Professional Engagement Programs
SIT-led Signature Professional Engagement Programming for Faculty and Study Abroad Professionals
SIT invites faculty and study abroad professionals from our partner institutions and beyond to join us in professional engagements programming in spring and summer 2024 and winter 2025.
Currently accepting applications for our India thematic seminar on public health, well-being, and community action in January 2025.
What are SIT Professional Engagement Programs?
SIT offers several kinds of professional engagement programs for faculty and study abroad professionals including:
- Seminars focused on skills-building and training in best practices for integrating experiential learning activities into faculty-led study abroad programs
- Academically focused seminars that allow faculty to explore a topic in depth in a particular geographical and cultural context
- Certificates for faculty and study abroad professionals
- Customizable seminars, workshops, and professional development opportunities for school partners
This seminar was the best thing I’ve done for my own education in my field in all my [16] years of teaching.
Wendy McIntyre, University of Redlands
SIT Seminar in Ecuador
Browse Our Programs
Click each program below to learn more!
Skills-Based Field Seminar: What Do We Mean by Decoloniality, Sustainability, and Epistemic Justice? Creating a Community of Practice in Cameroon
In partnership with Dickinson College
Dates: June 16 – 23, 2024
Location: Yaoundé, Cameroon
Cost: $3,250
Tentative Itinerary: View here
Application Deadline: February 12, 2024
Topics: Through this seminar in Cameroon, participants will address the concepts of “Decoloniality, Sustainability, and Epistemic Justice.” We will begin to unpack the meaning(s) of these terms in an international education context using Cameroon as a case study and lens for furthering our own understanding. The program will be based in Yaoundé with an overnight excursion within Cameroon.
Thematic Seminar: Public Health, Well-being, and Community Action: Beyond Western Narratives of Gender and Sexuality in India
Dates: January 5-January 12, 2025
Location: New Delhi, Palampur, McLeod Ganj, India
Cost: $3,250
Tentative Itinerary: View here
Application Deadline: October 7, 2024
Topics: The discourse surrounding gender and sexuality within the public health context in India is changing. Participants will be introduced to these alternative narratives from NGO officials, activists, academics, practitioners, and policymakers. Participants will spend time in Delhi and rural Palampur, surrounded by the Dhauladhar range of the Himalaya, with a visit to McLeod Ganj-the abode of His holiness Dalai Lama.
Tuko Pamoja: Tanzanian Creativity and Perspectives in an Era of Climate Change: Fully funded Hays-Fulbright Summer Program in Tanzania
Dates: June 29-August 3, 2024
Location: Tanzania
Cost: Fully funded
Learn More: View details here
Application Deadline: Closed
Topics: Twelve U.S. educators will be selected to meet with policymakers and community leaders across Tanzania-Zanzibar. Participants can expect to gain practical and conceptual tools and develop creative artifacts that can support them in infusing African perspectives and creative responses to climate change into their curriculum and pedagogy back home.
Participants will meet with policymakers and community leaders across Tanzania-Zanzibar and learn from:
- Tanzanians engaged in sustainable urban development;
- Smallholder farmers and the Maasai community engaged in innovative “climate-smart” farming practices;
- Artists and craftspeople whose materials and practices are influenced by climate change;
- Activists who focus on coastal and marine environments, sustainable tourism, and natural resource management.
Online Certificate: Designing and Leading Global Experiential Programs
Dates: February – April 2024
Location: Online
Cost: $2,000
Learn More: View details here
Application Deadline: Closed
Topics: This professional development certificate engages faculty and study abroad professionals in best practices and ethical considerations in developing engaging and experiential short-term programming, on-site and online.
Through eight online modules, blending synchronous and asynchronous learning, this professional development certificate dives deep into the best practices for faculty-led, short-term study abroad programs and experiential education—whether in person or online. Join a cohort of faculty and study abroad colleagues and SIT’s thought-leaders and innovators in the field to build community, share ideas, and learn skills and strategies to implement best practices. Drawing on SIT Study Abroad’s expansive experience and expertise, this certificate program encourages participants to think critically, practice ethically, and develop programs that align with and elevate academic goals and objectives.
Why Choose one of SIT’s Professional Engagement Programs?
