BEYOND is a community-wide celebration of the history and culture that ties us together as a global society.

This year's theme, A Silk Road Journey, offers a cross-cultural and interdisciplinary approach to understanding how major world civilizations have influenced each other over time.

BEYOND events include an international cooking class, a guest speaker, and our signature event BEYOND the Silk Road Experience, which gives students and community members a chance to explore the silk road throughout time.

Find out more about each event here.

Join classrooms and book clubs throughout the community in reading the moving travel novel Shadow of the Silk Road by Collin Thubron.

Books will be available at the James L. Lundberg Bookstore, online, and in stores throughout the Big Rapids community.

BEYOND has grown out of a collaboration between students, faculty, staff, and alumni with backgrounds in almost every field and region around the globe.

Contributors include Dr. Tracy Busch, Dr. Shahram Parastesh, Dr.Piram Prakasam, Dr. Randy Groves, students Richard Byington, Ashley Phillips, and Haley Pilgrim, staff members Toni Dye, and alumnus Lynn Overmyer.

In addition to this core group, over 40 faculty and teachers throughout the community are signing on to incorporate the silk road into their courses. Learn more about this opportunity here.

Sponsored by the Center for Global Studies and Engagement of Ferris State University.