This year, an international teaching team from England and Ireland designed and taught a course called Your Place in the World: Exploring Identity, Sustainability, and AI. This interactive course engaged Scholars in several central questions: Who are you? How does the world around you work? And where do you belong in it?

Engaging pedagogical approaches like photovoice, campus mapping and reflective journals allowed scholars to engage deeply with course content. Scholars participated in activities to learn about the environmental landscape, the ethical use of AI, and navigating belonging in different spaces. One member of the teaching team, Aoife Prendergast from the Technical University of the Shannon in Ireland, said that a highlight of the course was

“Diving into the rich, lived experiences shared through the narratives of the group. The most powerful moments came from hearing the scholars weave their personal life stories into their visions for the future,” said Aoife Prendergast from the Technical University of the Shannon in Ireland, one of the members of the teaching team. “Watching everyone reflect on what ‘belonging’ truly means both personally and professionally created a deeply collaborative and resonant atmosphere in the room. It is clear that these narratives are shaping some truly inspiring and thoughtful pathways for the future!”

This international teaching team and transatlantic approach to this course allowed scholars to engage with a different set of cultures and a different concept of what education can be. Scholars were able to form deep connections with each other, their teaching team and the course content in ways that encouraged them to apply it to their futures.

“Throughout the three weeks, this class really opened my eyes and drew me to a new perspective of the world,” one scholar said. “We learned about perspectives of the world and how we all see the world differently, and we connected it to AI and how AI picks up on our culture and creates its own perspectives through patterns. The instructors always made me feel like I belong and they allowed me to open my mind and curiosity.”

Another Scholar shared how the course inspired them to see community in a different light.

“This class gave me the opportunity to meet people outside of the country where I live and to see how community can be built in different environments,” another scholar reflected. “Every day was engaging and we were always doing something hands-on that made the course exciting. The instructors all came from different backgrounds, which felt so diverse, and I loved hearing about their cultures. I felt both academically and intellectually challenged in the course, which made me critically think about who I am in this world and how we can connect that to AI.”

Tom Ritchie from the University of Warwick in the UK served as the lead instructor and designed the course in partnership with Evan Small, the ������Ƶ Academy faculty scholar. As a Fulbright Scholar, Ritchie was able to provide ������Ƶ Academy students with an exposure to additional post-graduate international education opportunities.

“This course exemplifies what makes ������Ƶ Academy so special – the willingness of our faculty, partners and supporters to create transformative learning experiences that expand our Scholars’ perspectives and help them see themselves as part of a much larger world,” said Emily Wiersma, director of the ������Ƶ Academy. “Through this collaborative course, our scholars were challenged to think critically, embrace new perspectives, build meaningful connections across cultures, and develop the confidence, curiosity, and global mindset that will serve them well in college, their careers, and their communities.”

The University of British Columbia (UBC) recently welcomed Assistant Professor of Education, Nermin Vehabovic, as a guest lecturer in its Refugee Education course. Invited by Sofia Noori, assistant professor in UBC’s Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy, Nermin engaged teacher candidates in examining the role of stories in refugee education through the guiding question, “How do we listen to the stories of others?”

Situated on the ancestral and unceded territory of the Musqueam people in Vancouver, and connected through the broader traditional territories of Indigenous nations across British Columbia, UBC is recognized as a global center for research and teaching and is consistently ranked among the top universities in the world.

Noori’s Refugee Education course prepares teacher candidates to better understand the histories, lived experiences and educational realities of children and youth from refugee backgrounds. The course explores how schools, classrooms, and community partnerships can foster equitable learning environments while strengthening relationships with newcomer families and communities.

Rather than delivering a traditional lecture, Nermin designed an interactive, participatory session grounded in the principles of his scholarship on humanizing  education. He invited teacher candidates to reflect on their own stories before considering how educators can cultivate classrooms where the stories, languages, identities, and ways of knowing of children, youth, and families from refugee backgrounds are genuinely heard and valued.

