Faculty-Led Educational Experiences Abroad
Smith's goal is to prepare students to live in a global society. Smith offers a rich array of international and intercultural opportunities for all students, from the first year to their culminating year on campus. All students have the opportunity to study, work, participate in research or travel abroad or can have an internationally oriented experience in the United States.
Global Engagement Seminar
This intensive, credit-bearing summer seminar is taught by a team of Smith faculty at an international site and is followed by a required internship or service-learning experience. For more information, see Global Engagement Seminars.
Tibetan Studies in India
As part of an ongoing academic exchange program with the Tibetan universities in exile in India, each year the Five Colleges send 15 students to spend January term studying Buddhist philosophy, Tibetan history and culture, and Tibetan textual analysis in an intensive program taught by the faculty of the Central University of Tibetan Studies in Sarnath, India. For more information, see the Department of Philosophy's Tibetan Studies in India.
Coral Reef Ed-Ventures
Coral Reef Ed-Ventures are an innovative, cooperative educational venture between Smith College and the Hol Chan Marine Reserve in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize. The program is an interdisciplinary effort involving faculty from three departments and the Environmental Science and Policy Program at Smith College. For more information, see the Environmental Science and Policy Program's Coral Reef Ed-Ventures Program.
Carbonate Sedimentology (GEO 334)
Students in this class will engage in detailed studies of the formation of carbonate sediments and rocks through participation in a required 7-10 day field trip to one of the modern tropical carbonate-producing environments (such as the Bahamas) during January interterm, followed by semester-long research projects based on the data and specimens collected in the field. Interested students should contact Bosiljka Glumac early in the Fall semester. (Course offered every other year.)
Picker Engineering Program: Global Opportunities
This program educates engineers who address human needs through invention, resources and technology. Picker Engineering Program supports special projects which may include going on location to explore design issues with global implications. Past projects have examined how development is altering ecosystems in Costa Rica while others demonstrated the use of local materials to create innovative products for a Nicaraguan community. For more information, see the Picker Engineering Program's How Else Can I Get Involved?
Additional Opportunities
Many other exciting opportunities are available across departments throughout Smith. Some programs occur every year, while others are special one-time opportunities. Mary Murphy, senior lecturer in the mathematics and statistics department traveled with students to Bolivia to a small institution of higher education for young men and women of poor rural families. Sujane Wu, assistant professor in the East Asian languages and literatures department, offered an educational trip to Taiwan as an extension of her course Revising the Past in Chinese Literature and Film. For more information, contact academic departments at Smith.
