Colby-Sawyer College is committed to an educational program that offers students multiple perspectives and provides opportunities that will link them to the world. The Office of International and Diversity Programs provides leadership in these areas by engaging the Colby-Sawyer community to expand horizons of understanding both abroad and at home through international experiences and diversity programming on campus.
The array of international experiences Colby-Sawyer offers our students include study abroad programs, our signature Global Explorations program, faculty-led international field trips, and summer language immersion trips. The college is also committed to having an international presence on campus through the recruitment of international students and faculty.
Diversity programming at Colby-Sawyer aims to be inclusive and welcoming, and reflective of the diverse perspectives and orientations in our world today. The college has taken an active role in recruiting a diverse student body, and supporting such endeavors through programs like the Progressive Scholars, which brings underrepresented students and a more urban perspective to our rural New Hampshire campus. The Office of International and Diversity Programs works with the faculty, staff, administration and student groups to engage in a dialogue about diversity and to ensure that we maintain an inclusive and open community.
As I see it, diversity and internationalization are essential components of higher education today. We as educators have a responsibility to prepare our students to be successful in the world they will enter upon graduation. That world is much more interconnected than ever before, so students need to be exposed to multiple perspectives. Our mode of being, our assumptions, and our claims to validity are so well-established within us that they become our taken-for-granted reality unless we are challenged to question and reflect on these assumptions. A diverse campus community and international programs offer students a rich learning context where shifts in understanding can occur, thereby helping our students develop into responsible and engaged global citizens.
Pamela Serota Cote
Associate Dean of International & Diversity Programs
pamela.serotacote@colby-sawyer.edu