“My intention was for us to be in community with one another as colleagues and educators,” Nermin said. “I wanted the experience to model the very practices we hope to cultivate in schools—listening, relationality and learning with others rather than simply teaching to them.”

Throughout the session, participants explored the importance of unlearning deficit perspectives, assumptions, savior mentalities and monolingual expectations that can limit meaningful engagement with students and families. The discussion emphasized ethical listening as a foundational practice for building culturally sustaining and humanizing classrooms.

Nermin also shared examples from Welcome New Neighbor, the community-engaged initiative he founded through ������Ƶ’s Dr. Jo Watts Williams School of Education. The program partners teacher candidates with families from refugee backgrounds through home-based literacy experiences that position families’ languages, cultures, and knowledge as educational assets. During the session, he highlighted how the initiative prepares teacher candidates to build reciprocal relationships with multilingual families while reimagining homes as important spaces of learning, belonging, and affirmation.

Drawing on his research, Nermin also discussed the interconnected roles of transnationalism, translanguaging, picturebooks and family literacies in supporting refugee-background children and youth, as well as their families. Participants considered how storytelling can become a vehicle for cultivating belonging, honoring identities and strengthening relationships between schools and communities.

The invitation reflects Nermin’s growing international collaborations in literacy and teacher education, as well as his ongoing scholarship centered on humanizing educational practices and preparing educators to work alongside families across culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

The pilgrimage was organized by ������Ƶ’s Catholic Life in partnership with Vocatio Travel and was led by Father Peter Tremblay, associate chaplain for Catholic Life, and Kiara Cronin, student ministry coordinator for Catholic Life. The journey took the participants to and from Rome and then to Franciscan sites in the towns of La Verna, Assisi, Gubbio and Greccio.

The group first started in Rome, which included a visit to Vatican City. There, they received the opportunity to attend Pope Leo XIV’s papal audience, generally given on Wednesdays when the pope is in Rome. The audience included pilgrims and visitors from around the world.  Angela DeFlorio ‘28 shared her experience seeing Pope Leo,

“It was a once in a lifetime experience! I loved getting to watch him bless all the babies there, and the atmosphere was amazing. I found it really interesting that he did his best to address everyone in their native language, and it made his address feel very welcoming and personal,” said Angela DeFloria ’28.

After the audience, the group also toured St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. The group then traveled north to visit the medieval city of Assisi, the birthplace of St. Francis. One of the most well-known and beloved Catholic figures, he is often referred to as the “poor little man” and is the patron saint of animals, ecology and the environment. St. Francis died in 1226, making this jubilee year the 800th anniversary of his death.

Among the sites that the group visited were the Basilica of St. Francis, the Basilica of St. Clare, the nearby town of Gubbio where St. Francis tamed a wolf, and the nearby town of Greccio where St. Francis set up the very first nativity scene. In the crypt of the Basilica of St. Francis rests the saint’s tomb, and there the group attended a private Mass celebrated by Tremblay.

“I could feel the presence of God there as well as the spirit of St. Francis,” said Tremblay of visiting the tomb of St. Francis.

Many within the group appreciated the opportunity to learn about St. Francis more deeply.

“Being on the journey with Fr. Peter really added to this learning as he shared his knowledge of St. Francis’s life, order, and spirituality,” said Ben Carraher ’28 “Hearing from friars and priests that dedicated their lives to God through the Franciscan way of life was the absolute best way to visit and learn about Francis and the Franciscan movement.”

“I learned so much about St. Francis and feel a deeper connection with him, embracing lessons of simplicity and humility that I want to carry throughout my life,” said Anahy Felipe de Cruz ’26

The pilgrimage brought the group back to Rome for their last few days. They visited the Catacombs of St. Callixtus, where Tremblay explained that there were 500,000 graves of the early Christians, and the many people buried here are considered martyrs by the Catholic church.

