Teach for the World?

Nicholas Kristof's piece in the NYT today contains a simple idea that doesn't cost a lot, that Wartburg could even take a look at and run with -- although it has experimented with it already on a smaller scale with Diers' Program overseas experiences. The attractive part, to me, is the idea that Princeton and one other school are looking at for a "gap-year" experience abroad. This would be the international version of Teach for America, a more streamlined and yet larger version of the Peace Corps. The promised pay-off is in the added maturity of students when entering college formally, and in a host of other benefits, many of which are pertinent to a flat and crowded world that is now considered a big outlier -- deservedly so -- by the rest of the world. "Teach for the World" might be seen by some as an attempt to Americanize the world even further, but the promise to me is the reverse: it would broaden the horizons of participants, reduce harmful and ill-informed stereotypes of other nationals the world over, and create democratic citizens in the deepest and broadest sense that are ready to take the fullest advantage of the formal college experience. An interesting idea for all of us as members of the higher-ed community, but of special relevance perhaps to the IR folks. Thoughts?