International experience as an academic award: the Chicago 2018 case

Providing relevant international experience for Brazilian students from 13 different Brazilian states and 21 HEIs, with varying profiles, is a big challenge for an international office.

Considering the diverse student profiles and particularities from each School, Adtalem created a program to sponsor the mobility for its best undergraduate students and, in 2018 thirty-eight great minds were selected to study in Chicago, USA, with all expenses covered by their universities.

In partnership with Campus B and DePaul University, the “Academic Awards” program delivered academic, cultural and technical activities during a one-week immersion experience for a diverse group of young students, most of them with no previous experience abroad. Before and during the mobility, they were divided into groups and developed entrepreneurship projects linked to the theme “the future of education”, which were presented to Adtalem’s VP Board in Chicago. The construction of the agenda – from student vetting and selection to the class curriculum – was developed to profoundly engage students in the international experience.

Thus, we propose to explain how a one-week program can create intercultural bonds among students as well as open doors for sustainable partnerships.