SIT Study Abroad: Peru: Indigenous Peoples and Globalization

I studied abroad in Cusco, Peru, in Fall 2025 through SIT Peru: Indigenous Peoples and Globalization. I absolutely loved this program! The immersive learning was the best aspect. We visited Indigenous communities, including Huilloc, Puerto Maldonado in the Amazon, and Taquile Island. Machu Picchu was also on the itinerary, of course. There is no substitute for actually visiting these places. These experiences helped me understand the course material and develop empathy in a way that classroom learning alone could not.

I had an amazing experience with my host family in Cusco. I am still very close with them, and they are like a second family to me! They introduced me to their extended family, took me on day trips, different restaurants, and really helped me get to know Cusco. I still carry a pendant with their family crest on my keychain.

Cusco itself was also a major part of why I loved the program. The city has many museums, Inca archaeological sites, restaurants, and opportunities for hiking and day trips, including Humantay Lake. Living there gave me time to explore both the historic center and everyday life outside the main tourist areas. My neighborhood felt very safe, and the program classes were a ten-minute walk away.

Our Spanish classes were held at a local school. Our small class became close with our professor, and my Spanish improved. For the program classes, different lecturers come in, and the material is very interesting, focusing on Peruvian and indigenous history.
Prospective students should know that this is different from a typical university exchange. You are not enrolled at a local university, and classes are only with your SIT cohort. Cultural immersion comes through your host family, excursions, research, and your effort to explore Cusco and meet people. There is less unstructured time for hobbies or travel. However, this structure allows for community visits and direct learning about Indigenous cultures that would be difficult through a standard exchange.

The independent research process was in Spanish, including interviews, the final paper, and presentation. I became close with the family I stayed with during research, and I still have the contact information of Indigenous women textile weavers I met and have spoken with some since returning home.

Students should prepare for basic living conditions during some community stays. On Taquile Island, accommodations had limited running water, no hot water, and early mornings. These stays were difficult, but also one of the program’s greatest benefits. We worked on chacras, participated in local activities, and even attended a wedding!
I strongly recommend the program, but students should be ready for unfamiliar environments and moments of loneliness or doubt. Those feelings are normal and should not be taken as a sign not to do the program. For me, it was life-changing. I met incredible people, broadened my understanding of Peru and Indigenous communities, and formed relationships I expect to maintain for the rest of my life. I would without hesitation make the same decision again.

The SIT program in Cusco offers an extraordinary immersion into the Andes—an experience that is at once academically rigorous, intellectually generative, and deeply human. Over the course of just a few days, we moved from high-level institutional briefings to intimate conversations with rural cooperatives, from formal lectures on extractivism and globalization to storytelling sessions with weavers and community leaders in Huilloc. The pacing is demanding, but the richness of the experience more than rewards the effort.

One of the most powerful moments for me was the rural homestay in Huilloc. It was not simply about staying in an Indigenous community; it was about encountering knowledge systems embodied in daily life. Our group was welcomed with such grace and generosity, and the conversations about weaving, land use, and autonomy gave texture to broader themes of Indigenous resistance and adaptation. I came away with a renewed sense of what field-based learning can be.

SIT’s team in Peru is extraordinary. Their ability to move between Spanish and Quechua, and between academic and community settings, models what it means to be an engaged scholar-practitioner. The program doesn’t shy away from complexity—in fact, it leans into it. The conversations on extractivism, mining conflicts, and intercultural health (especially the visit to the Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco’s ethnobotany program) were thoughtful and challenging. Students are invited not to consume knowledge but to co-create it with those they meet.

Also worth noting: the logistics are handled with care, which allows participants to be fully present. The group sessions back at the hotel—many of them debriefs or structured reflections—are where so much of the integration happens. And in a city like Cusco, that holds its own tensions between tourism and tradition, the chance to reflect collectively is crucial.

In sum, SIT’s Spring 2025 Cusco itinerary offers more than a study abroad experience—it cultivates relational, embodied, place-based learning. I’d recommend it to any student ready to engage Peru not as a destination, but as a dialogue

Through this program, I improved my Spanish language skills a lot, saw many beautiful parts of Peru, ate delicious food, and had the unique opportunity to learn about relevant social issues from indigenous leaders and communities throughout the country. These experiences broadened my worldview and shaped my future interests. I had a great time living with my host family and acquainting myself with Cusco during my free time. My experience abroad was safe, well-run, and interesting, and I made friends with everyone in the program. It was incredibly special!

