Background on Internationalization Activities
(Case Study by Gary Rhodes and Rebecca Pisano, Spring 2005)
Introduction
The University of California, Los Angeles embraces international education and its various international projects and activities are pervasive throughout the institution. UCLA promotes the education of global citizens through its degree programs, the people-to-people linkages it fosters among students, scholars, and citizens around the globe, research and resource centers, international projects, and its commitment to helping people everywhere become lifelong learners about their world. UCLA plays a leading role in training the next generation of leaders who will shape the world and America's place in it.
UCLA’s central campus internationalization initiatives include study abroad, international student support, international curriculum and projects, language learning, and a variety of international projects and resources that contribute to a broad international scope of activities.
Central Internationalization Office: International Institute
The UCLA International Institute promotes a wide variety of programs and activities to connect with and serve varied constituencies and communities in metropolitan Los Angeles, regionally, nationwide, and abroad. Their mission is to help meet a national need for increased knowledge and expertise about our complex world, the U.S. role within it, and to promote global citizenship and life-long learning.
UCLA's overseas exchange programs and high-caliber international research programs have established the university as a leader in international studies. In operation for more than a quarter-century, the UCLA International Institute K-12 outreach endeavor serves varied precollegiate constituencies and communities in metropolitan Los Angeles. Our approaches include teacher training/professional development (on campus, at school sites, and overseas), demonstrating the use of educational technology, and networking.
The International Institute is the central office providing leadership and direction for UCLA's internationalization efforts. The International Institute comprises 16 world-class multidisciplinary centers focusing on major world regions and global issues. Key features include the Middle East Network Library, the UCLA Program on Mexico, the African Studies Center, the Asia Institute, the Burkle Center for International Relations, the Center for Buddhist Studies, the Center for Chinese Studies, the Center for European and Eurasian Studies, the Center for Japanese Studies, the Center for Near Eastern Studies, the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, the Education Abroad Program, the Globalization Research Center – Africa, the Language Resource Center, the Center for Korean Studies and the Latin American Center.
These centers have won wide acclaim for their interdisciplinary research, graduate fellowships, faculty research grants, publications, and development and support of interdisciplinary teaching and degree programs. The Burkle Center for International Relations is renowned for its teaching, research and policy advice on international cooperation, arms control, international security and trade, and issues related to health, migration and the environment. The Center frequently hosts prominent leaders in business, government and education.
North American Mobility Project (Latin American Center)
The Multicultural Perspectives in Higher Education North American Mobility Project fosters the graduate training of students from Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Students accepted to the program have the opportunity to conduct a research project or pursue a course of study at any of the partner institutions. The goal of the Mobility Project is to train professionals to communicate and practice across cultural boundaries. Foster the training of managers with linguistic and cultural competence to function in the NAFTA environment.
Global Fellows Program
Each year, the International Institute brings to campus outstanding emerging scholars from around the world as part of the Global Fellows Program. Fellows pursue their own research projects as part of a community of scholars committed to the Institute’s mission of educating global citizens. Global Fellows also teach seminars, based on their research, to UCLA undergraduates.
Education Abroad Programs
For 40 years, UCLA’s Education Abroad Program Office (EAP) has been committed to providing high quality overseas academic programs. UCLA has a strong commitment to sending students overseas and to hosting international scholars. EAP programs are administered through the University of California Systemwide Office in Santa Barbara (UOEAP). Faculty and staff are involved in the design, development, and implementation of EAP programs. Programs are open to students from all UC campuses.
UCLA is the number one public university in total numbers of students studying abroad, having sent 1,917 students abroad in 2002-2003 (Institute of International Education Open Doors, 2004). Full-year, short-term and summer study abroad opportunities are available at over 140 institutions in 33 countries around the world. In many of the EAP programs, students study as fully-integrated students in international colleges and universities, opening study abroad to students from most UCLA degree programs. UCLA is thoroughly integrating EAP into the academic curriculum of students, providing them with the skills they need to thrive in an increasingly globalized world. Through institutional partnerships and initiatives, EAP expands the context and content of learning by exposing students and faculty to the challenges of diverse languages and intellectual traditions, other approaches to knowledge, and different cultural assumptions. EAP develops internationally aware citizens and enhances the potential of students and faculty to understand, respond to, and contribute to a rapidly changing world.
