Global Opportunities | Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis
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Global Opportunities

The Brown School is at the cutting edge of international research and practice for social work, public health and social policy.

Our students, faculty and alumni effect change all over the world.

Students gain experience in international settings in a variety of ways: elective field-based courses, global research opportunities and international practica for those eligible. The Office of Global Programs also hosts speakers, conferences and student-focused events that provide rich international perspectives from diverse stakeholders.

Visit the Office of Global Programs website.






Field-Based Courses

In the past, course offerings have changed each year based on faculty proposals. 

A peek at our past courses:

"Gender, Physical Activity and Urban Development" (Germany)

This course will build on the topics of Social Entrepreneurship, Social Innovation, and Social Work with the refugee and migrant population. The course is structured to introduce students to the responses and unfolding of the refugee influx to Germany, and challenges that the public health, social work, and urban development sectors face with regards to global population displacement.

Learn more here.

"Protection and Wellbeing of Refugee Children" (Colombia)

The course is grounded in the Global Classroom concept of “distributed learning” that mobilizes the power of a diverse set of learners to collectively explore the multifaceted challenges associated with organized efforts to protect children and promote their well-being in humanitarian settings. It will emphasize global standards and best practice; the value of local, culturally-grounded voices/experience; collaborative workspaces and dialogue; and locally-informed investigations or assignments. The course format will include classroom lectures, discussion seminars, sites visits and data collection in Colombia. The course structure will combine classroom instruction with experiential learning provided through field visits to displaced communities and NGOs.

Learn more here.

"Sustainability, Development and Health" (Costa Rica)

This course will employ lessons from diverse fields including, but not limited to, agriculture, forestry, energy production, environmental economics, domestic and international policy, ecology, resource management, and human health. The course introduces perspectives from the natural and social sciences, arts and humanities, and professional disciplines and explores how their interconnection increases the prospects for creating a more sustainable future. The course will be taught in Costa Rica at Earth University.

Learn more here.

"Policymaking, Advocacy and Analysis in the U.S. Legislative System" (Washington, D.C.)

The course will be developed over three phases, with the first phase occurring in the classroom in St. Louis. The second phase will be located in Washington DC over spring break, and will use the opportunities provided by the nation’s capital to explore transdisciplinary policy practice in government, think tanks, and advocacy groups. Students will learn from policy and advocacy experts, as well as from social science leaders in Congress. Students will also learn about the basics of government and the legislative process, research-based advocacy, and how social scientists affect social policy around the world. For the third phase, students will return to St. Louis for debriefing of the visit as well as processing of the student policy leadership projects.

Learn more here.









International Practicum

An international practicum is a field placement that is completed in a Core Affiliated Practicum site outside of the United States. Through a guided process, eligible students will be able to select from a set of core affiliated international practicum sites—including opportunities with organizations such as Camp Group, Ugandan Developmental Health Organization, MINGA, Los Aliados, TERREWODE, Center for Infectious Disease Research Zambia , Maji Safi Group, Winrock International, and many local NGOs. During the 2020/21 academic year, due to the COVID-19 crisis, international organizations may offer virtual, remote opportunities for students. (Students may also opt to delay an international practicum until summer 2022.)

For the International Practicum Guidelines and online application, please click here.

Global Research

Our faculty and doctoral students lead research projects all over the globe, often hiring students as research assistants to partner in their work. Areas of investigation for recent faculty and student international research projects include:

Using eggs to combat undernutrition in Haiti and Ecuador (Lora Iannotti)
Rural aging in place in South Korea (Sojung Park)
Livelihoods in Kenya (Carolyn Lesorogol)
Youth savings in Colombia and Ghana (Michael Sherraden and the Center for Social Development)
Protecting fisheries in Haiti (Joe Steensma and Lora Iannotti)
Disabilities in South Africa (Jean-Francois Trani)