International Education Week

IEW 2026
Better Together: Strength in Community
November 8–12

“In celebration of International Education Week (IEW), Elon University is proud to recognize the relationships and shared experiences that make global education possible. From November 8–12, we will explore this year’s theme, “Better Together: Strength in Community.”

At its core, this theme reflects a simple but important idea: international education thrives through meaningful  relationships, shared experiences, and collective purpose. Global learning is strengthened when students, faculty, staff, and partners come together across cultures, disciplines, backgrounds, and perspectives.
The theme also reflects Elon’s commitment to relationship-rich and engaged learning. Whether through experiences on campus, in the local community, or around the world, international education creates opportunities to build connections, learn with and from others, and develop a deeper understanding of our shared and interconnected world.

Throughout the week, we invite the Elon community to consider questions such as:

  • How do relationships across cultures and perspectives deepen learning and understanding?
  • What helps create communities in which people from different backgrounds can contribute, connect, and thrive?
  • How can shared experiences help us move beyond simply encountering difference to learning meaningfully from one another?
  • What can local communities teach us about global connection, and what can global perspectives contribute to our communities at home?
  • How can collaboration across disciplines, cultures, and institutions help us address challenges that no one community can solve alone?
  • What role can each of us play in creating a stronger and more globally connected Elon community?

IEW is made possible through the collaboration of many units across campus, including the Isabella Cannon Global Education Center (GEC), the Center for Race, Ethnicity, and Diversity Education (CREDE), World Languages and Cultures, the Global Neighborhood, the Center for Research on Global Engagement (CRGE), and International and Global Studies (IGS).