Virtual Internationalization

Connecting St. John’s to communities at home and around the world.

At St. John’s, we are proud of the breadth and diversity of our student mobility options. Over 40% of our undergraduates study abroad, representing every college and mirroring the socio-economic, racial, and ethnic diversity of our New York City campuses.

But the Vincentian nature of our global mission exhorts us to do more—and to do better. Through virtual internationalization efforts, we seek to incorporate international experiences and perspectives into every aspect of our work so that our students and faculty are globally engaged whether or not they physically travel. Through virtual internationalization initiatives, we expand the reach of our academic and service offerings and collaborations far beyond traditional study abroad, connecting our students and faculty to communities throughout the world for meaningful academic and professional exchange. We are especially grateful to base these efforts in one of the world’s global capitals, New York City, which offers remarkable opportunities to engage the world in our own urban backyard.

Below you will find a description of some of the University’s rapidly expanding virtual internationalization initiatives.

Virtual Exchange Program

Through our virtual exchange program, Global Online Learning Exchange (GOLE), St. John's faculty collaborate with international faculty at partner universities around the world, providing high-impact, project-based student interaction to help broaden our students’ perspectives on culture and discipline through directed work with their peers abroad. Faculty workshops and working groups help train and support faculty in the development of long-term academic relationships and the development of clear learning outcomes, transferrable to students’ careers beyond St. John’s.

Virtual Academic Internships

St. John’s students have the option to participate in virtual academic internships through our partners and St. John’s team in New York, Paris, and Rome, earning academic credit through their major department, through the French or Italian department, or a combination of the two. Students with intermediate language skills in French or Italian gain invaluable work experience in an international setting, holding positions in government offices, local universities, schools, private companies, start-ups, hotels, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Through this unique experience, St. John’s graduate and undergraduate students set themselves apart with transferrable skills in their profession, and make contacts for future positions or collaborations beyond their days at St. John’s. For more information, visit our Global Internships webpage.

Read about one student’s virtual experience as an Agritech marketing intern in Spring 2021.

Global Virtual Collaborations

The St. John’s community also leads the way with a wide range of other virtual international collaborations, including student-led initiatives, research and teaching projects, as well as Academic Service-Learning opportunities.

Professor Elizabeth Brondolo in the Department of Psychology closely collaborates research with her partner, Dr. Toan Khuc, at the Hanoi National University of Education in Vietnam focusing on teacher stress. Graduate and undergraduate students in CHIRP work remotely to help develop (and win!) a preliminary grant from the Vietnamese government. Through literature review, proposal development and other types of research support, the collaboration is now focused on data collection strategy in the hopes to pursue more grant funding for the project.

Professor Em Maslak in the School of Education is designing video teaching tools for global literacy with undergraduate students in her course The Arts in Inclusive Settings. Working with the Pistelli Elementary School in Rome, New York-based student teachers provide material online for teachers and students to use in the classroom in Rome. The Italian teachers share a video of the art project for student observation and project assessment.