Columbia Global Centers

Columbia Global Centers are research outposts established by Columbia University in eight locations around the world, as part of its initiative to further establish an international research university. The first of these centers opened in March 2009 in Beijing, China and Amman, Jordan, and Columbia opened facilities in Paris, France, Mumbai, India in March 2010 and Istanbul, Turkey in November 2011. Additional locations in Nairobi, Rio de Janeiro and Santiago de Chile were opened in 2012 and 2013.

Columbia created the global centers "to promote and facilitate international collaborations, new research projects, academic programming and study abroad, enhancing Columbia’s historical commitment to global scholarship." Columbia Global Centers act as regional hubs for a wide range of activities intended to enhance research in respective areas and at Columbia. The university aims to establish a network of centers in international capitals that brings together regional private enterprise, public officials, scholars, and students to collaboratively address global issues.

Columbia Global Centers | Amman was launched in March 2009 and is led by Professor Safwan M. Masri, Executive Vice President for Global Centers and Global Development. The Amman Center’s projects with Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health, School of Social Work, and Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science are focused on building local capacity in Jordan and the region. Projects in conjunction with Teachers College have trained tens of thousands of public school teachers and are expanding regionally. The Center’s course offerings for undergraduate and graduate students include Arabic Language Studies, Democracy and Constitutional Engineering in the Middle East, Regional Environmental Sustainability, and the Summer Ecosystem Experience for Undergraduates Program, as well as workshops in architecture and urban design. The Center also organizes a vibrant ongoing public lecture series and hosts Studio-X Amman, a regional platform for research and programming in architecture, co-run with Columbia’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.

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