2022: Not your ordinary summer abroad
Registration now open for nearly 40 SIT summer programs
September 15th, 2021 | SIT Study Abroad
If you haven鈥檛 yet begun planning for next summer, this is a great time to start.
Registration opens Wednesday, Sept. 15, for . Included are new programs that encompass art and social change in Eastern Europe; hip-hop music and decoloniality in Senegal; climate change in Jordan; peace-building and human rights in the Balkans; human trafficking in the Netherlands; food security in Italy; epidemiology in Argentina; and urban design and social justice in Spain.
鈥淪IT has historically expanded the frontiers of international education, creating global opportunities of learning and cultural immersion for thousands of students a year across all continents," notes SIT Dean of Faculty Dr. Said Graiouid. "The summer 2022 portfolio maintains that tradition with programs that focus on social, political, economic and scientific arenas and in diverse historical periods and geographical settings."
Students are challenged to embrace a human-centered, comparative approach ..."
SIT's immersive programs next summer will take place in sub-Saharan Africa, the Asia Pacific region, Europe, and the Middle East/North Africa.
SIT will also once again offer virtual internships that allow undergraduates to build invaluable professional and academic experience on a range of subjects. These include two Jordan internships, in counseling and humanitarian action, and in community empowerment and climate change; women鈥檚 rights in Cameroon; education and social change in Chile; sustainability in India; public health in Kenya; human rights in Serbia; diplomacy and international relations in South Africa; and development and gender in Vietnam.
Regardless of which program they choose, says Graiouid, "students are challenged to embrace a human-centered, comparative approach in which they engage with resources and the competencies needed for the development of the skills of critical literacy, intercultural communication, and intellectual polity.鈥�
Alix Swann, an international studies major at Spelman College, did a virtual internship on the Chile program in fall 2020 in which she worked with a women's collective that fights street sexual harassment. Alix鈥檚 task was to teach about U.S. laws and policies on sexual harassment in the workplace and digital sexual harassment.
鈥淏efore this internship, my viewpoint was solely from a U.S. perspective, and I now no longer try to relate everything to the U.S.,鈥� she says.
Yardena Meyerhoff, a physics and astronomy major at Whitman College, also did the Chile program, interning with the Colegio de Profesoras y Profesores de Chile to conduct a comparative analysis of Chile鈥檚 standardized testing system and the effect of standardized testing on student learning and development.
鈥淢y meetings with my internship advisor were very organic and natural and would often go in fascinating and sometimes unexpected directions. Our conversations made me think about my own experiences with education growing up in Minnesota, and how education systems around the world suffer from similar inequalities,鈥� Yardena recalls.
SIT鈥檚 virtual language programs have also been popular during the pandemic. Language options for summer 2022 include all levels of Arabic (from Jordan); Swahili (Kenya); Hindi (India); Nepali and Tibetan (Nepal).
New SIT programs for summer 2022 are:
Argentina: Epidemiology and Healthcare Management鈥擳hrough SIT鈥檚 close partnership with ISALUD, the nation鈥檚 top health university and think tank, examine urban epidemiology, health inequalities, and the challenges of managing health services and policies to expand access to healthcare.
Czech Republic: Studio Arts鈥擡xplore photography, creative writing, or contemporary dance through an intensive arts workshop while examining debates around art, politics, and society.
Italy: Food Security and Nutrition鈥擠elve into sustainable agriculture on a Tuscan estate and explore how international experts are confronting challenges of food security, nutrition, and health.
Jordan: Community Empowerment and Climate Change Internship鈥擥ain professional experience with a UN or government agency or NGO working with youth and vulnerable groups on community empowerment and environmental sustainability.
Netherlands: Human Trafficking, Sex Trade, and Modern Slavery in Europe鈥�Examine diverse areas of human trafficking and the sex trade, including the relationship between sex workers and broader societies.
Senegal: Hip-Hop, Resilience, and Black Struggles鈥擡xamine how young Africans use hip-hop to question traditional representations of Africa, imagine the continent鈥檚 future, and raise consciousness of globalization and (in)equality.
Serbia: Transitional Justice, Human Rights, and Memory Activism Internship鈥擫ook at justice, human rights, and memory in post-conflict societies and contribute to the work of an important organization with a meaningful internship.
Spain: Sustainable Urban Development and Social Justice鈥擡xplore the approaches Spanish cities are taking to pursue sustainable urban development within a social justice framework.
Switzerland: Global Health and Development Policy鈥擟ompare public health systems within the framework of international and sustainable development, humanitarian action, human rights, and social justice.
For more information about these and all SIT Study Abroad programs, visit