At UCLA, study abroad programs are available for integration into students’ academic curriculum, providing them with skills they need to thrive in an increasingly globalized world. The university offers study abroad options through several offices.
Internship and Study Abroad Services Office
The Internship and Study Abroad Services Office provides support for students participating in study abroad programs offered by other U.S. colleges and universities, external providers, as well as direct enrollment in colleges and universities around the world. Along with study abroad, the office supports students in pursuing international opportunities such as international internships, international volunteer and service options, short-term work abroad, teaching abroad, international scholarships, and international travel.
UCLA Travel Study Programs
These programs offer participants an exciting and challenging travel experience as well as serious academic study. They are part of the regular academic curriculum and are taught by UCLA faculty with the support of many academic departments. A total of 29 programs will be available in summer 2005 to over 20 countries. Programs offer from 8 to 16 units of credit.
Anderson School of Management
Study abroad programs are an integrated component of UCLA Anderson School’s efforts to internationalize their curriculum. Anderson faculty are involved in a wide range of internationally oriented research and consulting activities. The international perspective positions Anderson MBAs at the forefront of global business activities.
UCLA MBA Advanced International Management International Exchange Programs offers MBA students in-depth exposure to international business practices, culture, and language through participation in semester-long academic exchange partnerships with premier universities abroad. Anderson maintains exchange relationships with 35 business schools abroad and currently 50 to 60 second-year MBA students enroll in these programs each year. Additionally, the School is a member of the Program in International Management (PIM), a consortium of management schools that facilitates student and faculty international exchange. Those who satisfy program requirements are awarded a certificate at the annual UCLA Anderson MBA awards ceremony, just prior to graduation. The Advanced International Management Program (AIM) allows students to create a program tailored to their needs by choosing from among the many international opportunities offered by UCLA Anderson. AIM students work closely with UCLA Anderson’s international faculty on cutting-edge research projects, and they are active participants in seminars with business, government and academic leaders from around the world. AIM students must complete Management 406, The Global Economy, and three additional international electives. They must also undertake an Applied Management Research Project with international content. In addition to the above two requirements, students must also complete one of the following options: intensive summer language training, international internship or international exchange. Students declare their intention to participate in the program by the end of the first year of the MBA program.
International Seminar (Executive MBA)
The program concludes with a three day intensive course held in Paris that focuses on current issues in European business. Courses in this seminar are conducted by faculty of the HEC (Haute Etudes Commerciales) Business School one of France's elite "Grandes Ecoles". and the leading French management school. Topics vary yearly, but have included the unified currency zone, the Euro as an alternate reserve currency, European Union Governance Issues, including merger and acquisition regulation, and marketing within the EU. Family members and friends may accompany EMBA students on this trip, although the classes themselves are limited to UCLA Anderson students.
Fully-Employed MBA Global Access Program (GAP) provides an intensive field study experience to form a critical bridge between MBA students’ learning at the Anderson School and the business world, increasing the international exposure of UCLA MBA students significantly. This unique educational program matches students in the Fully-Employed MBA Program with existing international technology companies to develop a comprehensive business strategy to enable the companies to move to the next stage of corporate development. Directly confronting the challenges of doing business with a world view, students work with company executives over a period of six months, including a cultural immersion with a visit to the firm’s headquarters. Founded in 1998, GAP has worked with partners in eight foreign countries and over 135 international businesses. Client companies represent a wide range of industries from countries all over the world, including Italy, New Zealand and Chile. The Global Access Program is a challenging educational curriculum, providing MBA students a unique, real world opportunity to develop a strategic business plan for an internationally based, early stage technology venture. GAP provides a win-win-win proposition for all three of our constituencies: the students, the participating client companies and our international partner agencies. It serves as an excellent example of integration across UCLA Anderson centers and programs in an effort to create meaningful professional education for UCLA students.
UCLA-National University of Singapore (NUS) Executive MBA
The UCLA-NUS EMBA program, developed jointly by UCLA Anderson School of Management and NUS Business School, provides students with a truly global perspective on leadership and management through residential sessions in Singapore, Los Angeles and Shanghai. The dual-degree, 15-month, part-time intensive program prepares students for top positions in organizations around the world by capitalizing on the immense resources of two Pacific Rim powerhouse business schools and a primary focus on Asia and the U.S.
