La UNAM en el mundo. Un día en la vida de las Sedes de la UNAM en el Extranjero

The National Autonomous University of Mexico has distinguished itself by maintaining a tradition of international cooperation since its first days. As a project within its Institutional Development Plan, this cooperation has become a mirror for transversality, multiculturalism, and plurality, values that exemplify some of its defining qualities. This qualities of UNAM have made it possible to generate and implement innovative actions to extend its substantive tasks: teaching, research, and the dissemination of culture through different channels: UNAM’s Offices Abroad are one of these.

In 1944, UNAM’s first foreign office was inaugurated in San Antonio, United States. Today UNAM has 12 offices worldwide, remaining faithful to its tradition of cooperation, collaboration, and promotion of the global society of our day.

With UNAM San Antonio, the cornerstone was laid for what would become one of the main pillars of the international strategy, which allowed for the opening of more offices abroad; three Extension schools, at UNAM San Antonio, UNAM Canada, and UNAM Chicago, in addition to nine Mexican Studies Centers at UNAM Los Angeles, UNAM China, UNAM Spain, UNAM France, UNAM United Kingdom, UNAM Tucson, UNAM Germany, UNAM Boston, and UNAM Cuba, according to their order of creation.

With a presence in three continents and eight countries—from which others are reached within their area of influence—the office’s role in the university environment has evolved. Today, it has several axes, including promoting the university’s internationalization through the development of inter- and intra-institutional liaison, cooperation, and collaboration activities; promoting student and academic mobility (incoming and outgoing) in different modalities; and developing international academic programs as a mechanism to strengthen language and other professional skills. Other activities include promoting the teaching and certification of Spanish, disseminating Mexican culture, and supporting the Mexican community living abroad through the Support Program for Mexicans Abroad (PAME) based at UNAM San Antonio.

Also seen as embassies to support our university and Mexican community abroad, the offices abroad trigger the flow of information and knowledge for academics and students. The offices work daily to take full advantage of the broad collaboration and international links with other universities and research centers, becoming a strategic partner of key Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in their local, regional, and online environment through UNAM’s Internationalization Policy.

Likewise, the offices abroad establish collaboration networks with the HEI through agreements and academic exchange programs, allowing UNAM students and professors to participate in mobility programs, carry out studies or research abroad, or professional internships for first degree programs. These networks strengthen the quality and relevance of higher education by allowing the exchange of knowledge and collaboration in a global context.

In recent years, primarily driven by the needs of the COVID-19 pandemic, the offices implemented virtual educational models that developed new teaching-learning environments and promoted innovative research experiences. In the same way, the offices increased the dissemination and communication of the knowledge produced at our University through large-scale meetings that linked different entities in the areas of influence in face-to-face, virtual, and hybrid formats that allowed a return to face-to-face activities in coexistence with virtual tools.

It is worth noting that in 2022, 2,677 academic and cultural activities were carried out. More than 90,400 people attended, and more than 330 thousand reproductions were made in their virtual versions.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF UNAM’S OFFICES ABROAD
The activities described below were carried out on different dates and times. They are ordered here for illustrative purposes, as if they had occurred in one working day.

UNAM France, 10:00 am
2:00 am at University City
During the inauguration of the Mexico Month at Sorbonne Université (SU or the Sorbonne), an event organized by UNAM France and SU as a hybrid event, the authorities of both universities highlighted the relevance of their collaboration and emphasized how being strategic partners has boosted and multiplied the visibility and transcendence of both institutions—Mes de México. Esplendores de ayer y hoy featured academic events with experts from both institutions, cultural and scientific dissemination activities, book presentations, and exhibitions of Mexican films. Although the event’s flagship was the Chair of Excellence, which will allow short research stays, the formulation of interand multidisciplinary academic projects, and the resulting dissemination events for UNAM and SU academics to develop their projects through month-long stays at the host institution.

UNAM France was founded in 2014 and is hosted at the Sorbonne in Paris, France. The history between the two institutions dates back to 1910. Justo Sierra called on the University of Salamanca, the University of Berkeley, and the Sorbonne in Paris —the top references in university education at that time— to inform about the reform of UNAM. This longtime relationship explains the remarkable relationship between both universities and the organization of important events, research projects in all areas of knowledge, summer schools, and cultural activities integrating the communities of both universities is not surprising.

