We aspire to preeminence as a comprehensive
Global research university
—GW President Thomas J. LeBlanc
Global Engagement
Columbian College encourages international and cross-cultural perspectives among our extensive community of distinguished scholars and diverse undergraduate and graduate students. A broad liberal arts education guides our students to use their knowledge to examine the critical issues that impact our region, nation and the world beyond. In addition, we are engaged in collaborative international research partnerships that are advancing a wide range of artistic, social and scientific imperatives.
Global Engagement Highlights
CCAS Updated Interim International Travel Policy
Effective August 1, 2021, CCAS will now allow limited international travel, prioritizing “essential” travel. All international travel requests by CCAS personnel must be submitted through CCAS Global and are subject to approval by the Dean.
GW Celebrates Its Global Outlook during International Education Week
The university hosts more than 4,000 students, faculty and staff from 130 countries, while sending 1,000 students abroad per academic year.
GW Is Top Medium Enrollment Producer of National Study Abroad Scholarship
The university received the highest honor for institutions with 5,000 to 15,000 undergraduate students for the number of State Department Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship awardees.
GPAC Courses in Global or Cross-Cultural Perspectives Offered
The General Education Curriculum (GPAC) engages students in active intellectual inquiry by developing analytical skills, communication skills and diverse perspectives. CCAS offers a wide range of GPAC Tier Two Global or Cross-Cultural Perspectives courses, that analyze the ways in which institutions, practices and problems transcend national and regional boundaries. Global Perspective courses focus on issues in terms of its global implications, frame questions, gather evidence, analyze evidence and draw conclusions about an issue in terms of its global implications. Cross-Cultural Perspective courses identify and analyze the impact of diverse experiences and/or cultures upon human behavior, thought and expression and use cultural comparison as a tool for understanding how social, cultural, or economic contexts shape understandings and behaviors.
Faculty-led Short Term Abroad Program
Faculty-led Short-Term Abroad Programs enable faculty and students to take the academic experience beyond classrooms and borders so that the learning can be achieved in the most rich and memorable ways. From taking students to visit WWII memorial sites in France as part of the world history class to sending students to receive culturally sensitive speech therapist clinical training in Mexico, the Office of Global Initiatives encourages faculty across all disciplines to consider how to incorporate a component to their courses that provides students with an abroad experience.
The Office of Global Initiatives provides administrative support and guidance to faculty and limited scholarships to students.
Interested parties should be directed to [email protected].
International Visiting Scholars Program
Welcome to the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences' International Visiting Scholars Program.
This program is aimed at providing a unique opportunity for select scholars around the world to pursue scholarly and intellectual development in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences at GW.
To apply, please complete the application form.
What We Do
The Columbian College of Arts & Sciences Global Initiatives Office's mission is to advance the College's international priorities through world-class education, education diplomacy and engagement with the world.
Office of Global Initiatives
The CCAS Office of Global Initiative's mission is to advance the College's international priorities through world-class education, education diplomacy and engagement with the world. We assist our students and faculty in their global engagement.
Office for Study Abroad
The Office for Study Abroad (OSA) provides and facilitates quality international educational opportunities at the George Washington University and promote students' academic, personal, professional and intercultural development before, during and after their study abroad experiences.
Global Bachelor's Program
The GW Global Bachelor's Program provides students the competencies and confidence to work and learn anywhere in the world by challenging them to pursue their educational goals in multiple international settings.
GW Language Center
The GWU Language Center facilitates and promotes foreign language studies at the university, providing a wide array of academic support for both faculty and students.
Signature Program: Koobi Fora Field School in Kenya
The Koobi Fora Field School is designed to introduce students to the science of paleoanthropology, the sub-discipline of anthropology focused on the study of human origins.
The Chung-wen Shih Scholarship
Facilitated by the GW College of Columbian Arts of Sciences (CCAS) and the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS), this scholarship is intended to promote cultural exchange between the East and West; especially in medicine and healthcare, among GW students.
Sarah Cassius
BA '19, Geography
"I spent this summer in Medellin, interning for the [Colombian] Department of the Environment and Urban Planning. The municipality had just made the switch to LED lights for all of their public lighting, so one of my projects was to quantify the benefits of that change and present the economic, environmental and public health benefits to the mayor."
