In 2014, the University of Arizona was home to 3,696 international students from 112 countries (UA factbook).

Intern map

(map retrieved from UA Factbook website)

The University of Arizona may be one of the most linguistically diverse areas in Tucson. So a closer look at this population seemed appropriate to the goals of this project.

The campus of a large research university like the U of A brings together scholars from markedly distinct cultural, political, socioeconomic, and linguistic backgrounds. But quite often, the size of the campus, the amount of people, and the day to day concerns with class make students and faculty walk past each other without a second thought. We often forget to slow down and take advantage of the opportunity to meet someone new, someone we probably wouldn’t get a chance to meet elsewhere, someone carrying a unique history, an alternate set of traditions, viewpoints, and goals. And there are 3,696 of these opportunities on any given school day.

It would also be beneficial to international students who are under the same pressures as local students but may also feel apart from the general population. With this in mind, we added this section in celebration of the linguistic and cultural diversity on the U of A campus. If you’re a University of Arizona student who speaks a foreign or Native American language, send us a video file or link and we will add it to the list below.