SIT Study Abroad Peru offers an incredible exploration of Peruvian history, culture, indigenous identity, and contemporary challenges. Through academic excursions that facilitate meetings and discussions with incredible leaders and scholars, immersive language learning, and interesting topics, there is a lot to learn on SIT's Peru program. It was an incredibly worthwhile experience—and as with all study abroad, remain openminded, accept that things are different, and lean into the experience! It will be unforgettable.

I did SIT Peru: Indigenous Peoples and Globalization the fall of my junior year. I wanted to go abroad primarily for language-learning purposes; I'm a Spanish major and I felt the limitations of learning a language in a classroom. This particular program aligned very well with my other academic interests too; I had taken some classes on North American Indigenous history and studied Indigenous agriculture. The program was a great fit for me and I found it to be a good balance of challenge and support. I always felt that I had the tools I needed to do what we were asked to do, whether that was field work or essay writing.

I had a wonderful host family in Cusco and got particularly close with my mom while I was there. I went to family gatherings, ate meals, and ran errands with my family as much as possible and learned a lot from them. They were very welcoming.

One thing to be aware of with this program is that you'll be taking classes and travelling with other students from the US; my cohort always spoke English with each other and that impeded our language learning to some extent. For some people having other students from the US around helped with culture shock, but at times I felt that I wasn't getting as much out of the experience as I might have if I'd been forced to make more local connections.

The part of my time abroad that I think about most often is my Independent Study Project (ISP). All students in the program complete a month-long project, the result of which is a 25 page paper in Spanish. Although it sounded daunting at first, I am so so glad I did this. I designed a project on conservation of native potatoes in a group of Indigenous communities and their collaboration with an international seed bank. I stayed in the community I was working with for a week on my own. It was an incredible way to follow my interests and learn how to be a student outside the classroom, and I met people who changed the way I think about the world.

This is a great program! Very organized in terms of logistics, even though changing circumstances sometimes altered our travel plans. I would recommend SIT Peru to students with intermediate to advanced Spanish who don't mind having to study during their study abroad.

My semester in Peru with SIT Study Abroad was all I could have hoped for and more. I entered the program with big goals and I can proudly say that I achieved them. I am now an advanced Spanish speaker, I completed an intensive research project I am passionate about, I am a capable traveler and can engage across cultures. This is not an easy program - it takes commitment, drive, focus. I was so pleased with my professors and the program staff for how they facilitated the program while providing space for independence and challenge. Further, they made me think in new ways and valued curiosity above anything else. Peru as a country and culture is incredible, and being in Cusco offers so much opportunity to learn, practice Spanish, and become comfortable in a vastly different culture. In the end, I am so grateful for all I learned and accomplished and I am confident this experience will benefit me hugely in the future.

When looking at study abroad programs, I knew that I wanted a program that not only would be academically enriching, but that would also provide a fun and adventurous experience. Due to my focus on International Relations, the programs focus on globalization seemed like a great way to put into practice that which I had learned through my college classes. Throughout my semester abroad, I was constantly learning new information which was enhanced by our field based experiences. The staff of the program did everything that they could in order to make sure that we felt safe, comfortable, and engaged throughout the program. Each of the trips we did throughout the program allowed us to learn about indigenous communities while getting to see beautiful sites. I will forever remember all the amazing places that we got to visit. Something else that was great about the program was the host family I was placed with. They did everything possible to make sure that I felt like I was a part of their family and always checked in to see if there was anything they could do so I could feel more at home. Another great thing about the program was the research component. The way the program spaced it out made it a lot less daunting to complete the research project, there were also multiple check-ins as well as due dates which broke up the project in little parts. I will actually be using my research as the foundation for my college thesis. Overall, I would highly recommend this program to anyone who wants to explore and go on fun adventures while being academically engaged in a supportive environment.

I absolutely loved this program. I had so much fun, met so many incredible people, and learned so much about both the country of Peru and the Spanish language. The rigorous curriculum of this program challenged me academically and gave me valuable research experience, while also leaving plenty of time for me to enjoy my time there and explore the city. Cusco has so much to offer, from delicious food in the Plaza de Armas to beautiful hiking scenes in the surrounding mountains. The people are very friendly and welcoming, and the city is very safe. I already wish I could go back! I would recommend this program to everyone and anyone.