SIT Study Abroad: Netherlands: International Perspectives on Sexuality and Gender

This study abroad program takes you to Amsterdam, Utrecht, Rabat, Marrakech, Essaouira, and other Dutch & Moroccan cities. The professors expect students to be fully engaged, to do the work and to participate in small classes. The program center is very close to the center of Amsterdam and the commute to class every day was actually quite enjoyable because of the city's great public transit. Students stay in homestays with friendly Dutch families and fully immerse themselves in their neighborhoods.

Without a doubt, choosing the SIT Netherlands program was the best decision I could have made. As a Sociology major and a Women, Gender, and Sexuality studies minor, I was incredibly excited about the coursework, excursions, and independent study project. I had high expectations going into this program, but was still completely blown away by the experience. Although there is an emphasis on gender and sexuality, all of the professors make a committed effort to also discuss other intersections including, but not limited to, race, immigration and citizenship status, ableness, and religion. The various excursions, guest lecturers, and independent work also all helped in creating an incredibly positive, inclusive, and vast learning environment. I never felt as though we were missing out on learning opportunities and greatly appreciate all of the work done by the professors and staff to make sure that we explored a range of topics.
It is definitely unique in the way that classes are conducted- SIT brings in guest lecturers/professors to teach the different classes. I personally really liked this style of teaching/learning. I felt like it gave us the chance to hear many different perspectives and I was never bored.
Amsterdam itself is also an unbelievable city to live and study in. I have never felt safer in a city and loved being able to explore everything by bike. There is always something to do, whether you just want to sit in a cafe, go to a park, or go out at night. And, although everyone has different homestay experiences, I have to say that mine was nearly perfect. The SIT homestay coordinator did a wonderful job matching students with families and keeping in touch to help sort out any problems. I would highly recommend this program to anyone interested in learning more about the interplay of gender, sex, sexuality, race, and migration in the Netherlands!

It was three months of seminars and guest speakers and one month of independent research. The guest speakers were the lecturers and were very informative, knowledgeable, and engaging in class- however since they are not actually professors they were essentially unavailable if you wanted to reach out outside of class about paper expectations or class topics. The staff was very helpful and kind although somewhat disorganized. I personally didn't feel the academic portion was as rigorous as advertised by SIT on their website and they didn't have as many resources and assistance when it came around to the research. Make sure you are very responsible and have excellent time management because no one is making sure you're on schedule or checking in on you during the independent research period.
Morocco was easily the most amazing part of the trip as it was such a different experience than most people will ever have and the food/people/culture was spectacular.
Personally I recommend going abroad through a University program and not a private program like SIT because the academic portion was not strong enough to miss out on the amazing social experiences and connections we could've had if we had been exposed to more young Dutch people (we just had classes with the same 20 or so American students every day).

Went to school for several hours, kicked it with classmates, went on awesome trips to Morocco and Croatia. That was truly the highlight, because I never would have arranged to go to those countries on my own but going with my program was eye-opening and helped me understand how unique the Netherlands is as a country. Also, the speakers we had in class were enlightening. We had ample time to explore the city and make friends. The academics could have been more challenging, but that's okay. We got a genuine cultural experience since we were in homestays across the city and we took Dutch. That was a real added benefit compared to the other American abroad program in town. I definitely felt more integrated in the city of Amsterdam that I expected.