Working across departments and divisions in support of the College mission, the Office of Global Initiatives directs Walter Commons programming to facilitate and coordinate the integration of global issues and perspectives into the academic program and campus culture. The office deepens the global-local engagement dimensions of Connections and supports the full participation of students, faculty and staff.
IIE (the Institute of International Education) created a video, 100 Years of Transforming Lives featuring Bina Nepram, Resident Scholar at Connecticut College from 2018-2019.
Signature Programs
Global Partnerships and Exchanges
A key objective of the Walter Commons is to develop new strategic partnerships abroad and to expand relationships with established partners with whom Connecticut College has historic ties.
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Through the Mellon Initiative on Global Education, faculty and staff have built relationships with Ashesi University College, Ghana; New Bulgarian University, Bulgaria; Ehwa University, South Korea; and Ashoka University, India. The partnership project has resulted in collaborative online courses and opportunities for student research and internships. Connecting the campus to the world, these partnerships will allow the College to engage in broader international conversations about complex global challenges and to advance the mission of liberal education in the 21st century as part of the solution.
Global-Local Engagement Advising
In Spring 2018, the Walter Commons for Global Study and Engagement launched a new advising program for off-campus programs.
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The Walter Commons supports Connections by highlighting experiential learning (through study away, internships, applied research, and community engagement) as an opportunity to pursue academic studies in real-world and practical contexts. Global-local engagement advising is a collaboration with staff from Community Partnerships, Study Away, the Holleran Center, CISLA, and the Office of Career and Professional Development.
Institute of International Education — Scholar Rescue Fund (IIE-SRF)
The Scholar Rescue Fund is an international network of higher education institutions that are committed to the protection of threatened scholars around the globe and to promoting the core idea that all people should be free to think.
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Connecticut College is proud to be a member of IIE-SRF and to offer support to colleagues who seek refuge in order to pursue their academic lives. From 2014-2016, the College sponsored a Syrian economist through the IIE-SRF program. From 2018-2019, we welcomed Binalakshmi Nepram, a scholar-activist from India.