Our rich network of resources, skilled academic directors, leadership in experiential and field-based education, and years of experience working in each program location combine to create an engaging and immersive professional development experience. Participants learn from experts and innovators in the field—virtually or in-person—and build valuable new skills and knowledge. As a result of participating in an SIT Professional Engagement Program, you can expect to:
- Acquire valuable experience with and expertise on a topic and/or region that can be applied to existing course offerings, developed into new courses, or applied to the practice of study abroad at your campus
- Increase your ability to contribute to internationalization efforts in your department and institution
- Gain meaningful insight into a geographic region, which may lead to the development of a faculty-led, customized program in the program country or other locations
- Acquire a new network of colleagues and experts around the world
The SIT program met all of my professional and personal goals for academia. It was one of the highest quality faculty seminars I have had the pleasure of attending.
Participant on an SIT Seminar in Tunisia
Admissions Process & Eligibility
To apply, complete our online application form. Admissions is on a rolling basis. Applicants will be notified of admissions decisions within two weeks of applying. The deadline to apply for the Professional Engagement Programs are:
- Online Certificate: Designing and Leading Global Experiential Programs: December 15, 2023
- Thematic Seminar: Public Health, Well-being, and Community Action: Beyond Western Narratives of Gender and Sexuality in India: February 12, 2024
- Skills-Based Field Seminar: What do we mean by Decoloniality, Sustainability, and Epistemic Justice? Creating a Community of Practice in Cameroon: February 12, 2024
Faculty, study abroad staff, and other school staff or administrators from higher education institutions are invited to apply to participate in these programs. Previous experience in designing or leading global programs is not required, though participants who have some responsibility for, or opportunities to engage in, global education activities for their institutions may find the greatest value in their attendance.
Preference may be given to applicants and/or schools with past experience on SIT’s programs or site visits. An applicant’s experience in the program location may be considered, but in-country experience is not essential.
Program Fees
The total cost of participation for the Online Certificate Program is $2,000. The total cost of participation for either the Thematic Seminar or Skills-Based Field Seminar is $3,250. This fee includes:
- Single-room accommodations in hotels/guest houses
- Most meals, including special welcome/farewell meals
- Transportation for all program activities, including airport pick-up and send-off
- All program activities
- International travel health insurance and health and safety support for the duration of the program
- Pre-departure preparation materials
Program fees do not include:
- International airfare to/from program destination
- Passport and/or visa application fees, if required (tourist visa required for US citizens)
- Immunizations, if needed
- Personal expenses
You will receive your invoice upon acceptance. A nonrefundable $400 deposit will be due within three weeks of receiving your invoice. Balance will be due 30 days prior to the start of the program.
Scholarships
A limited number of partial fee waivers are available. Award decisions are based on financial need and other factors. Depending on your need and availability, scholarships typically range from $250-500. To be considered, you must answer the scholarship application questions in our program application.
TESTIMONIALS
The seminar organizers did an excellent job packing the program with leaders of political parties, NGOs, and media. I was amazed at the access we had to such high-profile participants of the revolution and current government. The cultural outings also helped situate the present environment in the long history of Tunisia. Finally, having the opportunity to interact with faculty from around the country with diverse academic interests added to the intellectual rigor of the trip.
Kate Floros, University of Illinois at Chicago
SIT Seminar in Tunisia
I went on an SIT seminar to the program in Belgrade, Serbia, and Pristina, Kosovo. … We were quite impressed by everyone we met there. The six Gettysburg faculty members plan to incorporate material from the seminar into courses and programs at our college in the U.S. An archaeologist, for example, will use some of the information from a visit to local museums in her courses. A sculptor will use pictures and information from a wide range of public pieces that we viewed while in Belgrade and Pristina. An expert on Muslim religion in South Asia found great material for comparative studies on Muslim communities in both Serbia and Kosovo. As an historian, I will use material and insight from the seminar for courses on modern European history, including a new course on the Habsburg Empire and its neighbors that I plan to introduce soon at the college.
William Bowman, PhD, Professor of History, Gettysburg College
SIT Seminar in Serbia and Kosovo
Learning about the diversity of Ecuador with SIT and with my wonderful seminar participants was an amazing experience that I am excited to incorporate into my courses! Highly recommended!
Participant on an SIT Seminar in Ecuador
PAST SEMINARS
Grounding Faculty-led Programs in Experiential Education Pedagogy & Decolonial Perspectives
Dates: June 11–17, 2023
Location: Accra, Ghana
Topics of Inquiry: Through this on-site, immersive skills-based seminar, participants will explore strategies for grounding global program design and delivery in the principles of experiential learning pedagogy and decolonial perspectives. Using Ghana as a case study, you’ll gain a new perspective on Africa’s cosmopolitanism, one that complicates and defies Eurocentric representations.