UNAM Spain, 12:00 am, 4:00 am at
University City
The closing event of Verdial begins. This first edition of the Festival brings together more than seventy literary and cinematographic creators to develop a closer connection between Latin American and Spanish culture in panels where experts such as Sergio Ramírez, Jorge Edwards, Jorge Volpi, and Alejandro González Iñárritu discuss. Like this one, UNAM Spain has organized dozens of seminars, congresses, round tables, and master meetings of specialists in all areas of knowledge, such as Sin Frontera, Cerebros, or Con acento.

UNAM Spain was founded in 2013 and is hosted by the Cervantes Institute in Madrid, Spain. In addition to its extensive work in the promotion of the Spanish language, it was created with the mission of launching what is now the International Spanish Language Evaluation Service (SIELE), together with the Cervantes Institute, the University of Salamanca and the University of Buenos Aires. SIELE has become one of the most globally recognized certifications of Spanish language proficiency as it incorporates and evaluates the different varieties of the four linguistic skills.

UNAM Germany 2:00 pm
6:00 am at University City
Five years after initiating academic cooperation with the Freie Universität Berlin (FUB), a meeting is held between rectors, faculty, and students that also includes other institutions in the region, such as Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD), Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Charité and the Mexican Embassy in Germany. The initiatives and progress of the most relevant projects between UNAM and these institutions are presented in this meeting.

UNAM Germany was founded in 2017 and is hosted by the Freie Universität Berlin in Berlin, Germany. Its work in liaison and integration of work teams has been its flag. Its projects to address frontier issues from a cross-cutting perspective have triggered the active participation of UNAM in projects such as GLACIER and the Botanical Landscape of Mexico. Inter- and intra-institutional collaborations such as the one with the FUB, Erasmus+, and various entities and agencies of UNAM have resulted in opportunities to increase the academic assets of our community. The signing of the first simultaneous double-degree agreement with the Technische Universität Braunschweig is worth mentioning.

UNAM Canada, 10:00 am
8:00 am at University City
Seven students take a break outside the symposium of the professional internship program, where they present their degree projects and analyze their progress for which they have two tutors, one at UNAM’s headquarters in Canada and one in their home academic entities, and put into practice the knowledge acquired during their schooling.

UNAM Canada was founded in 1995 in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada, and has been a fundamental part of the life story of students who travel to learn French or English in immersion. In addition, they improve their communication skills and develop new ones that will help them perform better in their workplaces. Of course, there are also academic liaison and cultural dissemination activities that complement the experience for our students.

UNAM Chicago, 10:00 am
9:00 am at University City
The welcome speech begins for the Architecture program students who will participate in a twoweek program in English, where they will learn about the city’s architecture and the country in one of the most emblematic places in the United States.

UNAM Chicago was founded in 2002 in Chicago, Illinois. It has been characterized by organizing professional immersion visits for Actuarial Science, Law, International Business, and Architecture students, including technical language and work performance classes in the city’s environment. Due to the large number of people of Mexican origin living in the area, they have a great bond with this community to whom they give courses to facilitate their stay in the neighboring country, such as the course to obtain citizenship in collaboration with the PAME, which is based at UNAM San Antonio.

UNAM Boston, 12:00 am
10:00 am at University City
Thirteen students from the University of Massachusetts (UMass) will receive academic credits for the first time by participating in the course on Human Rights and Migration in Mexico, designed by academics from UNAM’s Faculty of Law. These courses are the first step in developing a collaborative online international learning (COIL) with that university, where subject matter experts will participate. The course is held face-to-face at University City.

UNAM Boston was founded in 2017 and is hosted by the University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA. It is located in the mecca of the so-called Ivy League. From there, UNAM Boston has promoted various collaborations that have resulted in seminars, congresses, meetings, and roundtables in all areas of knowledge. This office is where the online offerings began, and its specialized English immersion courses are highly sought after by Law students.

UNAM United Kingdom, 8:00 pm
1:00 pm at University City
The bilingual and online lecture series Tláloc, the Jaguar and the Serpent: Art and Archaeology in Indigenous America consist of five modules and four master lectures, with subtitled videos presented by specialists from UNAM’s Institute for Aesthetic Research, UNAM UK, and other Mexican and Latin American HEIs. These specialists collaborate directly with their counterparts from University College London and King’s College London, among others. UNAM UK has received the award from the Continuing Education Network of Latin America and Europe (RECLA) in the Internationalization of Continuing Education category. RECLA comprises eighteen countries from the Americas and Europe and seeks to generate spaces for exchange and collaboration on strategic management, trends, and the future of continuing education, making this office a benchmark.

