Global concerns permeate Colby’s curriculum. All students must fulfill an international diversity requirement, and half of Colby’s 52 majors have an international component. Colby has a renowned international studies program, and more than a hundred courses from a dozen different departments or programs can be applied to fulfill requirements for the major.

Recent academic programs added to the Colby catalogue include African Studies, in 2001, and Italian Studies, in 2003. They join a roster of programs, including Latin American Studies, East Asian Studies, Indigenous Peoples of the Americas, French, German, Russian, Spanish, Japanese, and Chinese.

Colby’s international diversity brings the richness of many different perspectives to discussions in classrooms, dormitories, and dining halls. Currently, students representing almost 70 foreign lands make up more than 10 percent of the student body. Their active participation in classes and in the rest of College life brings a variety of perspectives on world events and about life in America—perspectives essential to understanding the world and America’s place in it.

Every Friday afternoon the International Coffee Hour in Mary Low Coffeehouse finds American and international students socializing before dinner, conversing, sharing music, and playing board games. For more than 10 years, each spring the International Club has put on the annual International Extravaganza, a one-night showcase for arts, performances, and fashions from other countries.