Perry World House student fellows explore global policy solutions

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.

“We’re very proud that it crosses schools with students who are very diverse in their specific areas of study but are united in their passion for global policy and international affairs,” says program director Melissa Lee, associate professor in the Department of Political Science. “The specific thing that gets them going could be very different. They have this broad intellectual curiosity.”

Highlights during the academic year include a weekly 90-minute seminar with outside speakers or a guided discussion; two day trips to Washington, D.C., and New York City to connect with policymakers, practitioners and professionals in the world of global policy; and a weeklong spring break trip to see firsthand the international side of policy work.

“The World House Student Fellows Program is a cornerstone of Perry World House’s work with Penn students,” says PWH director Michael C. Horowitz, pointing to Penn’s leadership among peer universities working in global policy. Horowitz, who founded the program in 2016 and ran it until 2022, says students have “experiences they can’t get anywhere else at Penn and mentorship in shaping their careers.”

Ben Sailors, a fourth-year student from Bellefontaine, Ohio, in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, says he was inspired by his Perry World House experience to examine the intersections of policy, business, and technology. The annual trips to New York and Washington are “incredible opportunities” to speak with experts and learn about what they do and the policy solutions they craft, Sailors says.

Students also spend extensive time working on yearlong policy research projects, collaborating with partner organizations around the globe to tackle actual problems and challenges. “They work together in interdisciplinary teams generating recommendations that they present to partners, policymakers, and faculty, providing key insights on critical global policy challenges,” Horowitz says. 

This year’s student teams are working with the International Telecommunication Union, an arm of the United Nations; the U.S. Department of State; the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center; Climate Governance Initiative Greece; the United Nations global chief heat officer; The Banyan, a nongovernmental organization in India: the Fundación En Via, a nonprofit supporting women entrepreneurs in Mexico; and the Center for European Policy Analysis.

“It’s great to see how rigorous knowledge can be brought to bear on the real-life work of an organization,” Lee says. “It builds those valuable skills earlier and helps them start to build professional connections.”

Charlotte Brown, a fourth-year Penn Nursing student, says she became interested in social determinants of health at home in Wasilla, Alaska. “There were lots of classmates growing up who were hungry, or who didn’t necessarily have the best of home,” she says. “That drew me into nursing but at the same time gave me an interesting policy approach: ‘Why is this the way? ‘This is broken, and it shouldn’t be this way.’”

In the Student Fellows program, she has met people from different backgrounds who have become some of her “favorite humans”: “I love getting to sit in those rooms listening to teachers, experts, seminars but also getting to learn from my peers and friends in the room,” she says. “I realize just how much I don’t know.”

Fourth-year Lindsay Park from Horsham, Pennsylvania, got her introduction to Perry World House early, as her first class was scheduled there. She says that when, as a second-year she was taking a Korean language class to reconnect with her roots, she stopped in on a lecture from former Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun and was wowed by the experience. “It was absolutely amazing to talk to these world leaders and pick their brains about the relevant policy questions.”

Now a student at the School of Engineering and Applied Science studying systems engineering, she is focused on equity considerations of technology and energy policy. “If it weren’t for this, I wouldn’t have met students from nursing, Wharton, and the College,” Park says. “It’s been really fulfilling to talk to different students about the same policy issues from their perspective. I’ve learned so much from these groups. The diverse cohort itself has been so rewarding.”

For students considering applying for the program, Sailors advises to not agonize over having the perfect policy angle. “If you have an interest, an understanding of international relations and global policy dynamics, show it through,” he says. “The great thing about the program is that you have political science people, you have engineers like me, you have nursing students, you have people from all four Penn undergraduate schools. Show your passion for understanding complex issues and why a diverse community is crucial to find that policy in the future.”