Hi everyone, I’m Ana from Trossingen, Germany, and I will be responsible for the IEDP blog this year! You’ll also meet some guest writers on the way and hopefully get an overview of what it means to be a part of the International Educational Development Program at Penn and what we experience while being a master’s student. Our semester began just a week ago, and … Continue reading Introducing the 2024-2025 IEDP Cohort!
Thinking back to the beginning of this year, I remember my peers sharing how the experience of finding housing from abroad at times felt stressful. The prospect of navigating unfamiliar rental markets (including all the legal components), deciding on neighborhoods, and filtering online listings can be daunting. We wanted to aggregate resources and share our experiences and advice for future cohorts! Below we’ll share a … Continue reading Finding Housing in Philly: A Collection of Advice, Resources and Experiences
Written by Sveta Ever since the first week of my IEDP experience, the faculty members had been buzzing about CIES and the remarkable experience it was bound to be. I opened the program description and was shocked by the variety of sessions, additionally, Miami sounded like a tempting place to visit. Now, here I am, multitasking between submitting assignments, packing formal attire, designing business cards, … Continue reading A week in Miami for the Comparative International Education Society Conference
This week IEDPers got together to make meals to share in The People’s Fridge (@thefridgeon52nd), a community fridge established as a form of mutual aid to provide access to food and water to anyone who needs it in West Philadelphia. Anyone is able to share what they want and take what they need. We gathered at Penn Women’s Center to prepare turkey and swiss sandwiches … Continue reading Cooking for Community
For this feature, Chippie wanted to focus on the set of conditions, considerations, and aspirations that ultimately led him to apply to and enroll in the IEDP. Chippie is from Malawi, a place he always reminds us is famously known as the Warm Heart of Africa. His roots are in Blantyre, in the Southern region of the country, where he conducted most of his studies. … Continue reading Malawi Fellow Chipiliro Kasiyamphanje on his Journey to the IEDP & Reflections on his First Semester
What does your daily work life look like on Internship? As an intern at UNESCO Paris, most days start with catching up on emails and keeping a close track of the work I am due to deliver. There are days when I find myself working on only one project and days when my work tracker sheet is put to the test. My tasks range from conducting … Continue reading IEDP VOICES FROM THE FIELD: Radhika Mittal on her internship at UNESCO Paris
I have been fully disregarding this Happy New Year rule and have been wishing, “Happy New Year” to everyone I haven’t seen since 2023. I’ll continue to do so through the end of January, so be warned. Happy New Year, everyone! We just finished the first week of the Spring semester. It’s an incredible irony to be speaking so much of being in the spring … Continue reading On Celebrations and New Beginnings
8:00am Wakeup & Prep for the Day with Cafecito I try to be up and drinking my coffee by 8:00am. My morning routine this day consisted of making a to-go breakfast smoothie, packing lunch and getting out the door as fast as I could. 9:00pm Morning Library Session I rushed out not because of class or prior commitment, but because I’ve noticed that I’m way … Continue reading Another Wednesday as an IEDP Student
For this month’s student spotlight, I sat with Rima, our second IEDP UNESCO ‘23/’24 fellow and first-year master’s student from Syria whose interdisciplinary interests in psychology and education have brought her to the IEDP. Rima is laser-focused on pursuing a career in Clinical Psychology in order to offer mental health and special education support to underprivileged and underrepresented communities, including Syrian refugee populations. While we’re … Continue reading UNESCO Fellow Rima on Research Opportunities at Penn, TikTok and Dumpster Greenhouses
Tolulope Olasewere Initially, I was going to title this series “IEDP Student Profiles.” I sat with that title for weeks, and before tonight I did not really understand why it did not feel right. In the past, when writing profiles, I have sent out Google Forms or Google Docs with questions for the person of interest to respond to. And then I would take those … Continue reading The Sky Is No Longer the Limit: In Conversation with UNESCO Fellow ’23 Umar
The International Educational Development Program 