Center for International Business Education & Research (CIBER)
The UCLA CIBER belongs to a consortium of six CIBER universities including the University of Texas (Austin), the University of Michigan, the University of Washington, Duke University and Purdue University which hosts seminars to internationalize Ph.D. studies in the business disciplines of Marketing, Finance, Accounting, Organizational Behavior/Human Resources, Operations Management and Organizational Design. Each seminar brings together 20 to 25 Ph.D. students from across the country to discuss research ideas pertaining to the international aspects of their functional fields.
CIBER also supports various overseas summer intensive language courses in Business Chinese (Shanghai, China), Business French (Paris, France), Business Spanish (Lima, Peru) and Business Korean (Seoul, Korea). These programs are offered in conjunction with UCLA Summer Sessions and are open to intermediate and advanced proficiency students.
International
Business Study Tours
International Business Study Tours (IBSTs) are
student-organized trips to emerging economies where students visit
companies in various industries, meet local business leaders, learn
about overseas business environments, and enjoy the local culture
and sightseeing.
International
Business Association
The
UCLA CIBER provides funding for UCLA Anderson's
International Business Association (IBA), which is
guided by faculty members Robert Spich and Hans Schollhammer.
CIBER-funded IBA activities have included lecture series,
day-on-the-job trips to Mexico and Vietnam, International Business
Career Night activities, and international study tours to China and
Latin America.
The Office of International Students and Scholars
The mission of the Office of International Students and Scholars (OISS) is to support UCLA's teaching, research, and public service efforts by effectively meeting the campus and community needs of international students and scholars. OISS provides specialized services to approximately 3,100 international students, mostly at the graduate level, and 1,700 international scholars at UCLA each year. Nearly 120 countries are represented on campus.
Education Abroad Program (EAP) Reciprocity
This year, the Education Abroad Program (EAP) will also be bringing 180 international students to study as international exchange students at UCLA. EAP offers students from our partner universities the opportunity to come to UCLA as a visiting reciprocity student for up to a year on a no-fee-exchange, non-degree basis. All students on the EAP program earn degrees at their home university though they are enrolled at a UC campus. Systemwide, the University of California hosts reciprocity students from over 100 institutions in approximately 30 countries.
UCLA
Extension
Certificate Programs
UCLA Extension offers nearly 40 certificate programs that meet the requirements for full-time
international students. Mostly ranging from one to two years in
duration, these programs are beneficial to professionals who wish to
enhance their skills and knowledge base in their present field,
professionals who wish to change careers, and to students who are
just beginning their professional lives. Completion of the required
series leads to the award of a certificate bearing the seal of the
University of California, Los Angeles. These programs are usually
taught by instructors who work outside the university in a specific
field and there is a strong emphasis on practical experience and
work-related applications.
International students study side-by-side with Los Angeles
residents, which allows them to meet Americans but also develop
professional networks.
The Tom Bradley International Hall
The Tom Bradley International Hall at UCLA is a premier multiculturally-oriented student and community facility. Situated at the western entrance to the campus, the 28,000 square foot building is home to a variety of campus programs and services. Bradley International Hall serves as the focal point for international activities on the campus, a stimulating setting for intellectual exchange among students, scholars and professionals from around the world, and as a venue for fostering personal friendships and social interaction. For the breadth, scope and quality of programs offered within its walls, Tom Bradley International Hall is unique in the nation and the world.
Dashew International Center for Students and Scholars
Founded in 1957 as the International Student Center, international students and academics can find a wealth of programs and services at UCLA's Dashew International Center for Students and Scholars. The mission of the Dashew Center is to facilitate the development of cross-cultural understanding among the multi-national UCLA students and scholars and the community-at-large. Events include a summer orientation for new international students, English programs, special events and conferences, and many social activities. The Center also provides an ideal arena for domestic students to interact with international peers. The programs attempt to demonstrate to UCLA students the importance of attaining and acting upon an international perspective that will aid in their professional success and personal growth.
