CAMBRIDGE, MA—Since 1994, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for International Studies has developed of one the most successful and wide-ranging international education programs in the country, particularly among universities focusing on science and technology.

The highly innovative MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI Program) - which, among other things, offers MIT students language and culture training in preparation for substantive internships and research positions during semesters, summers and years abroad in China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan and Mexico-trains MIT students to become global citizens and to function as global professionals. MISTI, MIT's cornerstone program for international education, has placed more than 1,400 MIT students as interns in labs and offices from Berlin to Beijing.

From Tuesday, September 20 through Friday, September 23, 2005, the program will present "MISTI Week" to highlight its activities and initiatives, including:

• Panel discussions about European integration; the question of whether there is a global communication culture; and the car of the future/future of the car
• Talks by Pulitzer Prize-winning MIT historian John Dower ("Asian Promise/Yellow Peril") and MIT Chinese language Professor Jing Wang ("Youth Culture, Music and Cell Phone Branding in China ")
• Orientation meetings for students interested in each of the seven MISTI "country" programs
• An international fair (culture and food)
• A soccer tournament and a photo contest
• Lessons in Catalan and Sanskrit
• Screening of movies from Mexico, Japan and India

"At MIT, we recognize that educating tomorrow's leaders for an increasingly interconnected world takes new knowledge and skills.  They must be global citizens able to live, work, communicate, and innovate outside their home countries," says MISTI Director Suzanne Berger, Raphael Dorman and Helen Starbuck Professor of Political Science. "One of our main responsibilities in educating tomorrow's leaders is to prepare them for this planetary perspective with first hand experience in foreign societies.  At MIT, we do this through MISTI."

Most MISTI Week events are open to the public. For a schedule, see: 
http://misti.mit.edu/about-misti/events

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MISTI PROGRAM homepage: 
http://mit.edu/misti/

MIT CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES homepage: 
https://cis.mit.edu