Princeton-in-Asia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Princeton-in-Asia (PiA) is a nonprofit organization that helps recent college graduates obtain yearlong jobs with educational institutions, businesses, media organizations, and NGOs throughout Asia. It is among the better-known organizations of its kind; the New York Times has characterized it as being similar to programs such as the Japan Exchange and Teaching program, the Peace Corps, and WorldTeach.^[1] PiA is an independent affiliate of Princeton University.^[2]

PiA's roots reach back to 1898, when a group of Princeton undergraduates founded "Princeton in Peking" in support of the YMCA in Beijing. Its name was changed to the "Princeton-Yenching Foundation" in 1923. In 1949, China closed its doors to the organization, which turned its efforts towards other parts of Asia and renamed itself "Princeton-in-Asia" in 1955. (PiA has since reestablished a large presence in China.) PiA hired its first full-time executive director in 1970, and the organization grew dramatically in the 1970s and 1980s. PiA now sends more than 90 fellows each year to 53 partner institutions in 31 cities across 14 countries.^[3] Princeton-in-Asia is no longer a missionary organization, but as former PiA executive director Carrie Gordon remarked in 1998, "our mission statement written in 1911 hasn't changed."^[4] That mission statement is

"To promote good will and understanding and to facilitate in every way the free interchange of the best ideals in the civilizations of both East and West."

[edit] Summer of Service

Summer of Service ("SOS") is an annual English immersion program held during the summer at the Normal College of Jishou University in Jishou, Hunan, China. It was founded by a Princeton student in 2005 and is sponsored by Princeton-in-Asia.