“These people willingly died for their faith. The thought of all these graves opening and a huge crowd of people walking out of the catacombs, at the second coming of Christ, to greet Jesus was very emotional to me,” Tremblay shared, referring to the Christian belief that Jesus will return physically to Earth at the end of time.  He celebrated another private Mass with the pilgrimage group inside the catacombs.

Beyond their experience meeting the pope, visiting St. Francis’s birthplace and tomb, and touring the catacombs, the group also spent their last day learning to make pasta.

“I really liked the pasta-making class, and I actually learned a few tips and tricks from Chef Alberto that I took home and used to make my own pasta! I, of course, really loved the gelato, and I had a ton of fun trying some new dishes I never would have gotten to try otherwise,” DeFlorio said.

The group hopes to take their experience and knowledge back onto ������Ƶ’s campus and share with others.

The project, “Beyond the Books,” is a life-simulation board game designed to help first-year students build the academic, social and emotional skills they need to navigate the transition to university. She has developed the game since spring 2025 through a research collaboration with Jill McSweeney, assistant director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning (CATL) and assistant professor of wellness, and in partnership with faculty at the University of Iceland.

At ICED, Hollingsworth, along with ������Ƶ and Iceland colleagues, led a 90-minute interactive workshop introducing the game’s research foundations and giving 15 faculty from universities around the world the chance to play a prototype themselves. Attendees provided supportive and positive feedback on the game’s design and its potential applications at their own institutions, underscoring the project’s relevance to educational developers and faculty working with first-year students worldwide.

The presentation builds on a project that has already spanned an ocean: Hollingsworth traveled to Iceland in summer 2025 with funding from ������Ƶ’s Center for Research on Global Engagement, playtesting the game with students, faculty and staff there and adapting it to account for cultural differences between the two institutions. During Fall 2025, she and McSweeney recruited over 100 students across ������Ƶ 1010 and COR 1100 courses to play the game and participate in a semester-long research project that explored their experiences across their first college semester. This upcoming fall, students at the University of Iceland will be invited to participate in the project, playing a translated version of the game.

From production, post-production, content creation, producing, writing, directing and performing, the panel offered a wide range of information to students of diverse majors who are in Los Angeles this summer for a unique core capstone course, experiential learning, alumni engagement and community service.

Zaman, who works at the post-production house Picture Shop, shared the excitement of being in the middle of the artistry of post-production. Among Picture Shop’s most recent projects was providing color correction work on Steven Spielberg’s current film “Disclosure Day.” She is also a first-time site supervisor, mentoring summer student Hammond Sherouse at a first-time ������Ƶ Los Angeles Picture Shop internship.

Campisano, who served as a selection committee member for the first ������Ƶ Los Angeles Alumni Short Film Grant Competition last fall, spoke about the wide range of professional creative opportunities that await students who return to Los Angeles after graduation. Campisano is an award-winning filmmaker who often turns to the ������Ƶ Los Angeles alumni community when staffing and casting projects.

Kestlinger is a Physical Production Manager for television and feature films at SK Global Entertainment. Seawright, an actor, model, and entertainment and brand marketing specialist, currently performs at Disneyland Resort.

������Ƶ Los Angeles offers an exciting, immersive spring semester and summer program experience in the heart of historic Hollywood through ������Ƶ’s and National Campus Programs. Applications are now being accepted for the spring 2027 semester.

On Friday, June 12, students enrolled in the Study USA Washington, D.C. “Capital Connections” program had the opportunity to visit the United States Capitol, where they learned more about Congress and the architectural history of the Capitol Building on a special tour organized by Jacob Stoken ’22, policy aid to House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. After the tour, Stoken sat down with students in the leader’s office in the Capitol for an extended Q&A session, where he shared insights about getting started as a Congressional staffer and provided an inside perspective on how Congress operates day-to-day. After the Q&A, students traveled with Stoken to the Rayburn House Office Building for additional conversation.

