Switzerland: Global Health and Development Policy

  Switzerland

Geneve [Geneva]

Term: Fall, Spring 
Dates: early Sept-mid-Dec; early Feb-mid-May

Description: Study current questions and policies relating to development and public health in Geneva, the world's capital for international organizations dedicated to public health, social justice, and sustainable development. Grounded in a framework of social justice, this program focuses on vulnerable groups, and critiques organizations that respond to their needs.

Classroom seminars are supplemented by lectures and briefings at international and nongovernmental organizations, including the United Nations, the Red Cross, the International Labor Organization, and the World Health Organization.

Interactive research studies and field excursions in Switzerland and France deepen students' understanding of the challenges faced by organizations that foster public health, human rights, peacebuilding, multilateral diplomacy, environmental accountability, and sustainable development.

Highlights: 16 credits; Intensive Language Study: French, Academic Seminar, Field Study Seminar, four-week Independent Study Project; ten-week homestay with a Swiss or international family in rural villages and other communities near Nyon.

Excursions to Bern, Lugano, and Paris to visit leading regional, national, supranational, and international institutions and to meet with staff who are wrestling with difficult issues of public health and development.

Degree Level: Bachelors Degree (Undergraduate)

Cost in US$: contact sponsor

Experience Required: yes

Previous college-level coursework and/or other significant preparation in development studies; public health; or the social, economic and political sciences, as assessed by SIT.

This Program is open to American and Worldwide Participants.

Participants Travel to Switzerland in Groups

Typically Participants Work Independently or in Groups of 12-15

Scholarships are Available. To make study abroad opportunities available to a wide range of students, SIT Study Abroad offers a variety of scholarships. We base all scholarship awards on need and merit. Awards range from $500 to $5,000. For a full list of scholarships, and to download a scholarship application, please visit our web site.

Application Process Involves:

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

Post-Program Services Include:

• Alumni Network
• Exit Debriefing Abroad
• 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