International Curriculum and Projects
Across the campus, over 80 majors integrate an international perspective into their curriculum. The International Institute also oversees eight international and interdisciplinary degree programs, allowing students to focus on a particular area of study through a variety of disciplines. Programs include African Studies, East Asian Studies, Latin American Studies, European Studies, International Development Studies (IDS), Islamic Studies, Middle Eastern and North African Studies, South Asian Studies, and Southeast Asian Studies. Strongly encouraged (though not required) aspects of these majors are study abroad and an internship in a local, national, or international organization.
Interdepartmental Degree Programs within the Institute
Preparation to work abroad as well as with immigrant populations and ethnic groups in the United States. Joint degree programs and interdisciplinary courses.
Interdepartmental degrees offered through the International Institute allow students to focus on a particular area of study -- either a specific geographic area, or a global comparative and issue-oriented approach -- through a variety of disciplines.
Graduate Programs
The program offers African Area courses in a wide range of disciplines, including the fine arts, humanities, social sciences, and some professional fields.
The M.A. degree in East Asian Studies is an interdisciplinary program intended to enable students to develop a broad understanding of an individual East Asian culture or to engage in comparative study of two or more East Asian cultures.
The interdepartmental program (IDP) encompasses the broadest cultural concerns in the study of Islamic civilizations. The Center for Near Eastern Studies is home to one of the nation's premier programs in Islamic Studies. CNES was founded in 1957 in order to coordinate and integrate instruction and research in the languages, humanities and social sciences disciplines essential to an understanding of the region. Over the next decade, the Center and affiliated faculty developed the Islamic Studies program, which has awarded some 75 advanced degrees since its establishment.
A distinguished faculty and extensive research resources make UCLA a national and international center for the study of Latin America. Linguistic, historical, economic, and demographic influences interact in Los Angeles to forge a truly multicultural society.
Undergraduate Programs
the major is intended to give students a broad, comprehensive perspective on East Asian societies and cultures.
The European Studies Major aims to equip students to appreciate the richness of European cultures, societies, and languages that are fundamental to understanding Europe, as well as other parts of the world.
The program provides the opportunity to study this region from the vantage points of several disciplines in the humanities and social sciences, both historically and contemporary. It aims at breaking down the traditional distinctions between the eastern and western blocs in the light of important internal and global transformations that are happening in Europe today. This includes questions pertaining to cultural, economic, political and social structures, and intellectual life.
Our curriculum emphasizes global- and regional- scale perspectives, as well as an array of themes to pursue (political- economy, cultural-aesthetic, and private sector development). This Bachelor of Arts degree is designed for students interested in careers or vocations requiring an understanding of the diverse development experiences of the world. our curriculum exposes students to the issues, problems, and policies connected to the struggles of underdeveloped nations. The program values field experience involving travel, study and/or work in regions in the Developing World. Thus a strongly encouraged (though not required) aspect of the major is study abroad, especially in a developing area, and an internship in a local, national, or international community development agency/organization.
The program approaches Southeast Asia as a region with deep local particularities and trans-regional engagements.
They have developed a new Global Studies major and minor for undergraduates who want not only to understand the complex and ever-changing world they live in, but also to be able to participate in shaping its future. Global Studies will provide students interdisciplinary and problem-oriented academic training in the core issues that affect the contemporary world. Students will also have the opportunity to live, study, and work abroad, and to engage in yearlong research projects as the culmination of their undergraduate education.
Global Learning Institute
In summer 2004 the UCLA International Institute launched an important new initiative: a Global Learning Institute, featuring for-credit summer classes in globalization and emerging economies taught by leading members of the UCLA faculty. The first offering in this new program titled "Emerging Economies: Asia," was offered at Tongji University in Shanghai, China. In 2005 the program will be expanded to also offer classes in Hong Kong, Guanajuato, Mexico, Beirut, Lebanon, and Vienna, Austria.
The Globalization Research Center facilitates the study, exchange and presentation of research concerning Africa's role in globalization, including HIV/AIDS projects.
UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures
The Department of World Arts and Cultures is an interdisciplinary unit, which finds its raison d'être in a set of intellectual and artistic problems rather than an established academic discipline. The programs of teaching, research, and performance in World Arts and Cultures are unified around a shared concern with problems of cultural identity and difference; the meaning of tradition in contemporary societies; the forging of connections between critical theory and artistic practice; and the changing social roles and responsibilities of artists and scholars of the arts, both in the United States and world-wide.
The department offers undergraduate program concentrations in dance and cultural studies, and graduate programs in Culture and Performance and Dance. Students at all levels are encouraged to explore relationships among the different curricular emphases, including world arts practices, cultural studies, dance studies, and folklore. Students in World Arts and Cultures at UCLA study with faculty members of international standing engaged in both creative artistic work and research.
MAKE ART/STOP AIDS Initiative
The MAKE ART/STOP AIDS initiative brings together people working in public health with artists who have extraordinary expertise in communication. The result is a growing network of effective anti-AIDS partnerships that began in India in July 2004 and is now spreading around the world. UCLA’s Department of World Arts and Cultures spearheads the initiative, with support from dozens of campus units.
UCLA World AIDS Day Teach-In
The Teach-In brings together a remarkable array of campus partners under the leadership of the School of the Arts and Architecture and UCLA AIDS Institute. This union of north and south campuses, with input from activist student organizations, assures UCLA will remain at the forefront of efforts to contain the AIDS epidemic within our lifetimes.
The UCLA/Fogarty AIDS International Training and Research Program
The UCLA/Fogarty AIDS International Training and Research Program (UCLA/AITRP) provides training leading to the Masters of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in epidemiology of HIV/AIDS for health professionals from China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and India and in special circumstances for health professionals from Laos, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia. In addition, health professionals can attend three-month courses concentrating primarily in HIV/AIDS at UCLA. The objective of the program is to build the research capacity of the collaborating countries in HIV/AIDS to help control the epidemic. The UCLA/AITRP collaborates with leading universities and HIV/AIDS control programs in each of the collaborating countries.
UCLA’s School of Dentistry’s Professional Program for International Dentists
The Professional Program for International Dentists (PPID) offers qualified foreign dental graduates an opportunity to obtain a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) from the UCLA School of Dentistry through an intensive two-year program. The goal of this program is to graduate dentists who possess the necessary scientific knowledge and clinical skills to provide competent comprehensive dental care as practiced within the United States.
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA: International Students Coming to Do Electives
UCLA offers a full range of advanced clinical elective courses to medical students on a world-wide basis, providing elective training to virtually thousands of students. International students who attend schools in countries where their medical school programs are conducted in English and their curriculum has been recognized to be comparable to the UCLA Medical School curriculum are welcome to apply for the UCLA Medical School electives. Opportunities also exist for UCLA students to go to the international students' medical school for electives. Most exchanges are with schools in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Israel, Germany, Pakistan, Australia, Lebanon, Ireland, Philippines, Singapore, and India. About 100 students come from other countries for 3-9 weeks and about 30 UCLA students take advantage of this opportunity.
The UCLA International Health Interest Group (IHIG)
The International Health Interest Group (IHIG) is an organization of UCLA medical students dedicated to promoting a broader understanding of world health and medicine. Our mission is to support international medical experiences in order to build cultural understanding, enhance clinical acumen, and foster a global health perspective in our medical students.
UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture
Established in 2004, the Charles Moore Travel Studio/Course offers support for one course or studio traveling domestically and one course or studio traveling internationally each year. By bringing faculty expertise to bear on their experience of other locales, students have the opportunity to investigate first hand the diversity of the world’s cultural and natural settings and their various impacts on the design of the built environment.
UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television: Film, TV, and Art Program in Shanghai
Faculty in the School of Theater, Film, and Television are active in a variety of international activities. For the past few years faculty have been participating in activities in Beijing, Shanghai and Tokyo such as delivering talks, participating in symposiums, conducting workshops, and doing magazine and TV News interviews. The School is in discussion with around 6 major universities offering film/TV programs in Shanghai to discuss various potential partnerships/cooperative ventures. They are in preliminary discussions about sending faculty to teach courses in Producing with Jaitong University. They have also been in talks with Shanghai Film Group, Shanghai International Film Festival, and China Film Group about possible collaborations.
