International Field Programs
2008
2007
2006
Selected IFP Programs between 2003 and 2005
Argentina, Buenos Aires 2005 The summer of 2005, students in Buenos Aires worked on two major projects. The first dealt with performance and regulation of public services in the City of Buenos Aires, the other, dealing with culture, media, and development.
Geneva 2005This year, students were placed in a variety of organizations, among them the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the International Bureau of Education, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the International Organization for Migration, and the Center for Applied Studies in International Negotiation (CASIN).
As students were asked to prepare and present papers on topics related to the Millennium Development Goals, they were given the occasion to analyze for themselves how effectively or ineffectively the goals had been implemented. Students had the opportunity to attend various seminars by distinguished guest speakers who addressed international issues such as micro-credit, development and human rights. Among them:
- Ambassador Kevin Moley, US Ambassador to the United Nations, Geneva
- Jose Fischel de Andrade, Refugee Field Adviser, UNHCR
- Ms. Michelle Mack, Legal Adviser, Legal Division, ICRC
- Piper Campbell, Refugee and Migration Affairs, US Mission to the UN
- Ximena Escobar, Economic Counselor, Center for Applied Studies in Intl. Relations
- Ben Majekodunmi, Human Rights Officer, UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
South Africa 2005 In an eight week international field program students traveled to Johannesburg where they observed and assessed the activities of the Thembani International Guarantee Fund-a non-profit loan guarantor which assists its clients in gaining access to credit from South African commercial banks. Because most of its clientele include micro-finance institutions and larger development organizations, its purpose was to encourage lending organizations to adopt more favorable lending terms towards its clients.
Pre-departure preparation included attending meetings in New York with the Director of Shared Interest and the CEO of Thembani to discuss and evaluate the impact of certain policies.
Ghana 2004 The international field program in Ghana, allowed students to work at organizations such as Voluntary Workcamps Association of Ghana, (VOLU) a nonprofit youth organization founded by teachers which provides opportunities for young people and professionals to volunteer their time in workcamps working on a variety of environmental, educational and infrastructural projects. Students worked on community development at the local level, conducting interviews with residents and participatory rural appraisals as a means to creating project evaluations and community needs assessments.
Hong Kong 2004 This year students worked with organizations such as the Hong Kong Tourism Board, Computime Ltd., Asia Migrant Center and the Asian Human Rights Commission.
Kenya 2004Working with Groots International, a network of women working at the grassroots level on self help initiatives, students participated in a two month internship program where they documented the practices of native women working at the grassroots level to respond to the AIDS pandemic within their country borders. The internship was provided as a result of the partnership between GROOTS International, a network of self-governing grassroots women's organizations including organizations from over forty countries worldwide, the Huairou Commission, a partnership of a coalition of UN agencies, development organizations and grassroots groups, which jointly have the aim of supporting women's issues, and New School GPIA program.
Students participated in a rigorous pre-departure orientation where they developed the process to pilot a Community AIDS Watch program in which it could be determined what communities affected by the AIDS pandemic identified as their priorities. The purpose was to design a project in which local communities created individual profiles or situation assessments to be used in garnering funding to mobilize the resources necessary to continue effective grassroots work.
India 2003This summer students worked with Swayam Shikshan Prayog, a development organization which devoted to promoting self-education as empowerment and Homespun for Urban Markets, an organization which works to improve the livelihoods of women by providing training for women to gain weaving and embroidery skills and assisting them to locate viable markets in which to sell their goods.
Students were assigned case studies where they completed a comparative analysis (using indicators which they independently created to measure access) on how various villages in the region were able to successfully increase access to water, sanitation, healthcare and education. As a follow up, students participated in workshops where they presented their research to staff, sharing insight and receiving feedback.