Nicaragua: Revolution,Transformation and Civil Society

  Nicaragua

Managua

Term: Fall, Spring 
Dates: September-December/February-May

Description: The School for International Training's Study Abroad programs offer field-based study in over 57 countries. Students earn 16 semester credits on a 15-week experience designed to encourage a global awareness that enables people to live and act in an interdependent world. Groups of seven to 25 students are lead by one or two academic directors.

Nicaragua was flung to the forefront of international attention with the triumph of the Sandinista Popular Revolution in 1979. Internal and US opposition to Sandinista reforms led to the Contra War, which cost an enormous number of Nicaraguan lives and devastated the economy. Today, despite significant progress towards national reconciliation, Nicaragua's political structure and economic discourse continues to be polarized around key issues, and the country has become the second poorest of the Western Hemisphere.

This program takes you to key sites where the Sandinista Revolution and the Contra War have left their legacies. You will also visit the two nations to the north of Nicaragua--Honduras and El Salvador--for a comparative perspective on the history and current complexities of these three countries. Throughout the program, lectures and field visits illustrate ways in which social and political movements, including those focused on women, indigenous people, peasants, and the environment, are informed by and respond to both domestic and external influences, including US foreign policy.

Prerequisites: Three recent semesters of college-level Spanish or equivalent and the ability to follow coursework in Spanish, as assessed by SIT.

Highlights: Seven weeks homestay in Managua and educational excursions to Matagalpa and/or Esteli, Bluefields, Honduras and El Salvador.

Cost in US$: contact sponsor

Experience Required: yes

Prerequisites: Three recent semesters of college-level Spanish or equivalent and the ability to follow coursework in Spanish, as assessed by SIT.

Application Process Involves:

• Letters of Reference
• Physical Exam/Health Records
• Transcript
• Written Application

Post Services Include:

• Exit DebriefingAbroad
• Alumni Network
• Job and Internship Network

SIT Study Abroad's Mission Statement: SIT Study Abroad is the accredited higher education institution of World Learning, a private, nonprofit international organization promoting international and intercultural understanding, social justice, and economic development through education, training, and field projects around the globe. SIT prepares students to be interculturally effective leaders, professionals, and citizens through SIT Study Abroad, undergraduate, field-based academic programs operating in more than 50 countries worldwide, and thorough short-term professional training and graduate degrees in language teaching, conflict transformation, international education, social justice in intercultural relations, management, and sustainable development.

Year Founded: 1932