Are you planning to join a study abroad program this Summer or next year? Are you thinking of a study abroad program that can significantly enhance your academic, professional and social aptitudes, hence your resume? Then consider international community service programs for your study abroad!
Professor Maureen Porter, the IISE Associate Director, has led several international service projects in locations all over the world. A central feature of Porter's works in this area is an emphasis on the transformative impacts of community service. She underlines the importance of partnering up with community members for a more just social change and betterment, sharing ownership of the project and the development space, as well as creating a cycle of reciprocity in its process.
In 1997, Porter pioneered the concept of international service-learning as a form of community engagement at Pitt. She initiated an international service-learning project that built many schools and community centers for villages in the Andes mountains.
Last year, Porter earned a prestigious award which recognized her transformative works in the intercultural education and development.
Read more: Maureen Porter received the David Portlock Outstanding International Educator Award
Professor Porter continually advocates for intercultural education, including in projects with the World Bank, National Science Foundation, the Smithsonian, and the Global Fund for Women. Porter and colleagues are currently working on several new initiatives. They are developing a “study away” program in Hawaii, internship programs in India, and research-practice partnerships in the Yucatán in Mexico and in Uganda.
Integral in the concept of study abroad is performing an international service to gain valuable professional development skills and cross-cultural awareness.The purposes of study abroad or international service resonate a lot with IISE global visions to connect the local and the global, to prepare global generation and leaders in international education and development, as well as to generate and strengthen networks of networks. All of these are reflected a lot in the works of IISE and its affiliates
Do you need more ideas and tips for the application, preparations and orientations? With more than 350 programs, Pitt Study Abroad has programs for every major on campus. The Study abroad program also offers internships, service-learning and research opportunities that help you get closer to your academic, professional and personal goals. Check-out all of the programs at on the Pitt Study Abroad website or email abroad@pitt.edu for more questions.
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IISE Global Vision and Mission