Witness history in the making as you experience the peacebuilding process in Colombia.
6
3 semesters Spanish
Spanish
Spanish
Jun 21 – Aug 1
Colombia
Cartagena
Peace & Justice
Identity & Human Resilience
Living in Colombia, you will study the country’s 2016 peace accords, which have put an end to its prolonged conflict. You will learn about these accords, which call for reparations, reintegration, and reconciliation, and see how Colombia is constructing a culture of peace. You’ll live with a host family for four weeks in multicultural Cartagena, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and explore challenges of cultivating peace. You’ll meet with human rights defenders, victims, community activists, and ex-guerrilla combatants to understand how Colombians view this historic peace process.
During a one-week excursion to Sincerín (Bolívar), you’ll participate in community-based peacebuilding activities with a nongovernmental peacebuilding organization. In addition, you’ll learn about the organization’s efforts to mitigate the impacts of conflict and to rebuild, reconstruct, and revive fractured relations and displaced communities.
You will also develop Spanish language skills to discuss peacebuilding, reconciliation, and community issues through classroom learning, cultural immersion, homestays, and excursions.
Three semesters of college-level Spanish or equivalent, and the ability to follow coursework in Spanish, as assessed by SIT.
The program’s local, field-based excursions give you additional opportunities to learn about building a culture of peace. Highlights include visits to the Museum of the Inquisition, reconciliation workshops, feminist NGOs, and peace organizations
During this one-week excursion to rural communities around Sincerín, you will learn about and participate in community-based peacebuilding activities with a nongovernmental organization. You will have the unique opportunity to meet with peacemakers, employees at state institutions, human rights defenders, victims, advocates, church workers, community activists, social movement leaders, and guerrilla ex-combatants, among others, and to visit and stay in rural communities that were directly affected by the armed conflict.
Santa Cruz de Mompox (its official name) is located on an island surrounded by an arm of the Magdalena River, Colombia’s main waterway. The town was founded in 1540 and was an important trading center during Spanish rule due to its strategic location. During this three-day excursion, you will ride a boat down the river and learn about its ecosystems. You will also have the opportunity to meet leaders of the peace process in the region.
Please note that SIT will make every effort to maintain its programs as described. To respond to emergent situations, however, SIT may have to change or cancel programs.
Upon successful completion of the program, students will be able to:
The following syllabi are representative of this program. Because courses develop and change over time to take advantage of dynamic learning opportunities, actual course content will vary from term to term.
The syllabi can be useful for students, faculty, and study abroad offices in assessing credit transfer. Read more about credit transfer.
Building a Culture of Peace – syllabus
(PEAC3000 / 3 credits)
Colombia is recently emerging from decades of conflict and today provides an excellent setting in which to examine the forging of a culture of peace. This course examines the various measures, strategies, programs, and projects that have been put in place by international, national, and community organizations to mitigate the impact of conflict and to rebuild, reconstruct, and revive fractured relations and displaced communities. Students will have an opportunity to learn from and participate with a community-based approach to post-conflict reconciliation and resettlement. Based in the Caribbean Coast city of Cartagena, the course will expose students to the social dynamics of reconciliation and peacebuilding. Students will have opportunities to learn outside the classroom, thus deepening their understanding and analysis of the issues discussed and read about. This course is taught in Spanish and English, with readings, lectures, and discussions happening in either or both languages, depending on the context.
Spanish for Social and Cultural Studies I – syllabus
(SPAN2503 / 3 credits)
Spanish for Social and Cultural Studies II – syllabus
(SPAN3003 / 3 credits)
Spanish for Social and Cultural Studies III – syllabus
(SPAN3503 / 3 credits)
In this course, students build their speaking, reading, and writing skills through classroom and field instruction. They practice reading as they learn the formal terms and local expressions needed to discuss peacebuilding, reconciliation, and community issues and to interact in settings related to the program themes. Based on in-country evaluation, including oral proficiency testing, students are placed in classes according to their language level and receive further language practice in the homestays and on field visits.
Live with a local family for approximately four weeks over the course of the summer and experience the Caribbean port city of Cartagena. The city is known for its beautiful beaches and its historic Old Town, with cobblestone streets, colorful colonial buildings, and lively squares.
Improve your Spanish skills through daily practice with your host family and gain valuable exposure to Colombia’s traditions and cultures. Most host families are middle-class and live in apartments or small houses in the city.
During a one-week stay in Sincerín, you will live in a rural, agricultural, and fishing community with host families. Sincerín and surrounding communities were directly impacted by the armed conflict and there is a large population of displaced families. However, since the demobilization and more recently with the peace agreement, the communities of this region have gradually rebuilt their economy, which includes projects to deal with the environmental consequences of the armed conflict, such as contamination of rivers and marshes due to oil spills. As in many rural communities in Colombia, electricity is rationed and there are problems with the water supply. You will learn how Sincerinos are creatively confronting socio-economic and infrastructural issues as well as the challenges of reconciliation.
Shared dorms in program centers, hostels, or small hotels
SIT Study Abroad is committed to making international education accessible to all students. Scholarship awards generally range from $500 to $5,000 for semester programs and $500 to $3,000 for summer programs. This year, SIT will award nearly 1 million in scholarships and grants to SIT Study Abroad students.
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