Program Reviews

I grew up in ultra-rural northern New York state, and had never lived in a city in my life. The obvious choice was Fortaleza, a dangerous city of 3 million people in northeastern brazil... yeah, most people wouldn't say that's the obvious one, and to be completely honest it was a HARD semester in a lot of ways. But that's what i needed, because i sure grew a lot in those four months. This program, headed by the wonderful, thoughtful, kind, friendly, loving, forgetful, scatterbrained, passionate, openminded, brilliant Bill Calhoun, is kind of a wild one. please don't sign up for this thing if you aren't adventurous. you'll get the most out of it if you are committed to trying, trying, trying to learn portuguese, and starting up as many conversations as you can with as many brazilians as you can. There are random field trips that will tire you out socially, physically, emotionally -- but just think about how likely you are to get to experience such things in a foreign country again, and you'll realize that you're getting to do things no tourist would ever DREAM of doing -- living on a capoeira commune, spending four days on an MST settlement, casual rock-climbing in the serra with hippies, talking about racism with brilliant proud black brazilian university students, meeting government officials involved in land use and zoning for the city... like, those are a few of the things i found myself doing. Oh, touring the city of Salvador with a famous afro-brazilian activist and poet. Getting to take a class in capoeira an african philosophy with a literally world-famous capoeira mestre. I'm getting ahead of myself tho: the big thing with this program is that it's very very weird and different from the way you're probably used to living. Transportation around the city is tough; you will be sweating on buses a TON and you can't stay out late at night (I know; I was mugged) and you need to watch out for your friends at all times cause it's really not the safest place in the world. Your host parents are probably gonna try and micromanage your life because of this. host family experiences vary; mine was pretty great because she loved to talk to me. Try and talk to them as much as you can and remember to keep your MIND AND HEART OPEN because homestays are one of the main components of this program in my opinion. It's not an academic program, really; let's get that straight right now. It's about shifting your worldview. Learning to see this existence in another way, and noticing that people see it way differently from you a lot of the time. one of the biggest ways you'll do that is getting to know your hosts. my host mom and i ended up loving each other even though we REALLY disagree politically about a lot of things. also this is a great program if you're an INDEPENDENT guy or gal, because you will have time to roam and see the city and observe and learn and get to know folks and a LOT of the richness of this program is up to you.

Overall, being part of the SIT Vietnam Culture, Social Change, and Development boosted my confidence and abilities to be independent and versatile. Travelling internationally became an enlightening and fun experience to meet new people and cultures. Being able to widen my cultural immersions, global perspective, and foreign discoveries gave direction toward a path I wanted to seek and be an active global citizen. My time with SIT abroad gave me the opportunity to meet, understand, and appreciate the multiculturalism around me.

My experience in Vietnam was very unique as I went knowing the language at an intermediary level. The SIT staff members, faculty, and student volunteers were all extremely nice and forthcoming. They were very eager to help and show us around on their mopeds. In addition to the support, our travels throughout the country was exquisite. We got to see lots of different cities, environments (delta, mountains, urban, rural), climates, nonprofit works, etc. in 16 weeks roughly. A grand tour of the whole country was nice and pleasant in addition to learning about the history and development of the county over the years. The coursework was very self-oriented which is a style of teaching I preferred as I have more room for interpretation of my writing direction and project.

Biggest thing I got from the experience is the travel bug, and life-long friends. I had the opportunity to travel with my local peers and revisit them during a graduation trip back! I significantly improve my language as well, placing Advance-mid for my speaking and Advance-low for reading and writing. I hope others take on the time study abroad experience!

Readings nicely accompanied the excursions and other experiences we had in the program. Our instructors encouraged us to connect what we were reading with what we were seeing. However, the assignments we turned in were based more on observations and less on readings. The readings supplemented what we learned experientially when we took the midterm and final exams. Directors, coordinators, and instructors were available 24/7 and went above and beyond in making sure we were safe and comfortable! My host family was wonderful, caring, attentive, patient, kind - everything good in the world! I got lucky. I miss Indonesian food so, so much. And the food provided at the program center was amazing - and there were options for every diet. Learning the language was a fully integrated experience! Living at home with my host family, speaking Indonesian in class and at home, on the streets, in stores, restaurants, etc. And going on every excursion or small trip offered - that helped with getting comfortable with new surroundings. Also asking questions helps a lot!
Health issues was the topic of one of the first discussions we had as a group - a local doctor also served as a guest speaker. When anyone had health issues, they were cared for immediately and as a priority above all academic and extra-curricular activities. Everyone stayed safe throughout our trip, and I think a key to accomplishing this was following the advice of our director and teachers, and sometimes families. We spoke Indonesian every day and had intensive language study from the beginning of the program until we departed for independent study projects. Excursions and conversations with everyone we saw when away from the program center were crucial to learning the language - speaking the language you are studying by practicing with your host family is so beneficial!! Speak with your host families, don't be shy or afraid of making mistakes, understand that the people you speak with probably appreciate that you are trying, laugh at any mistakes you make and ask questions in class! Also pay attention to the links between language and cultural customs, practices, social behaviors, etc. I became a calmer, less worried, less frantic, more patient, more loving, more open, happier person because of my experience abroad. I learned to treat everything in life as a learning experience and to approach things and people without expectations or reservations.

