IHP Rethinking Globalization: Nature, Culture, and Justice

- Multi-Country

  India

Delhi,  Mumbai,  Pune,  Rural Areas

  Mexico

• Oaxaca: 
Oaxaca
• Mexico City: 
Mexico City (Ciudad de Mexico)

  New Zealand

• Wellington: 
Wellington
• All Other Areas in New Zealand: 
South Island

  Tanzania

Arusha,  Dar Es Salaam,  Rural Areas,  Serengeti,  Zanzibar

  United States

Washington D.C.

Term: Academic Year 
Dates: September 2009 - May 2010

Description: The hallmark of IHP's Rethinking Globlization program is a unique comparative approach in which participants study a thematic topic in several different countries over one academic year. Experiential activities such as site visits and case studies complement interdisciplinary team teaching led by in-country and traveling faculty. Students also step out of the classroom to interact with activists, public figures, government and organizational leaders, as well as citizens from all walks of life who are directly involved in the themes explored. Homestays give students the opportunity to get to know local families and to become immersed in the culture and traditions of each country, creating lasting connections and memorable insights.

Students in IHP's Rethinking Globalization program meet some of the world's most important critics of current patterns of development and connect with a diversity of social movements and individual initiatives that are confronting the consequences of a globalized economy. They experience firsthand a variety of contested development programs and projects, and witness the emerging alternatives being tried to recover and maintain a just and sustainable world.

From Tanzania to New Zealand, India to Mexico, students visit urban and rural landscapes and communities affected by globalization. Drawing on the fields of anthropology, ecology, economics, environmental policy and politics, they examine how globalization, development and progress affect the planet and its inhabitants.

Most important, students learn how to see and experience the rich diversity and plurality of the world and how to interact with others. Going beyond mere empathy, they try to find shared ground for the creation of equitable and sustainable alternatives, harmonious coexistence, and ways to make a difference in their own world.

KEY QUESTIONS TO EXPLORE ON THE PROGRAM:
* What are the alternatives and possibilities being regenerated, imagined, and implemented for a just and sustainable world?
* Which voices, social movements and ideas currently resist and challenge dominant development paradigms and policies?
* What are the pathways now opened for dignified work and meaningful life?
* What is the role and responsibility of each of us in addressing the broader human and ecological dimensions of globalization and in finding our own place and destiny?

IHP encourages interested students speak with alumni to learn first hand about the value of the program. There is no better way to hear candidly about the quality of the program. Please contact IHP to obtain a full list of alumni contacts, sorted by program.

Highlights: Students will spend the first 3 weeks of the program in Washington, DC, followed by 7 weeks in Tanzania, 8 weeks in India, 7 weeks in New Zealand, and 9 weeks in Mexico.

Students receive 32 credits total for the academic year. The courses are as follows:
*International Issues in Development Economics
*Ecology and Comparative Conservation Practices
*Anthropology Theory and Field Methods
*Environmental Policy and Governance

The majority of the time will be spent in home stays although there will be a mix of other group accommodations throughout the program. Living with host families further enriches the IHP experience.

Below is a brief country program overview:

USA: Washington D.C.
First-hand perspectives begin with visits to key institutions in the nations capital that are either driving globalization (e.g., the World Bank) or resisting globalization (e.g., the Institute for Policy Studies). Explore the efforts of local organizations working for social justice and environmental sustainability in the USA and reflect on American realities, values, assumptions and worldviews.

Tanzania: Dar Es Salaam, Zanzibar, Arusha, Terrat
Explore how colonialism, tourism, international aid and foreign-controlled resource development have affected traditional culture, health and environmental sustainability in East Africa. Homestays with the Masaai in Northern Tanzania and Muslim families in Zanzibar, combined with a diversity of field excursions and speakers, provide opportunities to examine conflicts between global interests and traditional livelihood practices. Focal issues include controversies between parks and pastoralists, wildlife protection, and the industrialization of fishing, mining, coffee, sisal production and aquaculture.

India: Delhi, Wardha, Sewagram, Mumbai, Dahanu
Experience the complex challenges an ancient civilization faces straddling tradition and modernity as the countrys elites build a new economic and political superpower. Visit peasant and indigenous communities to learn about their struggles; study Gandhian philosophy in one of Gandhis main ashrams; understand the multiple democratic aspirations and institutions of previously marginalized people; visit sites of ecological regeneration; and participate in examples of sustainable living in all their complex plurality.

New Zealand: North & South Islands
Study how the country is approaching challenges of decolonization, ecological globalization/invasive species, forest decline, industrial agriculture, peak oil and climate change. Living with Maori on marae (meeting places) and in the homes of green party members, learn about New Zealands ambitious sustainability goals, the Treaty of Waitangi truth-and-reconciliation process, conflicting stewardship strategies, organic livelihoods, and ways ecological and traditional knowledge are being implemented to protect heritage and restore damaged ecosystems.

Mexico: Mexico City, Oaxaca, Chiapas
Experience the vibrant culture of popular neighborhoods in Mexico City, a polluted settlement of 20 million people, and the amazing political and cultural regeneration of indigenous communities in Oaxaca. The stay in Chiapas, where indigenous Zapatistas strive to maintain independence, offers the opportunity to live the hope and inspiration defining the epic transformation evolving at the grassroots.

Cost in US$: $40,250

Experience Required: no

This Program is open to Worldwide Participants.

Participants Travel in Groups

Typically Participants Work in Groups of 30

Scholarships are Available. - Each semester, IHP offers a limited number of grants to eligible students. These grants are awarded based on financial need. The grant funds are administered and made possible by IHP. Unfortunately, IHP is unable to provide full financial support to students. IHP grants, which generally range from $500 to $10,000, with average awards at $2,000, are meant to help defray the costs of international study and to assist students for whom a small amount of aid may mean the difference between studying abroad and staying home. For more information visit www.ihp.edu/aid

Application Process Involves:

• In-Person Interview when Feasible
• Letters of Reference
• Phone Interview
• Transcript
• Written Application

Post Services Include:

• Alumni Network
• Exit DebriefingAbroad
• Job and Internship Network

International Honors Program's Mission Statement: The International Honors Program is in its 50th year of providing an unequaled opportunity for college students to examine the most significant social, political and environmental issues confronting countries and cultures around the world. The hallmark of IHP's programs is a unique comparative approach in which participants study a thematic topic in several different countries over one semester or full academic year. This multinational perspective allows students to analyze and contrast today's global conditions, evaluate issues and challenges, and compare solutions. The IHP experience engenders new questions and ideas, and prompts students to consider their lifelong roles in the global community. Themes such as public health, the environment, globalization, urban planning, governance, social justice and human rights are studied within the framework of the program. Offered in affiliation with SIT, the accredited higher education program of World Learning, IHP offers a rigorous curriculum enhanced by a diversity of learning methods and settings. Experiential activities such as site visits and case studies complement interdisciplinary team teaching led by in-country and traveling faculty. Students also step out of the classroom to interact with activists, public figures, government and organizational leaders, as well as citizens from all walks of life who are directly involved in the themes explored. Homestays give students the opportunity to get to know local families and to become immersed in the culture and traditions of each country, creating lasting connections and memorable insights. IHP participants are as broadly diverse as the places they visit and the people they meet. Personal backgrounds and areas of study vary widely among students, who come from all academic levels at colleges and universities across the USA, Canada and beyond.

Year Founded: 1958