Critical Approaches to Activism, Advocacy & Policy in Southeast Europe
Location: Belgrade, Serbia
Topics of Inquiry: As the largest urban space in Southeast Europe, Belgrade is home to numerous social justice movements, local NGOs, dynamic civic activism, and advocacy work. In this seminar, participants will examine civic action on a variety of issues—from corruption scandals to demanding more democratic participation and socially just policies—on local, regional, and transnational trajectories.
Grounding Faculty-led programs in Experiential Education Pedagogy and Decolonial Perspectives
Location: Kathmandu, Namobuddha, and Dhulikhel, Nepal
Topics of Inquiry: This seminar will focus on best practices and strategies for grounding experiential learning pedagogy and decolonial perspectives in program design and implementation for successful faculty-led programs. Examine best practices in experiential learning for study abroad programs and build skills to ensure effective curriculum integration, design impactful programs, and navigate common challenges. Learn about SIT’s approach to field-based learning and consider how experiential pedagogy can enhance students’ experiences on faculty-led programs abroad.
Africa Rising: Hip Hop, Politics, and Critical Resilience in Senegal
Location: Dakar, Senegal
Topics of Inquiry: Explore the vitality, resilience, and global breadth of contemporary African and African diaspora communities. Examine hip-hop and urban cultures as decolonial voices that continuously engage the limits of coloniality, global capitalism, religious pluralism, and local political realities.
Identity, Privilege, and Power: Activities for Centering Decoloniality in Study Abroad Practices
Location: Virtual
Topics of Inquiry: Identity, privilege, and power. Investigate practical activities that can be integrated into short-term and faculty-led programming to help students—and ourselves—think critically about issues of decolonizing studying abroad. You will walk away with experience using activities that can help your students move towards achieving a decolonial mindset.
Integrating Experiential Learning into Faculty-Led Programs Abroad
Location: Amman, Jordan
Topics of Inquiry: Examine best practices in experiential learning for study abroad programs and build skills to ensure effective curriculum integration, design impactful programs, and navigate common challenges. Learn about SIT’s approach to field-based learning and consider how experiential pedagogy can enhance students’ experiences on faculty-led programs abroad.
Art and Memory in Argentina
Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Topics of Inquiry: How residents of Buenos Aires have made sense of the violence of the dictatorship and the period of State Terrorism through the arts
Community Health and Indigenous Knowledge in China
Location: Kunming, China
Topics of Inquiry: The intersection of “western” and “traditional” medicine in practice, policy, and community health in the city of Kunming and in Tibetan areas of Yunnan province
The New Tunisia: Migration and Democratic Consolidation
Location: Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia
Topics of Inquiry: Current issues in Tunisia, where the only successful revolution of the Arab Spring ushered in a new democracy as well as an influx of migrants headed toward the European Union
Rwanda in the Contemporary Global Order
Locations: Kigali, Rwanda, with an excursion to southwestern Uganda
Topics of Inquiry: The contemporary roots of genocide; sociological and psychological perspectives on the causes of mass violence; prospects for and threats to sustainable peace in the Great Lakes Region of East Africa; the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention and the current refugee crisis
Public Health, Community, and Healthcare Systems in India
Locations: Delhi, Agra, and Dharamsala region, India
Topics of Inquiry: Introduction to India; public health systems in India; traditional and alternative healthcare practices; right to health and equity in Indian and global contexts; social determinants of health; women’s and children’s health
Geopolitics and Humanitarian Action in Jordan
Location: Amman, Jordan
Topics of Inquiry: International relations in the Middle East; the impact of immigrants and refugees in Jordan; causes and consequences of the Arab Spring; psychology of peace and diplomacy; priorities of intervention for refugee relief; the role of the UN and other agencies in humanitarian response
Comparative Ecology and Conservation in Ecuador
Location: Quito, Ecuador
Topics of Inquiry: The ecology of Amazonian and Andean ecosystems; current ecological challenges and the efforts under way to combat them; key biological and ecological indicators such as plants, insects, birds, mammals, and other biological taxa; current research projects at world-renowned Tiputini Biodiversity Station in the Ecuadorian Amazon
Tunisia in Transition: Social and Political Transformation
Location: Greater Tunis Area, Tunisia
Topics of Inquiry: The dynamics between modernity and tradition; Islam and constitutional democracy; technology and youth culture; social and political transition in Tunisia