In April, Brooks junior Ariela Aslani ’26 helped to host 10 of her peers from the Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ) in Ecuador, who arrived in Ithaca, New York, as part of the Brooks Global Policy Exchange, a reciprocal global learning experience that pairs teams of students from across universities and cultures to examine policy solutions over a 15-week course collaboration.
“This program challenged my assumptions about what cultural understanding really looks like. It’s not about mastering facts or frameworks, but about being present, listening deeply, and staying curious,” said Aslani. “It reaffirmed my interest in continuing with international work, and I’ll carry forward a stronger sense of empathy, adaptability, and cross-cultural communication into whatever academic, professional, or personal path I pursue.”
The program pairs Brooks’ course Sustainability Education Policy in the U.S. and Ecuador with a similar one taught at USFQ. Both courses meet in person for weekly seminars that explore education and sustainability policy challenges in the domestic context. Then online, students work in cross-institutional, bilingual teams to conduct comparative research identifying innovative policy solutions to address challenges in both contexts.