Nov 9, 2012 3 min read

The Institute of International Education has selected Washington & Jefferson as one of just 14 colleges and universities in the United States to participate in the 2013 Brazil initiative of IIE’s International Academic Partnership Program. W&J will participate in a year-long series of training activities to help implement and sustain partnerships with academic institutions in Brazil, culminating with a study tour to Brazil in the spring to meet with potential partner campuses.

Currently, there are three students from Brazil studying at W&J as part of the Brazilian government’s Science Without Borders program. One of them, Antonio Edvan Camelo Filho, who is pursuing a degree in internal medicine at Universidade Estadual do Ceara, is taking neuroscience courses at W&J.

“It’s a unique opportunity for me to get in touch with the brand new technologies and concepts from the neuroscience field,” Camelo Filho said. “Besides medical interests, it’s a way to meet new people and different cultures, broadening my horizons.”

“We are pleased to have been selected for this important initiative and look forward to forming the important partnerships that will increase access to global education for students in the U.S. and in Brazil,” said W&J President Tori Haring-Smith.

Smith has encouraged the growth of the college’s global movement by increasing the number of study abroad programs from four to 40 and establishing programs for international students at W&J.

IIE’s President and CEO Allan E. Goodman said, “At a time when Brazil’s economy is expanding rapidly, and Brazil and the United States are forging unprecedented ties in trade, energy and scientific development, we look to higher education as another area where our two countries should seek much stronger cooperation.”

These partnership programs offer timely resources for campuses in both countries to explore areas of academic cooperation, including exchanging students and scholars and collaborating on research projects and degree programs. Earlier this year, the White House and the State Department issued statements on the importance of educational cooperation between the U.S. and Brazil during Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s visit to the United States, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Brazil to explore further ways to expand U.S.-Brazil bilateral cooperation in regional and global issues, as part of an ongoing dialogue at a ministerial level on economic, educational and diplomatic issues.