I went to Durban not knowing what to expect and walked away knowing it was one of the best experiences of my life. I had never been out of the country so as an African American to go to an African country was a privilege and a phenomenal experience. I fell in love with the city. I loved learning Zulu. The SIT staff are all amazing people who do everything they can to make your experience great. My ISP has informed my future career aspirations as I now want to pursue a career in Church ministry. My time in Durban will forever be a highlight of my life, let it be a highlight of yours too!

The opportunity to conduct independent field researcher as an undergraduate student is what sets this SIT program apart from any other study program in Jordan. At first the prospect of researching a topic, conducting interviews, and distributing surveys to culminate in a large paper was daunting, but the support of the SIT staff made the experience extremely rewarding. During the one month independent study period all of the staff put their personal connections at my disposal calling in favors, providing me with transportation, and even translating for me when my language skills came up short. The ability to conduct interviews and surveys in Al Zaatari camp, the largest of the Syrian refugee camps in Jordan, was a once in a lifetime experience that would not have been possible without the complete support of the entire SIT staff. From language teachers who proof read my translations to the staff members who accompanied me into the camp I was reminded time and time again how much the staff believed in me and my ability to conduct meaningful and ethical research. The experiential aspect of this program has had lasting effects on my life, helping me to expand my cultural understanding, language skills, and even make valuable connections that helped me to secure a summer internship and return to Jordan.

When I first started looking at places to study abroad, I knew I wanted to go somewhere outside of Europe, and I wanted to be able to tie my experience in journalism into it. This program was the perfect fit, and I was beyond thrilled to hear the news that I would be living in Rabat in spring 2016.
This program allows you the opportunity to truly get ingrained in Moroccan culture. You live with a host family for the first two months and attend crash-course lectures that give you raw, genuine perspective of the country you're living in. Then you go out to a city of your choosing for the final five weeks of the program to work on your independent study project. Between those two experiences, I learned so much about the country, but I also learned so much about myself. This unique study abroad experience taught me that it's OK to not understand what's going on in a room where you don't speak the same language as anyone else. Through experiential learning, It stretched me to my academic limits and unveiled my strengths and weaknesses (and how to fix them) as a reporter. After coming back to the States, I've noticed that this experience has taken me out of a comfort zone I didn't even know I was living in, which helped me get a better perspective on life. Morocco definitely changed me, and I know I'll be back there some day.

This program is for people who want to get out of this comfort zone and truly learn about and live like the Zulu people of South Africa right outside of Durban. This is not a program for people who want to go abroad as a vacation, but who want to change their perspective on the world by learning about and engaging with a totally new culture! this program definitely changed my future path in life. South Africa is one of the most unequal countries in the world and you get to experience first-hand the inequalities when you are living in the black township Cato Manor right next to large informal settlements (shacks) and a large fancy mall with designer stores. This program also allows you to learn first hand about community health issues through visits to schools, hospitals, community health clinics and more. My favorite part of the program was the independent study period during which I was able to live and volunteer at an orphanage and observe the occupational therapy services provided to the children created a system of inclusive education. That was definitely an experience I could never easily have again.

If your goals for study abroad include:
-meeting people from your host country
-having substantive opportunities to practice a new language outside of class
-thinking critically about how race works in a different society
-doing a cool internship or volunteer thing in your spare time
-having the chance to take weekend trips or go camping
-forming close relationships with professors and getting letters of rec for fellowship apps
-any kind of academic rigor at all

DON'T DO THIS PROGRAM.

