Explore how concepts of community well-being and cultural identity are being creatively redefined in a country with 36 ethnic groups and the first indigenous president in the Americas.
Program Highlights
- Study cultural identity and the concept of community well-being.
- Look into the social and psychological impact of globalization on communities in Andean and Amazonian regions.
- Have the option to create a documentary film or write a children’s book as part of your independent research.
- Prepare for a possible career in community work.
- Build your Spanish skills or add Quechua to your language learning.
- Travel to tropical lowlands; the Andean Altiplano; La Paz; Potosí, one of the highest cities in the world; and El Alto, the largest indigenous city in Latin America.
- Dine at one of the top restaurants in Latin America, where culinary students from low-income families promote the celebration of Bolivia’s spectacular culinary diversity and local ingredients.
Please visit the SIT Study Abroad website for details on program courses (including syllabi), educational excursions, and housing.
Independent Study
During the final four weeks of the program, you can choose to use your new language and cultural skills and the academic knowledge you have acquired to complete an Independent Study Project (ISP) on a topic of interest to you.
It can be conducted in Cochabamba or other sites in Bolivia, as approved by the academic director. You may choose to produce an extended research paper or employ a nontraditional format such as documentary film, dance, theater, photography, or bilingual children’s book as part of your ISP.
Samples Topics:
- Systems of Andean community justice in rural communities
- Integrating traditional midwives into rural community hospitals serving indigenous families
- Using dance to raise awareness of discrimination against Afro-Bolivians
- Decolonizing education within Bolivia’s rural indigenous universities
- Psychology of children of Bolivian migrants
- Women leading the fight against mining contamination in their communities
Key Topics of Study
- Bolivia’s complex history and current realities
- Systems of knowledge and indigenous cosmovisión
- Themes of community well-being (“vivir bien”) and resilience
- Globalization and Bolivia’s contemporary sociopolitical and environmental struggles
Money Matters
Be sure to discuss how study abroad costs are handled at your school with your study abroad advisor.
SIT tuition and room and board fees include the following:
All educational costs, including educational excursions
- All accommodations and meals for the full program duration
- Transportation to and from the airport, and on all educational excursions
- Health and accident insurance
Scholarships:
- SIT awards nearly $1.6 million in scholarships and grants annually.
- All scholarships and grants are need-based.
- Awards generally range from $500 to $5,000.
- The SIT Pell Grant Match provides matching grants to all students receiving Federal Pell Grant funding when it is applied to an SIT Study Abroad semester program.
- Contact the financial aid and/or study abroad office(s) at your college or university to learn if your school’s scholarships and grants and federal and state aid programs can be applied to an SIT Study Abroad program.
Contact SIT Study Abroad
