University of California, Los Angeles - International Institute

The **UCLA International Institute** educates students, supports scholarship on the world at UCLA and serves as a campus and community resource. With a history dating back to 1958, the Institute is the central hub for global and area studies on campus. Its more than [27 centers and programs](https://www.international.ucla.edu/institute/centers) support innovative multidisciplinary research on specific world regions and pressing global issues. Its rigorous [academic programs](https://www.international.ucla.edu/institute/academics) offer degrees in global studies, international development, global health, international migration and diverse regions and countries of the world. The UCLA International Instituted is directed by a senior management team led by the Vice Provost for International Studies and Global Engagement, two Associate Vice Provosts and two Assistant Vice Provosts. The Office of the Vice Provost develops and implements UCLA’s global strategy, manages the university’s partnership agreements with foreign educational and research institutions, and represents UCLA to international constituencies and organizations. (To learn more about the Office of the VP, click [here](https://global.ucla.edu/aboutus#top).) **Academic Programs: Global and Area Studies.** The International Institute’s wide variety of interdisciplinary academic programs offer six undergraduate majors, ten undergraduate minors and three master’s degree programs. Together, they enroll nearly 1,000 students each year. UCLA International Institute alumni — some of whom go on to pursue advanced research and professional degrees — work in the education, government, cultural, nonprofit and business sectors of countries all over the world. The internationally renowned faculty who serve as directors of the Institute's centers — and as chairs and [teaching faculty](https://www.international.ucla.edu/academics/faculty) in its academic programs — hold appointments throughout UCLA’s College of Letters and Science and professional schools. Many faculty further enrich the Institute’s global and regional course offerings by leading travel study and education abroad programs. To sustain the expertise that makes UCLA a leader in scholarship on the world, the International Institute actively recruits and helps fund faculty who specialize in international studies. The Institute also supports advanced language classes and courses on specific world regions and topics. In addition, each of its individual centers sustains a network of research scholars across the campus, the nation and the globe. **Research on the World.** Both the UCLA International Institute and its centers support cutting-edge research via graduate student fellowships; language study scholarships; faculty grants; and funding for conferences, publications and multidisciplinary research projects. On campus, the Institute is uniquely positioned to bring together varied departments and centers to foster collaborative research and debate on issues such as climate change, public health threats, international conflicts and migration. Initiatives spearheaded by the UCLA International Institute have included conferences and workshops on a wide variety of global topics such as migration, water conservation and management in different world regions, Sinitic Buddhism, the role of religion in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the history of the left in twentieth-century Mexico, minorities in the Middle East and the challenge of medical interventions among indigenous populations in Central America. **Campus and Community Resource.** Part of a leading public university in the global city of Los Angeles, the UCLA International Institute is also a first?class resource for the city and its residents. The breadth and depth of its research interests make the International Institute a valuable partner to its home city. The multiethnic population and economic interests of Los Angeles connect it closely to the countries of the Pacific Rim and Latin America, as well as those of the Middle East, Africa and Europe. The Institute reaches this greater LA community and the campus through roughly 250 annual public lectures, symposia, conferences and cultural events — the vast majority of which are free of charge. Recent events sponsored by the Institute’s individual centers have addressed the war in Ukraine; the Armenian Genocide; the end of the U.S. war in Afghanistan; Afghan literature; the crisis of the Nile River Basin; the history and politics of modern-day Colombia, Brazil and Mexico; Israeli history and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; the complicated identities of immigrants and refugees; pre-modern history in Southeast Asia; contemporay Chinese filmmakers and writers; popular culture in South Asia; and professional development workshops on Latin America for K–12 teachers.