When Krista Eastman first arrived in Saint Louis, Senegal, she was overwhelmed by the differences. Suddenly, she was immersed in foods, languages, customs, and cultural norms that bore little resemblance to the life she knew growing up in Reedsburg, Wisconsin.

It didn't take long, though, before she adapted — so well, in fact, that back in Madison she complains that it's difficult to find a decent serving of ceebu jen, a fish-and-rice dish that she came to enjoy while studying in the west African nation.

Each year, more than 1,200 students head off from Madison to savor the flavors of diversity by participating in study-abroad programs. UW-Madison creates partnerships with more than 60 universities around the world, from Quebec to Quito, from Bonn to Beijing. Each offers the chance to learn new cultures and broaden horizons through an intensive, life-altering experience.

"If you want to stretch and adjust your belief system, a great way to do it is to live somewhere else for nine months," says Eastman, who studied French and other subjects at the Université Gaston-Berger de Saint Louis during the 2000-01 academic year. "I hope what I learned in Senegal is always with me."

Now a senior, Eastman works as a peer adviser to study-abroad students, helping them find programs that suit their needs and adjust to life in another culture. She's also helping Papa Badara Bousso, a Senegalese student she met while on her program, adjust to life in Madison. Bousso was selected by his university to spend a year here, showing that the highway of cultural experience runs both ways.

"If you stay at home, you won't have a broad view of the world," says Bousso.

"Over the last decade, UW-Madison has emerged as an undisputed leader in international studies. Today is a time of heightened tension and deep worry at home and abroad. Our charge must be to reach out to the people of the state and to the international community to better understand our changed world and how we relate to each other in it."

— Gilles Bousquet, Dean of International Studies

• The university hosts more federally supported centers for area and international studies than any other American university. The campus supports seven area studies centers, a center for international business, and a center for African languages.

• The Center for World Affairs and the Global Economy, a newly established circle of experts in international business, law, and policy, illustrates how UW-Madison is linking the forces of internationalization with local businesses. The center's fellows help Wisconsin businesses adapt and compete in a global marketplace by hosting seminars and conferences on issues such as the global economy.

• Recent work has converted UW-Madison's former international relations major into a broad, liberal-arts-based international studies degree program. Students in the new major take a variety of interdisciplinary courses that prepare them to analyze and understand global processes, ranging from business and sociology to the environment.

• Alfred Defago, Switzerland's ambassador to the United States from 1997 to 2001, has been leading a course on U.S.-European relations during fall semester as a visiting professor of the International Institute. He is among the latest class of world scholars the institute has invited to share perspectives with the Madison community.

Building connections: With leadership from faculty and alumni, the university launched the Asian Partnership Initiative to reinforce ties with countries including Thailand and China. Above, members of the Thai Student Association help artisans stack roof tiles for an elaborate pavilion, a gift from Thai alumni and government officials, which was recently erected in Madison's Olbrich Gardens as a symbol of those enduring links.