Switzerland: International Studies, Multilateral Diplomacy, and Social Justice

  Switzerland

Geneve [Geneva],  Nyon

Term: Fall, Spring 
Dates: September to December/February to 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.

With its long history of neutrality, independence, and protection of the disenfranchised, Geneva is the world's capital for international organizations dedicated to conflict transformation, social justice, and sustainable development. While the city retains much of its French heritage and Swiss culture, Geneva's population is truly international, with a unique microculture of social and political organizations.

From its base in Nyon, this program provides a thorough background in international studies, using an experiential, case study approach. The program takes a different topical focus each semester, with classroom seminars supplemented by lectures and briefings at international and nongovernmental organizations, including the United Nations, the Red Cross, the International Labor Organization, and the World Trade Organization. Interactive research studies and field excursions in Switzerland and France deepen your understanding of the challenges faced by organizations that foster human rights, peacebuilding, multilateral diplomacy, environmental accountability, and sustainable development.

Highlights: Highlights include educational excursions to to political institutions, international organizations, and sites of cultural significance in Bern, Lugano, and Paris.

Includes ten weeks with a Swiss or international family mostly in villages in the area around Nyon, near Geneva.

Degree Level: Bachelors Degree (Undergraduate)

Cost in US$: contact sponsor

Experience Required: no

This Program is open to American and Worldwide Participants.

Participants Travel to Switzerland Independently or in Groups

Scholarships are Available.

Application Process Involves:

• Essay
• Letters of Reference
• Physical Exam/Health Records
• 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