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Simmons in the World

Acquiring a global outlook — including an understanding of languages, cultures, and foreign policies — is an integral part of the Simmons experience. From undergraduate programs such as Africana studies and East Asian studies, to graduate fieldwork with Boston's diverse immigrant communities, Simmons encourages students to move beyond familiar borders and connect with the world. And it's not just the curriculum. Simmons as an institution, and as a community of concerned people, welcomes diversity and change.

To this end, Simmons encourages cross-cultural understanding and collaboration through on-campus colloquia and conferences, international scholaship, study abroad, and outreach programs in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. Current initiatives include scholarships for Afghan women, community health projects in Nicaragua, and library preservation in war-torn Iraq.

A Global Community

  • Simmons embraces a wide spectrum of cultures and lifestyles — more than 55 nations and 27 multicultural organizations enrich our community.

International Scholarships

  • Simmons sponsors free public events such as the Race, Democracy, and Education lecture series and the International Chinese Poetry Conference. The Warburg Lecture Series brings diplomats and other international relations experts to campus to discuss topics such as Islam in Africa, women and globalization, and Asia in 2050.
  • Top media outlets regularly seek faculty expertise on topics as diverse as Professor Ching-chih Chen's award-winning research on global digital libraries and International Relations Professor Zachary Abuza's expertise about al-Qaeda and insurgencies in Southeast Asia.

Examples of International Outreach

  • With funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development, Simmons is developing an accelerated nursing program in Egypt and helping to change the way health care is administered there.
  • In collaboration with Harvard University, Simmons brings teachers from the Republic of Georgia to Simmons to learn U.S. teaching strategies.
  • Undergraduate communications students donated the royalties from their anthology, Women-to-Women: Young Americans in South Africa (Africa World Press, 2006), to two social service projects they visited in South Africa — a childcare center in Soweto, and an HIV/AIDS education and advocacy group.