More than 500  faculty, staff, students and alumni celebrated the 50th anniversary of Global Education at Dickinson with a series of events hosted in Washington, D.C. over the weekend of Oct. 15 through 17. The weekend began with a Friday-evening reception for alumni of the Bologna program, and continued on Saturday with globally themed lectures and demonstrations led by faculty, study-abroad alumni and special guests.

The weekend commemorated the founding of Dickinson’s first study abroad center in Bologna Italy in 1965 by Professor of Political Science K. Robert Nilsson. Since the opening of the Bologna program, Dickinson has built study abroad centers in more than 30 countries and has increased its offerings by partnership programs.

Alumni connected with each other on Saturday afternoon in a paella picnic and a talk on the future of global food production with Daniel White’ 06. They toured the National Gallery of Art, International Spy Museum and US Holocaust Museum. Later, guests attended speeches given by President Nancy Roseman and Provost Neil Weissman at the Dupont Circle Hotel.

“The innovative approach and strong institutional commitment to global studies were among the most attractive aspects of Dickinson when I was going through the presidential search,” Roseman said in her speech. “I am even more impressed with our global studies program today than I was when I was first introduced to it three years ago. To everyone who has devoted their time and resources to the advancement of global studies at Dickinson over the past half century, thank you!”

At the reception that followed, the establishment of the K. Robert Nilsson and Juliana P. Nilsson Scholarship Fund was announced. The fund was created by alumni to give support to students studying in Bologna. At the end of the day, individual class dinners were hosted by former program leaders in class from 1966 to 2015 of Dickinson’s Bremen, Cameroon, Malaga, Norwich, Toulouse and Moscow programs, marking the end of the celebration.

Alumni fondly recalled their memories of studying abroad at the various events during the celebration.

“[Studying in Bologna] was one of the most impactful experiences in my life,” said Lou Grossman ’73 who attended Dickinson’s study abroad program in Bologna, Italy as a member of one of the earliest groups. “Nilsson taught me discipline, self-reliance and the ability to appreciate a different culture. Ah Bologna bella, I get warm and fuzzy feelings just mentioning the name.”

“More than any other single life experience, it molded me into the person I became,” said Cristina Nilsson Christy ’81. “And now, I pass [the experience] on to others. So it will go on and on.”