Katie Davidson
Assistant Director for Exchanges
Contact Information
Office Location: Military Science 118CPhone: (435) 797-9674
Email: katie.davidson@usu.edu
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Educational Background
Master of Arts in International Education, SIT Graduate Institute
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art, Emphasis in Furniture Design, Murray State University
Bachelor of Arts in German, Murray State University
Expertise
Katie has been working in the Office of Global Engagement at Utah State University since January of 2015. She is the primary advisor for both outgoing and incoming exchange students, the coordinator for both the National Student Exchange (NSE) and the Global Engagement Scholar transcript designation, and the international exchange partner liaison. She co-designs and co-facilitates pre-departure, arrival, and returnee programming, and is a member of NAFSA: Association of International Educators.
Biography
Katie loves advising and supporting students as they embark on life-changing experiences. She has been interested in languages and cultures since she was a child and she took German courses throughout high school and much of college. Her first trip out of the country was to the Bahamas with her BSA Venture Crew to sail on a 70-foot schooner for a week during the summer between junior and senior year of high school, followed by spring break in southern Germany during her senior year. She studied abroad on a summer program in Rome and Florence, Italy, taking a sketchbook artist journal course during the summer after her freshman year of college and later embarked on a semester program in Germany, focusing on language immersion and living with a host family during the fall semester of her junior year. She was a student worker in the Education Abroad Office at Murray State University after her program in Germany. Studying abroad and working in Study Abroad were two of her most favorite experiences during her undergraduate program. As she pursued a master’s degree specifically to go into the field of International Education, she realized the experiential nature of her background in the arts melded perfectly with the experiential nature of international education.
Studying abroad instilled a desire in Katie to explore more of her home country, and she has lived in the Midwest, South, Northeast, and now the West. She has loved getting to experience different cultures both abroad and within the U.S., as well as exploring the different landscapes. Originally hailing from the Midwest, a piece of her heart will always be Hoosier, though after living out West for many years now, she also considers the mountains and red rocks of Utah to be home. She loves living in the mountainous West and the adventures that this beautiful area has to offer. Her beloved dog and companion, Edwin, joins her on most of her journeys in nature. When they’re not out adventuring, she also enjoys sewing, knitting and crocheting, cooking and baking bread, and gardening.