UCLA Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs (JILFA)
JILFA is a student-run, interdisciplinary publication dedicated to promoting scholarship in international law and international relations.
Language Learning
Opportunities for international study at UCLA are among the most diverse of any American university. UCLA provides instruction in nearly 80 languages, many in less commonly taught languages such as Uzbek, Tagalog, and Quechua. Students can participate in a variety of exchange programs with educational and research institutes in other countries. The university also possesses one of the nation's largest concentrations of scholarly resources on other lands, making it an ideal location for international research. The Fowler Museum of Cultural History, for example, houses outstanding collections from many cultures. Other resources are diffused throughout the campus.
Foreign Languages
UCLA offers close to 50 language courses, many in less commonly taught languages such as Uzbek, Tagalog, and Quechua.
Swahili, Zulu, Hausa, Wolof, Bambera, Arabic, Armenian, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Quechua, Persian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Old Norse, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Swedish, Norwegian, Aramaic, Akkadian, Ugaritic, Syriac, Serbian/Croatian, Hindi, Sanskrit, Vedic, Vietnamese, Thai, Filipino/Tagalog, Indonesian, Spanish, Turkish, Uzbek, Azeri, Ukranian, Yiddish
Language Resource Center
UCLA’s Language Resource Center conducts research on a variety of internationally oriented projects such as the Language Materials Project, a project funded by the Department of Education to continue the development of a database of authentic materials for less-commonly taught languages, the National Flagship Language Initiative-Pilot Program, a program funded by the National Foreign Language Center to establish an intensive superior-level Korean program in reading, speaking and listening, and the Diagnostic Assessment Procedure Project in Korean and Russian, which is a project funded by the National Foreign Language Center to determine design elements needed for advanced/superior level language courses and identify the elements currently lacking in university courses.
The Language Materials Project , funded by the U.S. Department of Education, supports development of a database of authentic materials for less-commonly taught languages. The National Flagship Language Initiative-Pilot Program funded by the National Foreign Language Center , supports an intensive superior-level Korean program in reading, speaking and listening. The Diagnostic Assessment Procedure Project in Korean and Russian determines design elements needed for advanced/superior level language courses.
ESL Programs
The English as a Second Language Service Courses at UCLA are available for students who would like to improve their academic English skills and/or have an ESL requirement to fulfill at UCLA. Instruction is delivered by ESL lecturers or experienced graduate students in the MA or PhD programs in Applied Linguistics & TESL. The courses cover a wide range of skills and skill levels for improving academic English including writing, reading, listening, and oral presentation skills.
UCLA Extension’s American Language Center provides superior English language instruction with the most up-to-date teaching methods in which students learn not only to communicate in their new language but also learn more about American life and culture. The Center offers online courses and a computer-based language lab.
Additional International Resources and Initiatives
Multilateral Middle East Program
The Middle East Network Library, part of the Multilateral Middle East Program, is a joint project of Burkle Center and the University of California's Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, serves as a portal to various Middle East-related resources, many of which are unavailable elsewhere. A wide range of topics are covered, but all deal with the core issue of cooperation and conflict in the Middle East. The points of view are diverse, ranging from rigorous scholarly research to thoughtful policy analysis to heartfelt opinion.
UCLA Program on Mexico
A division of the Latin American Center, the UCLA Program on Mexico (POM) was established in 1982 to organize, coordinate, and encourage worldwide research on Mexico, faculty and student exchanges for research and teaching, and Mexico-related activities at UCLA. The program has developed into one of the most important centers for Mexican studies in the world. POM’s focus is on collaborative and bilateral research issues that directly affect Mexican society and economy, the U.S.-Mexican relationship, and Mexico's place in global affairs. The program emphasizes publication efforts carried out jointly with Mexican institutions. Its mission involves introducing world scholars and policymakers to Mexico's many economically and socially diverse geographic regions.