Joel Shelton, faculty director for Study USA, Washington, D.C. and associate professor of political science and public policy, and Tom Kerr, assistant teaching professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Policy, joined students at the Capitol.

“I am exceedingly grateful to alumni like Jacob for supporting the ‘Capital Connections’ program in its first year,” Shelton said. “I’ve known Jacob since he was a student in my Philosophy, Politics, and Economics capstone course, and it is especially meaningful to see him thriving in Washington and to experience how generously he is mentoring the next generation of ������Ƶ students.”

The visit to the Capitol is part of the innovative curriculum for “Capital Connections:

Power, People, and Place in Washington, D.C.,” is a place-based capstone seminar in the ������Ƶ Core Curriculum that integrates classroom learning and direct engagement with D.C.’s institutions, cultural sites, and neighborhoods. Now in the fourth week of the nine-week program, students are busy interning in public and private sector institutions across the D.C. metro area, engaging with alumni, and attending special events and programming around Juneteenth and the upcoming 250th Independence Day celebration. This weekend, students will attend the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s widely acclaimed production of Othello and will join a special tour of Klein Theatre led by Company Manager Morgan Engle ’22.

Students interested in this experience for summer 2027 may begin applying on Sept. 1. For more information about the program, contact Anna Smith, director of Study USA.

Thirteen students are taking part in the inaugural ������Ƶ faculty-led program. Alumni networking is an important component of this cohort experience. In addition to meeting alumni, students take a core seminar course called Capital Connections: Power, People, and Place in Washington, D.C. taught by Joel Shelton, associate professor of political science and public policy.

Students also live in an apartment complex in the vibrant NoMa neighborhood, complete an internship, and participate in enrichment activities to get to know the city better. Students will tour the US Capitol, learn the history of the city through walking tours, attend a Nationals game, see a play at the Shakespeare Theatre Company and more.

“It is always special to connect with former students and to see them thriving in the lives they lead after graduation, but it’s especially meaningful that our alumni take the time to connect with and to mentor current students,” Shelton said. “This is especially important in Washington, D.C., where relationships make all the difference in an increasingly competitive internship and employment environment. I’m very grateful to our alumni for the enthusiasm with which they have supported the launch of ������Ƶ’s “Capital Connections” program in the district.

D.C. Alumni Chapter President Gabby Vance ’18, organized the event with fellow chapter members.

“The Pizza Party remains one of my favorite events organized by the D.C. chapter because it brings together two important parts of the ������Ƶ community,” Vance said. “Alumni have the opportunity to share their experiences and insights about life after graduation, while students gain a first-hand look at what it’s like to live and work in Washington, D.C., while building valuable professional connections. It’s always rewarding to see these relationships take shape, and I look forward to continuing this tradition for many years to come.”

Molly Bauer ’19, a former Communications Fellow, spent the fall of her junior year studying in D.C.

“It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made,” said Bauer, who moved to D.C. when she graduated and says she has experienced how strong the alumni network is in the city, and has enjoyed maintaining relationships with her peers.

“Now that ������Ƶ has its own program in D.C., I’m excited to stay even more connected to ������Ƶ by fostering connections with current students, faculty and staff as well,” Bauer said. “The Study USA program in D.C. will make our already-strong ������Ƶ network in D.C. even stronger. At the event, it was great getting to chat with current students, something I haven’t done since I graduated, and it was awesome reconnecting with faculty and staff after several years!”

Are you an alumnus living in D.C.? Join us for the next student/alumni networking night on

Applications for the Study USA D.C. summer 2027 program open Sept. 1. Contact the director of Study USA, Anna Smith asmith273@elon.edu, if you’d like to learn more.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Laing will spend a month in South Korea where she’ll visit 14 higher education institutions throughout the country to learn about the current trends in South Korean higher education and how these institutions view campus-wide internationalization, and also to learn more about international student mobility for students from (and to) South Korea. Friedland will spend his time as a Fulbright Scholar in Budapest, Hungary, where he will be teaching about the information economy, social media, and privacy and writing a book on comparative media law.

