Want to better understand what the Fries Center does and the opportunities to collaborate with us? Check out our 2020-2021 Annual Report. The “Executive Summary” from that report follows; for the rest of the report, follow that link!

Executive Summary

The pandemic-induced pause on study abroad coupled with the arrival of two new colleagues meant significant opportunities for reflection and then innovation across the Fries Center in 2020-2021. The whole team participated in conversations about anti-racism over the year leading to both personal growth and policy changes. The new Global Engagement Minor, together with novel opportunities for “virtual exchange,” expanded our curricular footprint. Our language data project continued, highlighting the impact of both faculty and FCGS efforts over the last few years: after three years of declines, the percentage of graduates in the class of 2021 who studied language at Wesleyan rose compared to the previous year, reaching 61%. The year ended with the first-ever FCGS Advisory Board retreat at which both current and past board members discussed the state of internationalization at Wesleyan and set goals for the coming year.

The many activities of the FCGS can often seem quite disparate. In an effort to show that there is a method to the madness, after the “New in 2020-2021” section Director Stephen Angle offers a short essay titled “Making Sense of Internationalization at Wesleyan.” The essay explains and modifies the notion of “comprehensive internationalization,” and then uses this framework to categorize the work of the FCGS—and, you will see, many other offices at Wesleyan. To be successful, internationalization indeed needs to be “comprehensive.” We hope you find this Annual Report’s overview of the contributions of the FCGS to that larger goal illuminating.