As a Duke van rolled to a stop in front of Target, Lisa Giragosian glanced in the rear view mirror and grinned at the diverse group seated behind her. Her gaze was greeted by a warm smile from Katalin Molnar, a visiting scholar from Hungary and research associate in Biological Sciences.
"Thank you for driving us here," Molnar said, opening a small floral notebook that contained a shopping list. "I want to bake a Hungarian cake from my family's recipe, and I need ingredients," she said, jotting items such as coconut, flour and honey.
For the moment, the van was a veritable worldwide welcome wagon, and Giragosian, assistant director for services at Duke's International House, its multi-lingual chauffeur. She and other International House staff members make the shopping excursion twice a month as part of the services International House offers to help people from around the globe acclimate to Duke and the United States.
"I don't know what I would do without the people at International House because they help with so many things," Molnar said. "When someone moves to the United States, there is a lot of paperwork involved and other challenges."
Visiting scholars fulfill vital roles as researchers, professors and physicians, among other positions, at the university and health system. Duke's International House serves as a lifeline and support network.
This fall, Duke has 550 visiting scholars, 100 are new to campus.
Did You Know?
- Duke has 550 visiting scholars on campus this fall.
- More than 500 visiting scholars used International House services in the past year.
- The number of visiting Duke scholars has risen nearly 40 percent in the past five years.
- The top visiting scholar countries are China, Japan, Korea, Italy and Germany.
- More than half of Duke post-doctoral scholars hail from countries outside the United States.
How to Get Involved
If you don't have direct contact with international scholars through your job at Duke, you can still welcome them by participating in several International House initiatives, including making donations to the "Loan Closet" or participating in the weekly conversation club. For more information call 684-3585 or click here.
"The number of visiting scholars and the number of countries they come from grows almost every year," Giragosian said. "This year, we've got visiting scholars from more than 100 countries."
Duke's vibrant international community enriches the campus, but the transition for visiting scholars may not always be easy. Whether it's basic needs -- transportation for grocery shopping or help finding a rental house, or more complicated needs -- applying for a Social Security card or North Carolina driver's license -- the International House assists.
The goal is to equip visiting scholars with skills to handle life's daily issues on their own, said Patrick Morris, program coordinator.
"It might be as simple as helping a family get their power turned on or finding a way for them to get a cell phone without signing a long term contract," Morris said. "At other times, a visiting scholar might need assistance with taxes or in dealing with issues involving an illness in the family back home or feeling isolated."
Among its services, the International House hosts an informal orientation session several times a week about topics ranging from housing to registering children for school and signing up for English classes. Workshops also are offered on buying a used car, for example. Plus, visiting scholars can borrow linens, small appliances and other goods through the Loan Closet.
"Because International House staff is not doing any of the visa work, this allows us to focus on services and programming in addition to trainings." Giragosian said. "These are things that Duke is doing that you won't find on many other college campuses."
Many visiting scholars, including Susan Leadbetter, said they appreciate the extra help in navigating foreign systems.
After only a few days in Durham, Leadbetter was among the seven visiting scholars who rode to Target on a recent Saturday to shop. Leadbetter, 27, is from Britain and working as a research associate in the Earth & Ocean Sciences division. Armed with a list of "basic essentials" such as shampoo and fresh fruit, she made her way around the store.
"So far, the biggest complication is transportation," Leadbetter said. "I'll have to get used to the public transit system here. Until then, though, I'm very glad International House offers rides to the store."
Other challenging obstacles for visiting scholars include day-to-day issues such as loneliness and communicating with co-workers. Molnar, the visiting scholar from Hungary, attends an English conversation club every week at the International House.
"I've met a lot of new friends there," Molnar said. "I think it's wonderful that Duke assists people who are new to America."
Some Duke departments are following the cue from International House. Staff members in Romance Studies, for example, worked through the summer to welcome about a dozen new visiting scholars serving the department. To prepare for their arrival, Catherine Knoop, a Romance Studies staff assistant, attended a recent workshop at International House. Knoop and about 20 other staff members from various departments learned tips for helping visiting scholars and exchanged information gleaned from previous experiences.
"We get a lot of questions about things like bus routes, health insurance and driver's licenses," Knoop said. "We help them with the issues we can, and for the more-complicated things, we direct them to International House."
Based on advice during the workshop, the Romance Studies department created an information packet with pointers about living in Durham.
"It's a cheat sheet that explains things like where to find out about bus routes and where to go for utilities and other services they need," Knoop said.
Along with providing assistance when possible, Knoop and other Duke employees agree that it's important for every person on campus to extend a friendly welcome to visiting scholars.
"You can tell that they appreciate it when you ask them about their culture and their country," said Knoop, "so I'm going to start doing more of that."