Fulbright U.S. Scholars are accomplished faculty, researchers, administrators and established professionals who teach or conduct research in partnership with institutions around the world. Through these affiliations, they expand their professional networks and often seed future research, innovation and institutional partnerships. When they return home to their campuses, labs, and classrooms, Fulbright Scholars share their experiences and insights, becoming champions of international collaboration. Many go on to host visiting scholars and inspire colleagues and students to pursue transformative opportunities abroad.

The Fulbright Program was established in 1946 as a bold investment in global peace and American prosperity through educational and cultural exchange. Fulbright provides opportunities for exceptional Americans and participants from 160 countries and locations to study, teach and conduct research abroad. For eight decades, Fulbrighters have been leaders at the forefront of discovery and innovation, conducting cutting edge research, advancing critical industries, and preparing future generations with new skills and perspectives.

In the United States, the Institute of International Education implements the Fulbright U.S. Student and U.S. Scholar Programs on behalf of the U.S. Department of State. For more information about the Fulbright Program, visit . Learn more about .

Related Articles

• Strategic multifaith engagement shapes the ������Ƶ campus experience
• ������Ƶ students and faculty extend multifaith engagement to the community

One of the central goals of ������Ƶ’s Multifaith Strategic Plan is to “support opportunities for multifaith learning and engagement for all members of the ������Ƶ academic community,” including through academic opportunities. While many students at ������Ƶ may take a single course during their time at ������Ƶ that focuses on the study of religion or spirituality, a select group of students specializes in academic multifaith learning: religious studies majors.

Last month, 11 students graduated from ������Ƶ with degrees in religious studies, the largest number of Religious Studies majors graduating in a single year since 2012.

“The number of majors in our department has grown substantially over the last several years,” said Geoffrey Claussen, professor of religious studies and chair of the Department of Religious Studies. “Students seldom come to ������Ƶ planning to major in religious studies, but students often take courses during their first year that whet their appetite for further learning. They are able to recognize how the critical study of religion helps them to understand the world, and they appreciate the mentorship and community that our department offers.”

Religion is anything

The course that hooked Tracey McCarty ’26 on religious studies was “Religion and American Popular Culture,” taught by Andrew Monteith, and explores how religion can be found in many unexpected places in popular culture and imagined in radically different ways.

“I was taught a very specific concept: religion is anything,” McCarty said. “This was a game-changer for me. To understand religion not as a cohesive and strict definition, but as this conceptual ball that can be shaped in any way. Seeing religion as not an institution, but as a thing that a single person can define for themselves, was beautiful.”

One of the goals of ������Ƶ’s Multifaith Strategic Plan is to develop courses that “support student learning about diverse religious, spiritual, and secular traditions and identities.” In the Religious Studies department, these include “traditions” courses that explore how sets of traditions often viewed as static religions are characterized by significant diversity and can be depicted in very different ways.

Tess Trayner ’26 explored the diversity of Buddhisms in “Buddhist Traditions,” taught by Pamela Winfield.

“We traced Buddhism from its founding more than 2,000 years ago through its development across Asia and into the West, and Dr. Winfield refused to let us treat any of it as exotic or static,” Trayner said. “The unit on Orientalism and Buddhism in America helped me better understand the decontextualizing nature of mindfulness apps, yoga studios, and how to approach the version of Buddhism most familiar to American audiences. Learning to see Engaged Buddhism as both an authentic tradition and a phenomenon shaped by Western projection gave me tools I now reach for constantly – tools for noticing whose version of a tradition gets centered, and why.”

Another Traditions course, “Jewish Traditions,” taught by Claussen, featured opportunities to role-play debates about how Jewish tradition should be understood. In this class, Trayner had the opportunity to step into the shoes of thinkers with whom they sympathized and others whose views they found reprehensible.

