowa Arts Council that allows them to add a new layer to global vision week which is art engagement activities. This year there will be an artist from Chicago who has been working with Grand View art students to design and create a photo booth for the event.  

Another key event during the week will be a storyteller from Cedar Rapids who will be doing a storytelling tradition involving coming from Cameroon, Africa and a spoken word tradition, this presentation is called, “The Quest for Homeland and Security.” The artist will be working specifically with the poetry club and theater students.  

Brady said she feels that this year they have reached out to invite the community to campus to interact with students and share in the experiences and learning of our campus and community involving refugees and immigrants as well as provide structured opportunities for students at Grand View.  

A more detailed schedule of events for global vision week can be found at https://www.grandview.edu/global-vision-week.