Expanding Our Roots: Irene Ziegler

"Expanding Our Roots: Global Conversations With 821" is an online interview series hosted by The 821 Project. The purpose of the series is to showcase the cultural diversity, global connections, and social consciousness of the people of southeast Louisiana as well as those who work to expand southeast Louisiana's roots to the world through works that promote social justice and global citizenship.

The series presents community organizers, community leaders, and residents living in southeast Louisiana who come from different parts of the world or who work to promote global citizenship, multiculturalism, and social justice in our regional community.

This interview is with Irene Ziegler. Irene B. Ziegler has worked in International Education at the University of New Orleans (UNO) since 1992. She has developed and managed several study abroad programs and currently directs UNO’s flagship program abroad, the UNO-Innsbruck International Summer School. Of particular importance to her are increasing diversity in study abroad, and offering experiential learning opportunities, such as the AFS Global Competence Certificate. Born and raised in Austria, she attended the University of Innsbruck, where she majored in Foreign Languages and Education. She earned her M.A. in English at UNO and her Ph.D. in American Literature at the University of Graz (Austria).