“I discovered that wrestling with viewpoints I disagree with sharpens both my disagreement and my empathy,” Trayner said. “It is one thing to read a Jewish thinker. It is another to inhabit them long enough to understand how their historical moment shaped what they could imagine.”

Multifaith at home and abroad

������Ƶ’s Multifaith Strategic Plan also commits the university to developing “pathways for experiential and engaged multifaith learning,” including through study abroad courses that “support engagement with global religious communities.”

Trayner had a significant learning experience taking “India’s Identities,” a course taught in South India by Amy Allocco and Brian Pennington. The course “deconstructed what I thought I knew about Hinduism, and rebuilt it with a critical emphasis on vernacular practice and the lived religion of regular, everyday people. As such, the class refused the traditional classroom format. Instead, Dr. Allocco’s deep roots of connection in Chennai meant we sat in living rooms with the most incredible people.”

Students have also been equipped by their Religious Studies coursework to engage with communities closer to home. Alyssa Carney ’26, for example, volunteered at the Burlington Masjid, teaching English to newcomers. Experiences of working with displaced people led her to propose a new unit for her “Engaging Islam” course, taught by Ariela Marcus-Sells.

What makes this course unique is its ‘build your own path’ structure, which allows students to shape the direction of their learning based on their interests and experiences, Carney said.

“For me, it created an opportunity to connect my volunteer work with my academic inquiry. As I was working closely with migrant communities, I became particularly interested in the topic of displacement within Islam. This led me to propose a unit based on a textbook chapter, ‘Refugee Horizons,’ which focuses on the experiences of Muslims in Myanmar, particularly the Rohingya,” Carney said “Through this unit, I explored how the Rohingya negotiate their Islamic identity in the face of systemic violence and ethnic cleansing, deepening both my academic understanding and my connection to the people I work with at the masjid.”

Advancing Equity

The Multifaith Strategic Plan also directs ������Ƶ to “explore new modes for student learning about religion and race, especially in connection with the Advancing Equity requirement.” The Religious Studies Department offers multiple courses each semester that meet that requirement.

This spring, Trayner took an Advancing Equity course titled “Religion, Race and Resistance,” taught by Sheila Otieno. Through courses such as this, Trayner said, “the department has prepared me to take real questions into the world. Dr. Otieno’s course gave me a framework for connecting religious and racial construction to the systems that shape American life, and how I can become a more intentional and thoughtful participant in America’s futurity.”

McCarty shares that their understanding of race and religion were shaped by studying Judith Weisenfeld’s “Black Religion in the Madhouse: Race and Psychiatry in Slavery’s Wake” in the religious studies senior seminar, taught by Marcus-Sells, exploring “how racism in America not only shaped psychiatry but also how Black religion is viewed. This perspective of religion as a political force in the world made me more knowledgeable about how the current society we’re in was created.”

McCarty found that the department provided an inclusive space for exploring interesting and challenging questions.

“The department has always been welcoming to anyone who has joined,” McCarty said. “I’ve been able to form great connections with those in the department, and they’ve been incredibly open to accepting diverse worldviews.”

Carney connected her experience as a religious studies major with the larger institutional objectives found in the Multifaith Strategic Plan.

“The Religious Studies Department at ������Ƶ actively advances the goals of the multifaith strategic plan. It does so not through a single initiative, but through an ecosystem of mentorship, community engagement, creative coursework and genuine care,” said Carney.

Trayner emphasized the importance of Religious Studies in the current political climate.

“Thanks to this department, I’ll leave ������Ƶ with a degree in religious studies and a much harder-won inheritance: the habit of holding complexity, the conviction that ordinary people are experts on their own lives, and the trust that careful, plural study of religion is exactly the kind of preparation this fractured moment is asking of us,” said Trayner.

This story is the fourth and final in a series of stories focusing on ������Ƶ’s Multifaith Strategic Plan.

