The Center for World Arts (CWA) at the University of Florida promotes artistic diversity and provides an institutional infrastructure that encourages collaborative, multidisciplinary, and intercultural perspectives in the arts by linking local and global communities. In addition, the CWA provides multicultural academic arts programs open to all students, but specifically provides for those pursuing degrees in the School of Music and the School of Theatre and Dance.

Recognizing the diverse and interconnected nature of the contemporary world, the CWA supports creative, interpretive, research, and outreach activities involving multiple cultural and artistic processes. As it tests new paradigms of curriculum, scholarship, and cultural programming, the CWA seeks to structurally integrate a socioartistic aesthetic into the exploration of issues of cultural identity, ethnicity, race, class, gender, and privilege. By valuing both unconventional and mainstream cultural practices, and by valuing artistic processes as critical ways of understanding and interpreting the world, the CWA helps to stimulate new modes of learning in the arts and stretch educational experiences beyond traditional boundaries.