UNAM UK, founded in 2015 and hosted by King’s College London, takes advantage of its close relationship with traditional HEIs to promote the integration of cross-cutting projects that involve academics from both institutions and focus on finding solutions to emerging problems with global impact. They have also ventured into COIL, with the Faculty of Accounting and Administration and the University of Sussex Business School, where students from both institutions could practice their knowledge and strategic skills to market a company in different markets.

UNAM San Antonio, 2:00 pm
3:00 pm at University City
The webinar An Approach to Educational Evaluation and Its Impact on Education and Health begins as part of the Mental Health Seminars, an initiative developed by UNAM San Antonio, UNAM Canada, and UNAM’s Psychology Postgraduate Program. These collaborations often result in synergies and benefit the public of these face to face or virtual activities.

UNAM San Antonio, as already mentioned, was founded in 1944 as an Extension School of UNAM. It offers courses and workshops and organizes academic seminars, conferences, exhibitions, and literary gatherings, among other activities. It should be noted that it is the only certified office by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program that facilitates students to get their visas.

UNAM China, 5:00 pm
3:00 am (of the previous day) at University City
During the University of Beijing’s School of Medical Humanities lecture to students and specialists, a specialist from the Institute of Engineering highlighted that urban environmental strategies should be developed. These strategies should include promoting resource management rather than increasing supply, rational use of water resources, and encouraging a change in current water consumption patterns.

UNAM China was founded in 2012 and is hosted by Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing, China. It has been the backbone of our University’s relationship with China and the Asian region. Its work in academic liaison, collaboration, and exchange with both the host country and our University —in addition to its publications, translations, Spanish courses, and now online Chinese courses— has generated great exchanges and increased our community’s academic wealth.

UNAM Tucson, 7:30 pm
6:30 pm at University City
The conference Volcanoes and Supereruptions in Earth’s Past begins within the International Meeting of Sciences, Arts, and Humanities framework, organized by UNAM’s Offices in Tucson, San Antonio, and Los Angeles. These three offices collaborated as part of the knowledge dissemination and liaison activities promoted by UNAM’s Coordination for Scientific Research. Conferences, workshops, and concerts for children and adults were held for three days both face to face and online.

UNAM Tucson was founded in 2015 and is hosted by the University of Arizona, United States of America. This office carries out research projects in sustainability, energy, environmental engineering, and water management, such as the Binational Laboratory on Climate Change Vulnerability, Adaptation, and Sustainability; astronomy and tsunami studies, among others, linking specialists from UNAM’s Institutes and Centers with their counterparts at the University of Arizona and other strategic partners in the region. All this without setting aside studies on the border, migration, and human rights. UNAM Tucson also promotes awareness that our compatriots face discrimination when migrating from their places of origin. It is essential to fight against the ignorance that results in reduced opportunities so they promote synergies between institutions, associations, and individuals.

UNAM Los Angeles, 8:00 pm
9:00 pm at University City
Hollywood Forever Cemetery, in the distance, you can hear guitars and trumpets, you can smell the copal incense, can see the catrinas hanging around the offerings within the monumental celebration of the most significant Day of the Dead in the neighboring country, with parades, music, costumes, gastronomic samples and traditional cultural expressions that merge the Mexican culture with that of our fellow compatriots in that city.

UNAM Los Angeles was founded in 2005 and is hosted by California State University Northridge, California, United States of America. It is firmly committed to strengthening ties between Mexico and the USA; they offer Spanish and English classes. This UNAM office spearheaded online teaching by agreeing with the Zlingo platform for English teaching and promoting UNAM’s online offer to study high school and degree programs. UNAM LA was also one of the first offices to host the selection exam for online degrees offered at UNAM.



THE MEANING OF INTERNATIONALIZATION
Each of our offices maintains a profile that follows its identity, incorporating institutional projects without neglecting the needs of its local community.

They also collaborate in joint projects such as the UNAM en el Mundo radio show which aired through UNAM’s FM radio station. Another collaboration project was the 200th issue of the Faculty of Accounting and Managing’s magazine Emprendedores on culture in international business.

All five UNAM’s offices in the United States (Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Antonio and Tucson), apply simultaneously the selection exam for online degrees.

They all continue to promote that Mexicans around the world keep in touch with UNAM because wherever there is a Mexican, there is UNAM.

We emphasize that internationalization is in our university’s DNA. Our community is always willing to collaborate with the scientific and academic community and with students from all latitudes, as we are aware that synergy and multiculturalism generate knowledge that benefits our societies.

Enrique Graue, Rector of UNAM, expressed the following during the renewal of the letter of intent with the University of Arizona: “In science, education, and knowledge, there are no borders […] We have to continue working together to eliminate any barrier.”

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