This coming year, GEO is excited to be bringing opportunities to our students and institutional partners in new fields and new parts of the world! We’ve heard the requests for more options in Oceania and Asia, and we are also prioritizing practical experience by emphasizing internships and hands-on opportunities. In keeping with challenges we are facing as a planet, our programming is also investigating social and environmental challenges we are all facing. From marine biology Down Under to environmental justice in Latin America to psychology internships in London and architecture and cultural resource studies in China…there’s a lot going on!
Look below for a summary of what’s new in GEO programs for partners in 2019-20:
Archaeology in Palau program
Archaeology in Palau (summer) – Students gain hands-on excavation experience in archaeological digs in the Republic of Palau, an archipelago of islands in the South Pacific. They will study under an archaeological professional and gain valuable field experience while also taking the opportunity to explore these beautiful and remote islands. Opportunities to travel and engage in local activities like snorkeling and boat rides will complement the academic work.
Art History in London (summer) – In this program, students explore contemporary art and design in world-class art museums, popular and underground galleries, innovative design centers, and cutting edge art and design studios. Guest lectures and tours allow students to learn from London-based art and design historians, contemporary artists and designers, and museum and gallery professionals. Students will live in the heart of this cosmopolitan city in shared apartments.
Art, Identity, and Representation in Senegal and France (summer) – Students spend three weeks between Dakar and Paris in this program to study the influence of African art worldwide, art in Senegalese society, and the impacts of colonization, imperialism and racism on art worldwide.
Mosque in Touba, Senegal
Cross-Border Interviewing and Story Development in Spain and Portugal (summer) – This popular GEO program is now being offered in Spain! Students will live in Oviedo, on the northern coast of Spain, while learning to improve and professionalize journalistic and interviewing skills, from the art of posing questions to the critical task of listening actively and creatively to answers. These skills will be applied across the Spanish-Portuguese border on a multi-day excursion to Porto, Portugal. Though courses will be taught in English, one of the key elements of these courses is learning to transcend language barriers. Students who wish to study Spanish can also enroll in a four-week language session in Oviedo after the program ends.
Exploring the Dolomites: Landscape, History, Ecology and Literature in Northern Italy (summer) – This program is a two-week trek through the Dolomite mountains of northeastern Italy with an interdisciplinary
focus involving German studies, history, literature, art, film and more. Students will reflect on and document their
experiences on the program through multimedia projects. Students must be able to hike rough mountain trails at
high elevations while carrying 15-pound day packs for up to six hours per day in order to participate.
Food, Ocean, and History in the South Pacific (summer) – This highly interdisciplinary program examines the environmental history of Oceanians’ relationship with the land and ocean from their first colonization of the ocean until the 21st century, as well as the relationship between food and identity in the Pacific, with a particular focus on themes of migration, diaspora and home. Classroom instruction will be supplemented with numerous visits to archaeological sites and with contemporary environmental practitioners.
Indigenous Rights and Environmental Justice in Bolivia (summer) – Students will explore the term “indigenous” and analyze the social and political implications of indigenous peoples’ access to and control over the environment. Students will be “roughing it” while working with tribes in remote areas of Bolivia who are fighting for environmental justice, including issues related to development encroachment, conversation of natural resources, indigenous intellectual property rights and agroecology. Students will also get the opportunity to visit a
jaguar conservation ranch.
Forbidden City, Beijing, China
Landscape and Heritage in China (summer) – In this program, students will start in Beijing and then travel to multiple venues in China, including the Great Wall National Park, Mount Taishan National Park and Mount Huangshan National Park. Throughout their travels, students will analyze the value and importance of these iconic parks in China, consider the contradictions between conservation and use, the challenges the national parks are faced with and the interaction between culture and nature. The course will include concept planning, design proposals, and field techniques to document and analyze significant cultural landscapes.
Psychology in London with Internship (spring quarter) – Students will earn upper division psychology credit in their coursework, while taking part in a customized psychology internship placement tailored to individual interests. London serves as both classroom and home, with students living in shared apartments and taking advantage of multiple excursions tied to academic coursework.
Task-Based Language Learning for Beginners in Siena and Lyon (summer) – This four-week program will introduce students to the basics of the French and Italian languages. In Siena, Italy, students will be immersed in the Italian language and culture in a small Tuscan hill town, followed by immersion in French in the larger urban setting of Lyon, France. There will be an emphasis on learning innovative language-learning strategies that require task-based and hands-on activities in the communities that students will visit.
Tel Aviv University (fall/spring semester or summer) – Tel Aviv University serves 30,000 students in the heart of Israel. Students will enroll in five classes per semester (in English) in subjects such as arts, business, environmental studies, film, sciences, history, Jewish Studies, law, Middle Eastern Studies, and more. Before the beginning of the semester, students are required to take a 4-6 Hebrew intensive language course. Students can also opt to do an internship. There are other specialized course options available; please click the link above for more information.
The University of the Sunshine Coast campus often has free-ranging kangeroos!
University of the Sunshine Coast (fall/spring semester) – Students enroll directly in courses alongside locals at the University of the Sunshine Coast, a public Australian university serving 12,000 students and located about 55 miles north of the city of Brisbane. Students can choose courses, or earn a focused topic diploma (a recognized Australian qualification), in business, communication, environmental studies, social sciences, sport and fitness, science, health and more. Students have access to vibrant outdoor sport opportunities in a variety of ecosystems, from subtropical rainforests to mountains to ocean. Students should be aware that semesters in Australia run on the following schedule: late February to June (Fall Semester/Semester 1), and mid-July to late November (Spring Semester/Semester 2).
For the full list of programs available to partner institutions and students, please visit our website and when you are advising your students, be sure they click the radial button for ‘partner university’ before hitting ‘search’! For any questions, please contact your Institutional Relations Representative.