Perry World House student fellows explore global policy solutions

Through global trips and weekly seminars, the program centers students’ interests in global policy to help solve real-world problems, and the students gain one-of-a-kind experience along the way.

Perry World House was one of the things that attracted Florence Onyiuke to Penn from high school in Orlando, Florida.

Onyiuke has been part of the World House Student Fellows Program, one of PWH’s signature on-campus educational programs, for two years and says that becoming a fellow “really solidified for me just why I’d been so excited for the program: being able to speak to global leaders, these diplomats and politicians around the world, and having individual coffee chats with people I otherwise would never cross paths with.”

Now a third-year student in the Huntsman Program, her policy interests focus on climate migration and economic development in the Global South. A daylong crisis simulation every fall has been the highlight of the experience, with fellows on teams competitively navigating geopolitical crises and working through policies to solve them. “We talk a lot about these things in theory,” Onyiuke says. “But this is the one time that we’re able to think on our feet about how we would approach policy and diplomacy in a real scenario.”

The World House Student Fellows Program began nearly 10 years ago with the launch of Perry World House and today involves 30-35 students from Penn’s four undergraduate Schools. The program is in high demand and highly competitive; last year, about 120 students applied and fewer than 30 were accepted. Applications are now open, until Feb. 2.