UCLA’s Center for Near Eastern Studies (CNES)
Sponsored by the UCLA International Institute, Relief International and the National Geographic Society, the project aims to foster cross-cultural understanding, youth empowerment and global citizenship. For more than two decades the Center has been providing Los Angeles County teachers with professional development opportunities through intensive summer workshops on the Middle East and Islam. CNES also offers an annual seminar for K-12 teachers, led by UCLA faculty members. On a regional basis, the Center collaborates with the state-sponsored California International Studies Project, a program designed to strengthen student performance through the preparation of exemplary teacher leaders. The Center was instrumental in the development of curriculum materials which are now being used to connect Los Angeles middle school students with their peers in Kabul, Afghanistan. CNES has taken a leading role in developing Outreach World, a portal to resources for teaching international and area studies in K-12 schools, produced by some 200 university-based and federally-funded research centers nationwide.
UCLA Asia Institute Bringing Asia to Los Angeles Students: The Summer Seminar
The UCLA Asia Institute is engaged in educational outreach. For over two decades UCLA International has offered specially-designed seminars for secondary school teachers combining lectures, demonstrations, and curriculum workshops. More than 160 teachers from over 105 schools have participated in the Asia-focused program, which is supported by the United States Department of Education and is the oldest and largest program of its kind in the region. Each year’s program is organized around a particular theme and participants approach the theme in small regional seminars. In addition to these UCLA-based programs we offer district and school site programs, and also work with schools to develop special events such as an "Asian Culture Day.”
The Center for International and Development Education (CIDE)
Housed in the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, CIDE is a research and action center whose mission is to provide quality information on a variety of issues related to international and development education. This is accomplished through a series of publications, research programs, practical initiatives, and networks with existing development and academic institutions. CIDE acts as a hub for researchers and organizations to network with and learn about critical issues in international and development education from a wide range of fields and disciplines. The Center unites, informs, and empowers individuals, groups, and organizations that are working together to understand the key issues related to international and development education. CIDE also seeks to form action research partnerships.
Scholarship Resource Center
UCLA’s Scholarship Resource Center provide information and resources on a variety of scholarships that may be used for international study. Student services include individual counseling, writing assistance, workshops, and proofreading to help students with their scholarship grant applications.
Global Impact Research
The Global Impact Research initiative is designed to facilitate faculty-led innovation in international research. The Institute supports several innovative interdisciplinary research programs bringing together UCLA faculty and students, as well as experts from around the world. These cutting-edge scholarly research programs also promote innovations in the classroom and seek to inform and stimulate debate among a broad audience of citizens, opinion leaders, and policy-makers.
Visiting Fulbright Scholar Enrichment Program
The Institute is also home to the Visiting Fulbright Scholar Enrichment Program for the greater Los Angeles area.
International Visitors Bureau
Established in 1966, the UCLA International Visitors Bureau (IVB) is recognized nationally as one of the oldest and most respected university-sponsored programs of its kind in the country. The International Visitors Bureau (IVB) serves as a liaison between UCLA faculty/administrators and international academic and professional leaders by developing appropriate contacts. Through these contacts, IVB provides opportunities to build intellectual exchanges and strategic international alliances. It schedules meetings, seminars, luncheons, and campus tours for more than 800 visitors to the UCLA campus each year. The IVB provides comprehensive programming for outstanding leaders in government, politics, education, science, labor relations, and other fields by incorporating the intellectual, cultural, ethnic, and linguistic diversity of the UCLA campus.
International Students Association (ISA)
The International Students Association (ISA) is an organization targeted towards international, and internationally-minded American, students and scholars at our university.
Conclusion
UCLA can and should play a leading role in training the next generation of leaders who will shape the world and America’s place in it for decades to come. UCLA embraces international education and various international projects and activities are pervasive throughout the institution. Through the various programs and activities outlined in this report, it is clear that UCLA is at the forefront of international initiatives to promote the education of global citizens through its degree programs, through the people-to-people linkages it fosters among students, scholars, and citizens around the globe, and through its commitment to helping people everywhere become lifelong learners about their world. Now more than ever, building global citizens is critical for a positive future. Engaging in international activities is one of the best ways to give students the international learning critical in the 21st Century, and UCLA is doing just that.
UCLA has been involved in integrating an international perspective to its undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as to faculty research, teaching, and community service for many years. We hope UCLA will provide a useful model of institutional internationalization initiatives in the 2005 edition of NAFSA’s Internationalizing the Campus: Profiles of Success at Colleges and Universities.