Last month, 16 English professors from Uzbekistan visited Oglethorpe University as part of a short-term scholar initiative funded by the U.S. Department of State and run by the Intensive English Program at Georgia State University.

Professors from Uzbekistan pictured in Hearst Great Hall during a tour of campus.

The professors, who range from 24 to 70 in age, teach at colleges in several regions of Uzbekistan. They were selected to be part of the initiative because of their work at the U.S. Embassy in Uzbekistan, where they teach free English classes to underserved youth.

The initiative is designed to spur educational and cultural exchange — including the Oglethorpe visit, which was organized by Dr. Marisa Antencio, assistant dean and director of Global Education.

“We [were] excited to be asked by our GSU colleagues to have the group visit Oglethorpe and offer them an opportunity to learn more about liberal arts education, Oglethorpe students, and history of our campus,” Dr. Atencio shared.

OU studio art major Sophia Sobrino ’24 leads a tour of OUMA’s “Yehimi Cambrón: Documenting the Undocumented.”

The half-day visit to Oglethorpe included a welcome from Senior Director of Admission Jaleen Washington, a campus tour, and a presentation about Oglethorpe’s history by Eli Arnold ’06.

The day closed with a tour led by rising senior Sophia Sobrino ’24 of the OU Museum of Art’s current exhibition “Yehimi Cambrón: Documenting the Undocumented.”

Oglethorpe was the only campus, other than GSU, that the professors had the opportunity to experience.