Presentations on climate change, changes in the Chinese language and Africa in the 21st century will highlight the winter lecture series from the Center for International Studies at Western Washington University. The center sponsors lectures and presentations by visiting and resident scholars during the academic year.

All presentations are at noon on the following Tuesdays in College Hall Room 131 on the WWU campus:

Tina Storer, education and curriculum specialist for the Center for Canadian-American Studies at Western Washington University, is the 2009 recipient of the International Education Award.

Storer coordinates the nationally acclaimed Annual K-12 STUDY CANADA Summer Institute for K-12 Educators. The mission of the program is to provide elementary, middle and high school teachers with a foundation for teaching about Canada and to encourage increased curriculum connections to our northern neighbor.

The fall quarter competition for International Seed Grants is now open.

The Center for International Studies offers the seed grants to assist Western Washington University faculty members in developing a new course or in revising an existing course that will feature international and/or comparative material and perspectives.

Two grants of $1,500 each will be awarded fall quarter for projects to be conducted during the winter or spring quarters of 2010. Funded project reports will be due 60 days after completion of project.

Proposals are due Nov. 20.

Reid Nelson, who has a master’s degree in experimental psychology from WWU, will present “Effects of Similarity and Tourist Status on Prosocial Behavior: A Field Study in Spain” at noon today in College Hall Room 131. Nelson will discuss the results of his research on the likelihood of a Spaniard helping a suspected tourist based on the tourist’s attire, stated nationality and choice of language.

The lecture is part of WWU's Center for International Studies Fall Lecture Series.

Presentations on aspects of life in Spain, Mongolia, Kenya, East Asia and the Siberian Arctic will highlight the fall lecture series from the Center for International Studies at Western Washington University. The center sponsors lectures and presentations by visiting and resident scholars during the academic year, covering such diverse topics as children’s family lives in Kenya and the behavior of Spaniards toward soccer-jersey-wearing tourists.

The International Education Award recognizes the efforts of members of the Western Washington University community in expanding global awareness and international understanding on the campus and in the surrounding communities. It was established in 2008 to highlight exceptional innovations in curriculum development, facilitation of study abroad activities and provision of services to international students and scholars.

The Center for East Asian Studies and the Center for International Studies will present "Kuniyoshi's Faces: Ukiyo-e and the Renaissance," a presentation by Piergiacomo Petrioli, at 3 p.m. Today, Sept. 28, in Viking Union Room 552.

Petrioli is an expert in medieval and Renaissance art and 19th-century American and English criticism of Italian Renaissance.

Currently a visiting scholar at Baylor University, Petrioli is exploring the existence of crucial links between Renaissance Tuscan aesthetics and pre-modern Japanese art.

The Center for International Studies at Western Washington University plans to throw a shindig Tuesday to welcome international students to campus.

The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place in the Viking Union Multipurpose Room from 4:30 to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 29. Those planning to attend should RSVP via e-mail to cis@wwu.edu.