SIT Australia: Sustainability & Environment

Name: SIT Australia: Sustainability & Environment
Brand: SIT Study Abroad
SKU: 20127
Rating: 10 (2 reviews)

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About

Acquire methods, tools, and different perspectives on how to make our societies truly sustainable.

Major topics of study include:

Sustainability
Sense of place
The natural environment
Social change and environmental action
Ecopsychology and environmental ethics
Aboriginal relationships with the environment

This program offers a five-week internship with an environmental nonprofit organization, a government department, or agency focused on environmental issues. An internship with a for-profit entity is also possible, but only if the entity is primarily focused on environmental outcomes. The internship will enable you to gain valuable work experience in the field of sustainability as well as enhance your skills in an international work environment. A minimum of 150 hours must be spent working for the organization.

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Academics 7.5
Support 9.5
Fun 9.5
Housing 8
Safety 9.5

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This program gives you everything that you could possibly want out of a study abroad program while really allowing you to pursue your own interests within the framework of sustainability and environmental action. As a biology and political science major, this program allowed my to bend my interests in a new way and explore them from within the framework of environmentalism.

We studied global and Australian environmental movements, political movements, the structure of activism and tools and methods for actionable change at the individual, societal and global levels. Our three major professors all have different backgrounds and contribute different but really valuable qualities to the program.

You travel with a small group of students, and you become remarkably close to the people who accompany you on the program. To me, this was one of the greatest elements of the semester. You have huge freedom in the final six weeks to design your own independent research project while still having enough guidance to create something legitimate and valuable. This liberation from typical academics gave me the opportunity to focus on something new that I never would have been able to research at my home institution. If you are adventurous, love the natural world in all of its forms, and want to learn how to become a change-maker, I recommend this program.

Beyond the academics, there is no better place to live in Australia than Byron Bay (where you spend around a month cumulatively) particularly for someone who loves the outdoors. You also are able to spend a few days in Sydney and Melbourne, and are able to return to the city for the final six weeks if you choose to. Through the program you explore and learn about more remote areas like the Tasmanian wilderness and the city of Lismore. This program is was an incredible experience and I feel more ready to pursue my future interests because of it!

What would you improve about this program?

You have to be ready to travel with a smaller group of students and to take your final research project pretty seriously. The program would also be challenging for someone who doesn't enjoy spending days at a time in remote locations and the wilderness, although this is a fairly small section of the program. I wouldn't change either of these things, but it is something that students should know!

This program involves traveling practically every two weeks so be prepared to be constantly moving. We often did not have traditional class and got to spent the majority of our time outdoors. You spent time getting close with a tight knit group and every place you visit is incredibly beautiful. We participated in a homestay for two weeks with a family which was incredibly as well as travel the island of Tasmania for 10 days. We spent 5 weeks for on an independent study project of your choice that relates to sustainability. It is a great learning and growing experience that further integrates you into the culture of Australia.

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Highlights: The highlight of my trip was easily the days we spent with Aboriginal elders. We were able to drop everything (literally, no cell phones, computers, notebooks, or anything apart from sleeping bags allowed) and just learn from them. They told us countless stories that ranged from historical accounts of major events in Australian lore to their very in depth and personal creation stories. Heading out into the bush with our Aboriginal guides and learning how to survive off the land as well as what they have learned from thousands of years living in the Australian wilderness was something I will never forget.

Morning: Mornings usually involved waking up early morning and heading out to the beach to finish up the reading for the day or just relaxing around the pool at our apartments. We spent most of our time around water as do most Australians. Breakfast was usually light with some eggs and granola or some fresh fruit that we could wrangle up at the farmers markets plus the required coffee. Very much living the island life.

Afternoon: My typical afternoon was usually spent in some form of class (not a classroom). Going on an SIT trip that was based in the field we were rarely in a classroom setting, which made for new experiences every day. We could be hiking through the rainforest and stop for a five minute lecture on the scene that was right in front of us (sure beat some low resolution picture in a textbook!). The time spent with the Aboriginal people was one of continual learning and getting back to our roots. On our off days, we would usually spend our time exploring wherever we were or just being faux locals on the beach soaking up the Austral summer.

Evening: Evenings consisted of heading out for dinner at any of the various places we called "home" for that particular night. Getting to see so many places and experience so many different cultures was the best part about studying with SIT. Australia is a great melting pot of Western and Eastern cultures so you are never hard pressed to find something new and exotic. After dinner, we would head out and try and find the local "watering hole" and reminisce about past experiences as well as hopes for upcoming trips and outings.

About SIT Study Abroad

SIT has been providing immersive, field-based study abroad programs for undergraduates for more than 50 years. SIT offers more than 70 programs in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East, as well as comparative programs in multiple locations. In addition to its rich history, SIT Study Abroad has a number of unique qualities...

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