Wellesley College International Studies and Services
International Students -
Students from Around the World Coming to Study at Wellesley
Students from Wellesley Going to Study Around the World
(http://www.wellesley.edu/ISS/is/iswa.html)
International Studies and Services (ISS) assists international students who come to Wellesley to study (incoming international students, formerly called foreign students), and students who go abroad from Wellesley to study around the world (outgoing international students, formerly called study abroad students). This is more than polite terminology; it represents a modernization in the way the International Studies and Services Department thinks about and prepares Wellesley students. We believe that the approach is beneficial not only to the international students, but to the Wellesley College community generally.
There are arguments for having the experience of studying, living and traveling in countries other than one's own, and arguments for staying at one's college to pursue a course of study without distraction. International Studies and Services assists incoming Wellesley international students, students who have already decided to study abroad; Wellesley students who are deciding whether and where to study abroad; Wellesley students who are preparing to study abroad; Wellesley students while they are abroad, and Wellesley students after they return to Wellesley.
Students coming to Wellesley from around the world, and students who are at Wellesley preparing to study around the world, have many of the same interests and concerns. The staff of the International Studies and Services Department helps incoming international students adjust to life in a foreign country, and American students who are preparing to study abroad adjust to the idea that soon they will be considered international students. We try to enrich the experiences of both groups of students by bringing them together; initially at the Slater International Center, as part of their respective orientation programs for study at Wellesley and around the world, and then, on a continuing basis, in an effort to try to help students from each group appreciate the opportunity to form lasting friendships and have friends around the world.
In many quarters, it is in vogue to speak as if the world has somehow completely changed, and suddenly become very international. Improvements in communications and transportation, as well as economic changes, have been quite remarkable in the last few years. These changes affect nearly everyone to some extent; not simply individuals, businesses, and institutions directly involved in international activities. Whether one grows wheat, manufactures high technology equipment, does scientific research, works in financial markets, or is engaged in countless other activities, events in other parts of the world are often part of one's life. Whether we wish it or not, we do increasingly "live in the world"; as well as, or as part of, living in our own countries.
The International Studies and Services Department and the Slater International Center provide services and programs to help individuals at Wellesley become more "at home" with things from parts of the world outside their own country. We hope that this approach will help students, faculty and staff lead more interesting, enjoyable, and successful lives.
| | | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| |
