Building Your Foundation for Graduate School with the International Summer Institute

How will I fit in at Harvard? How can I feel more comfortable using English? Will I make friends?

If you’re an incoming international PhD student, these and other questions may be on your mind as you prepare to start this exciting chapter of your career. Harvard Griffin GSAS Welcomes: International Summer Institute (ISI) is designed to help students answer these questions and to start their time at Harvard with a strong foundation. The Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning’s Professional Communication Program for International Teachers and Scholars is proud to design and teach the academic component of the program.

This year’s ISI will be the third year of our new curriculum, which has been updated to address the needs and interests of incoming students. It is part of an evolution of a pre-matriculation program for international PhD students that was started more than 20 years ago. When asked why incoming students should join, Erika Robles (Anthropology, 2023 Participant) shared, “It is a good experience for knowing Harvard, a place where it is possible to make friends and to know the resources and opportunities that Harvard offers.”

The ISI is a great resource to learn how to navigate academic life in a new country. You will learn about all the resources that the university offers and make friends! This is key to building a support network and having a better experience in the first year (and for the rest of your time at Harvard). - Maricruz Vargas Ramirez (Education, 2022 Participant and 2023 Small Group Facilitator).

The program goals are to help new students develop friendships and build a network as they begin their graduate studies, feel more confident communicating in English, and start to feel at home at Harvard. Students attend the Intercultural Communication Skills Bok Seminar each morning, which is designed to be the foundational learning experience for all students in the program. Together they learn and reflect on topics related to intercultural communication and practice communication strategies for the variety of contexts they may face as PhD students. During lunch, students either participate in small group discussions (conversation cohorts) led by an upper-year graduate facilitator or in a campus resource lunch (workshops led by campus offices where they provide an overview of resources or services). In the afternoons, students attend campus resource workshops. In the evenings, students enjoy free time or community activities in the residence halls.

Build community: Participants live in the graduate student dorms during the program and engage in activities like events and dinners hosted by the dorm’s resident advisors (upper-year students who stay in the dorms to act as guides and hosts), conversation cohorts, campus workshops, and social outings. In the dorms, participants develop strong bonds and learn from the program’s Resident Advisors as they begin their lives in Cambridge. 

I enrolled in the International Summer Institute (ISI) with 4 different goals: I wanted to be more confident in my English communications before starting classes; I wanted to make new friends; I wanted to adapt to the U.S. culture and Boston/Cambridge area; and I wanted to live the experience of being in a diverse group. Today, I realize that those goals were achieved successfully and even I achieved more than I expected. - Gabriel Ivan Cardenas Chirivi, Quantum Science and Engineering, 2023 Participant 

It's an amazing opportunity to make friends outside your research field. - Kyeong Yoon Baek, Physics, 2022 Participant

Activate English language skills: First-year PhD students, especially those who are moving to an English-immersive environment for the first time, may need time to gain confidence communicating in English. It can be intimidating to start during the busy weeks of orientation or first week of classes while still adjusting to using English. Having the chance to engage in conversation individually, in small groups, and in workshops before the term starts can help new students feel more ready for the different communicative demands they will face in their programs. 

Being in a program with all international students increases my confidence when speaking and listening in English, and helps me uncover my latent English proficiency. I believe that confidence is the most essential aspect of language acquisition, and ISI is the ideal opportunity for me to gain confidence before beginning my academic career at Harvard. - Sunghyun Cho, Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 2023 Participant

Take advantage of the multiple resources the university offers! - Maricruz Vargas Ramirez Education, 2022 Participant and 2023 Small Group Facilitator

Learn more about Harvard: As students are making friends and building their English skills, they are also learning how to get around in their new environment. The program offers campus tours hosted by upper year students and the opportunity to visit and learn more about the different resource offices available to GSAS students. There are also  weekend excursions to local attractions. Participants report that having a little time to get settled and warm up to the new environment before the term starts is really helpful.

One of the most helpful things was knowing how to access Harvard’s resources. For example, we learned about Financial Aid, the writing center, ARC, the Bok Center, and library resources. It is very helpful to know the purposes of each center and office as Harvard has quite a lot of centers, which I think is sometimes overwhelming. In particular, the library workshop was useful as a literature student. It was surprising to know that each subject has a specialized librarian. -Mei Fujie, Comparative Literature, 2023 Participant

One of my favorite things about this program is that we have chances to navigate different resources. Reflecting on my undergraduate and master’s experiences, I just googled everything to find available resources provided by my schools, but it was not only time-consuming but often led to unreliable information. However, participating in this program, I was able to talk directly to people in charge, and questions I had could be solved directly. - Kyrie Kang, Material Science & Mechanical Engineering, 2023 Participant

The invitation list for the program prioritizes students who will need to meet the Griffin GSAS English Language Proficiency Requirement; there is an application form for other students who are interested in joining.  As invitations to this year’s ISI go out, we hope that those who receive them will take advantage of this opportunity! As Robin Singh Arya (English, 2023 Participant) shared when asked to give advice to incoming PhD students, “Get yourself enrolled in ISI!” 

To learn more about all our offerings for international PhD students, check out Professional Communication Program for International Teachers and Scholars, explore our Canvas site (HUID required) Professional Communication for International Scholars, or contact us.