Princeton international initiatives connect scholars and students around the world, extending Princeton’s reach and infusing the campus with perspectives vital to preparing students to be citizens and leaders of an increasingly global society.
Students who wish to work or study abroad have many choices. The Global Seminars Initiative sends undergraduates around the world, led by a faculty member, to immerse themselves in a culture they are studying. Bridge Year allows incoming freshmen to defer their arrival on campus for a year to work on public service projects abroad while they live with a local family and participate in the life of the community. The international internship program matches students with internships as disparate as working for a health clinic in Sierra Leone or with a traveling social-justice theater group in Chiapas, Mexico. And the study abroad program provides an important complement to on-campus studies through accredited courses that range from engineering in Spain to zoology in New Zealand.
All of these initiatives help students improve their language skills while learning to navigate unfamiliar cultures and broaden their view of the world, gaining insights that they share with their classmates when they return to campus.
There are also opportunities for faculty members to work with their counterparts around the world. The Princeton Global Collaborative Networks, now active in more than 20 countries, foster collaborative research projects on topics that range from Franz Kafka and exoplanets to East Asian security and migrant youth. The Global Scholars Program brings the world’s top scholars to Princeton for multi-year teaching appointments, building enduring ties between the University and their home institutions.