Classes are 100% lecture-based and given by a rotating cast of professors, which means you will hear the same introduction to the issues basically every day, never get a chance to form a close relationship with someone, or hear how the different themes the lecturers present are seen to relate to one another. The management actively discourages weekend trips and forbids volunteering and internships. When our methods class got in a fight after they claimed there was no racism against Afro-Peruvians, they managed to backtrack more or less, but told me afterwards that they normally try to avoid the topic of race altogether (in a program titled "Indigenous Peoples and Globalization"!!!!!). Their philosophy is that Peru and the USA are totally incomparable as societies, but also that we are somehow 100% capable of understanding deep and complicated issues within Peruvian society by taking cursory bus tours of indigenous villages and popping in and out of schools. They believe in Humala's consulta previa in the context of government negotiations, but doesn't believe in consulting indigenous subjects before writing anthropological observations of them. They believes in the left's proposals for intercultural bilingual education, but don't seem to care that their classroom is basically absent the intercultural part since there is no space made for connecting with Peruvians. I arrived speaking Spanish fairly well and so have had the chance to discuss some of my concerns with them but they barely give the time of day to people who struggle more with the language.

A side note: It is also very difficult if you get sick on this program because the staff is very liability-conscious and will make you follow the doctor's recommendations exactly, even though they are also aware that the doctor overprescribes. I stopped taking bronchitis medicine a few days early because it cost 13 soles a pill and was giving me hand tremors, and the director said they would send me back to the US for breaking the code of conduct. He also shamed me for being hesitant to waste so much money by implying that I was rich (the SIT insurance makes you pay for everything out of pocket and doesn't reimburse you till you get back). So far I have paid $186, which is over 600 soles, about a quarter of our month's budget for independent research.

The SIT Study Abroad program in China gave me the opportunity to interact in depth, in a meaningful way, with the local culture. Throughout the entire experience, you are engaging with local people. From day one, nearly all meals are on your own and you are given a stipend to find breakfast lunch and dinner at restaurants around the city. In addition to quickly improving in my basic language skills around food and money, I learned the stories of restaurant owners and learned to appreciate the incredible variety of food in this rather foreign culinary culture.

The assignments, especially in the Field Methods and Ethics seminar, get you out talking to people even more. One assignment focussed on learning one person's life history through interviewing in Chinese. I dove into the story of a hardworking couple from a small rice farming village in Anhui province who immigrated to Kunming to open their own dumpling store. Neither of they had attended middle school, yet they worked 6AM to 10PM seven days a week to support their son through college. Through that one interview alone I gained stunning insights about the mass migration of farmers to the cities and the incredible value parents place behind education in this country. And that was only a single project out of many more over the 15 weeks of the program.

The language teachers do an incredible job of preparing you for these kinds of experiences. Classes are super intense, with only a couple students per teacher. You fly through the material at breakneck pace and they keep you very busy. Yet language is the backbone of this educational experience, where the majority of what you learn comes from the local people themselves.

The assignments outside of the language classes are hardly conventional. Upon arrival we were given characters on a piece of paper and then told to find the place in the city and navigate back to campus--we learned life skills of how to navigate and survive in a Chinese city through immersion. These exercises started off small, in groups where we could rely on each other to accomplish the tasks. But by the end of the semester the task is much more daunting: live independently anywhere you choose in the country and conduct novel research on any topic that interests you. You work up to this point throughout the semester. You are given a week to travel where you please for vacation. You are asked to develop a miniature research project independently in a Bai ethnicity village during a week long rural homestay where the program staff are only a few kilometers away. But the whole time you must prepare for the Independent Study Project, where you will be on your own for four weeks. The program staff are there to help every step of the way, but they give you incredible freedom. This is not only about learning Chinese language and culture, it's about developing into a stronger person.

I loved the experience. It was one of the most intense three months of my life, and it was very, very stressful at times. Yet every day you are learning. I feel like I am more enlightened.

i really couldn't say one bad thing about my experience with sit in South Africa! it was really really amazing and the program did an incredible job of ensuring that we were given the opportunities to make the trip such a special and life changing one. I did the homestay and that part was a great way to get immersed in the people and culture within the township of Cato Manor. I learned how to cook with my mama, was exposed to the ways of living for both children and adults in this community, and was able to gain experiences that could never be taught in a classroom. Going out at night, meeting people our age and hearing of their lifestyles and interests was another really special aspect of the trip. I can honestly say that i have made life long friends from around the world as a result of my ventures out with other SIT students. The program and its structure constructed a great balance of learning about traditional zulu culture and history, in tandem with experiencing contemporary durban culture for young adults in our same place in life. The field based work was really special as well because we not only learned from the best professors in durban (which imraan and the team did a terrific job of scheduling for us) but we also were able to apply that learning to our observations in classrooms across the province. From staying in rural, tribal lands, to visiting prisoners and learning about other systems like the prison system, to going out with amazing people from around the world, to visiting museums and art galleries across different cities, to hearing from young and old students and educators, the experience really could not have reached a more vast and diverse range. I can genuinely say that this program was flawless in my mind.