This year’s students will spend the summer interning in fields ranging from media production to public policy, environmental research, business innovation and community development. At the heart of this experience is the opportunity to gain real-world experience while exploring the cultural and professional landscapes of their host cities, while earning academic credit through coursework.

Charlotte: Exploring sports, marketing, business and beyond 

As students arrived in the South End of Charlotte, they were welcomed by Director of ������Ƶ Charlotte Karen Neff and Program Assistant Emma Hash. This summer marks an especially exciting chapter for the Queen City site, as it hosts Study USA students while also launching the inaugural Summer Business Institute (SBI).

The new 10‑week SBI offers ������Ƶ students the opportunity to earn a Business Administration minor in a single summer through an immersive blend of coursework, professional development, and experiential learning.

Study USA students will pair their internships with a dynamic geography course taught by Associate Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies Ryan Kirk. Through fieldwork and urban exploration, students will examine Charlotte’s growth, infrastructure, and identity, gaining a deeper understanding of how the city became the economic and cultural hub it is today.

SBI students will balance four business courses with job‑shadowing experiences designed to connect classroom learning with real-world applications. Together, all students across both programs will take part in excursions that highlight Charlotte’s innovation, history and community.

Move‑in day set the tone for an engaging summer ahead, featuring a welcome mixer hosted by Foster Flats, orientation sessions, a city‑wide scavenger hunt, and a hands-on cooking class that brought students together.

Los Angeles: Launching creative careers in the entertainment capital

Arriving in the heart of the entertainment industry, students were warmly welcomed by Director of ������Ƶ Los Angeles Brad Lemack as they settled into their housing just minutes from major studios and production hubs.

Students spend the summer interning with film production companies, talent agencies, digital media firms and theatre companies. Alongside their internships, students take a Core Capstone course taught by Cinema and Television Arts Professor Doug Kass, examining how visionaries and innovators have transformed Los Angeles, and how the cycle of invention and reinvention continues to shape the city’s commerce, creativity and cultural diversity.

Move in buzzed with excitement as students met their roommates, explored their neighborhood, and prepared for their first week of classes and internship onboarding. The following day included an orientation session at The Preserve, where students will have class each week, followed by an afternoon exploring The Getty, the Grove and L.A.’s Farmers Market.

New York City: Immersed in media, business and cultural innovation 

Political Science and Public Policy Professor Safia Swimelar and Program Assistant Hailey Duartes welcomed the students to Williamsburg, a student-friendly neighborhood in the heart of Brooklyn.

Students will intern across sectors, including journalism, public relations, marketing, media production and more. The Core Capstone course, taught by Professor Swimelar, complements these experiences. In the course description, Swimelar notes, “to call New York City a microcosm of the global community is not exaggeration… This course uses New York City as a microcosm to model and understand the diversity and complexity of global humanity.” Students will explore the diversity of values that New Yorkers hold and examine important social, political, and religious issues at play throughout the city.

Students spent their first day navigating their new neighborhood, settling into their apartments, and exploring the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

Washington, D.C.: Engaging with policy, advocacy and public service 

Students were welcomed into the nation’s capital by Professor Joel Shelton, Program Assistant Abby Wright, and Ashley Pinney, Director of National Campus. Students will spend the summer living in the heart of NoMa and interning with congressional offices, federal agencies, law firms, advocacy groups, and more.

The coursework, the inaugural Capital Connections: Power, People and Place in Washington, D.C. spearheaded by Joel Shelton, associate professor of political science and public policy, “explores ‘the District’ as a place where politics and policy meet culture, economy and community.” Through engaging walking tours, museum visits, and cultural experiences, students will gain a firsthand look at the decision-making processes that shape the intersection of power, culture, economy, and identity in the nation’s capital.

Move-in included orientation sessions, community building activities, and preparation for the fast-paced professional environments they’ll soon enter.