The breadth and depth of FIU's engagement with Colombians and in Colombia is the chief rationale for the establishment of this World Center, even without a designated physical in-country location. With ten formal institutional partners in Colombia, with whom we regularly exchange knowledge, resources, students and faculty, but also many others, we are finding solutions and creating new knowledge. Based on these successes, the World Center Colombia is all about enhancing current parnterships and cultivating new strategic alliances.
Such alliances come in all shapes and sizes and cover the humanities, social sciences, arts, natural and applied sciences and more. The intention of a World Center is also to connect with our alumni who are FIU Panthers for life and are keen to connect their rich knowledge and skillset meaninful alliances that make our world a better place.
![]() | A new alliance formed in Fall 2021 is FIU's partnership with Colfuturo. Since 1991, Colfuturo has been promoting graduate studies at some of the most prestigious universities across the globe and provides scholarships to qualified Colombian students to support them with their ambitious educational goals of obtaining a master’s or doctoral degree abroad. As a partner, FIU offers additional benefits to Colfuturo-scholarship recipients, such as tuition waivers and insurance coverage. The Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work in particular has partnered with Colfuturo to offer funding and scholarships or tuition waivers for students pursuing degrees in Public Health, Social Work, Dietetics & Nutrition and Disaster Preparedness. See details here. |

Congratulations to Oscar Guzman Rey who, sponsored by Fulbright, transferred to FIU from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in 2018. As he received his Ph.D. in Earth Systems Science in Summer 2022, FIU recognized him as a Real Triumphs Graduate for extraordinary accomplishments in research and for already launching a business.
Felicidades!
FIU-Colombia in Numbers
- 2,500+Participants from all across the globe joined the 2021 Global Health Conference organized by FIU in Cartagena December 2-5
- 573Colombian students have received a degree at FIU since 2009
- 240Active faculty and staff employees are of Colombian origin
- 20Research grants have been awarded to FIU faculty to conduct collaborative research in Colombia, including 4 from USAID
- 19Global Learning courses are currently being taught with a focus on Colombian studies
- 14Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) courses have been taught with Colombian institutional partners engaging more than 500 students in joint problem solving.
- 5Colombian students are currently pursuing Ph.D. studies at FIU under a Fulbright grant
Visiting Fulbright Students from Colombia
Catalina Canizares-Escobar
Ph.D. in Social WelfareCindy Gonzalez
Ph.D. in Molecular Ecology and Conservation Genetics of SharksJuan Sebastian Lozano
Ph.D. in Earth Systems ScienceOscar F. Guzman Rey
Ph.D. in Earth Systems SciencePaula Estefanny Pabon Quintero
MSc. Marine Biology
The Tropical Rivers Lab, lead by FIU Professor Elizabeth Anderson, focuses on inter-institutional collaboration for science and capacity building to address challenges of Amazon conservation. Its Partners for Conservation in the Colombian Amazon project included multiple universities and 20+ other organizations resulting in 15 graduate fellowships to Colombian students, 23 research awards, and 100+ people participated in training courses.
Current projects:
Living Andean Rivers: collaborators in all Andean-Amazon countries examine and communicate the importance of rivers from a social-ecological systems perspective. Within Colombia, the primary collaborator is the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, which is designing and running a continuing education program for environmental managers on Andean Amazon river science, conservation and management.
Amazon Waters / Amazon Citizen Science: led by Wildlife Conservation Society aiming to understand fish migrations and environmental conditions across the Amazon through a participatory approach. Colombian collaborators are from the region around Leticia-Puerto Nariño.
For more information, visit http://www.tropicalriverslab.org
100K Strong Americas Innovation Fund Award
FIU and Universidad Católica de Manizalez (UCM) have been awarded a grant from the 100K Strong Americas Innovation Fund as partners in promoting Collaborative International Online Learning (COIL) and mobility.
The project Designing Alternative and Digital Strategies to Build US-COL Multidisciplinary Intercultural Identities will engage students at FIU and UCM in three COILs exploring alternative and digital strategies for expres sing hybrid US-Colombian identities in the arts, business, and communications. Building on COIL collaborations, five students and two faculty from FIU will travel to Manizales to participate in the “Odyssey Ad Creative Bootcamp” and five students and two faculty from UCM will join FIU partners in Miami to create a public exhibition of works created throughout the project. Project leads are Matías Andrés Marín Castaño, Internationalization, Director. UCM and Stephanie Doscher, Director, Office of COIL Initiatives, FIU.

Emphasis on Public Health Enterprises
FIU Professor Presides La Asociación de Colombianistas
Dr. Andrea Fanta, associate professor in the Department of Modern Languages, is the author of Residuos de la violencia. Producción cultural colombiana 1990-2010 (Universidad del Rosario, 2015) and the co-editor of Territories of Conflict: Traversing Cultural Studies in Colombia(University of Rochester Press, 2017). Dr. Fanta serves as the 12th president of the Asociación de Colombianistas, a non-profit academic organization with more than 200 humanities and social sciences scholars from around the globe. Colombianistas publishes Revista de Estudios Colombianos (REC) a biannual, peer-reviewed and indexed academic journal founded in 1986 to promote academic research on Colombia in the humanities as well as the social sciences with a view to engage in a multi-disciplinary academic and cultural dialogue.
Center for the Administration of Justice
In the Spotlight
In 2005, the Colombia Justice Reform and Modernization Program (2005-2009) was initiated as SIPA's Center for the Administration and Justive was awarded a $19.7 million contract from USAID for the implementation of Colombia's new Criminal Procedure Code, which included the creation of a victims service center for victims of violent crimes, the promotion of civil society participation in judicial reform, and more.
For more information on the collaborative project, go to: https://caj.fiu.edu/projects/latin-america/colombia/
In the News
STEMPEL Grant for research on water contamination
Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work — in collaboration with Universidad de Córdoba and Universidad Tecnologica del Choco Diego Luis Cordoba — has been awarded a $3 million grant to evaluate the degree of contamination throughout the Atrato River.
FIU Hosts PolConference 2019
PorColombia chose FIU to host its 2019 conference to promote a strong vision of Colombia’s development and potential as well as international understanding and collaboration.
Collaboration in Public Health
STEMPEL College delegation tackles public health in Colombia, with a focus on neurodegenerative diseases and cancer.
FIU Faculty leads research in environmental research
FIU Professor leads research efforts on Colombian hippos posing an environmental dilemma
COIL course with Colombian institutions
Remote COIL course explores the world of fantasy and religion in collaboration with Colombia university partner
Student Highlight
Student Highlight: Honors' Student create water purification start-up to tackle water insecurity in Colombian region