MIIS students participating in a J-term field course in Peru conducted research on poverty and connectivity.
For Middlebury Institute students, the winter term in January offers unique opportunities to gain valuable field experience, participate in intensive professional training courses and hone their expertise. Seventy students participated in courses offered in Peru, El Salvador, Rwanda, the Philippines, and Cuba, and many more were enrolled in intensive courses offered on the Monterey campus.
Students have the option to take a course in Policy Analysis with a special focus on poverty and development in Latin America and to design a research project relevant to the work of MIIS partners in El Salvador and Peru. These courses are offered in the fall semester and linked to optional winter term fieldwork and research. This January a group of MIIS students, along with four Middlebury College students who had participated virtually in the Monterey class portion of the course, conducted research related to organic farming in the Sacred Valley of Peru in partnership with the Andean Alliance for Sustainable Development, an organization co-founded by MIIS alumni. Several of the MIIS students involved in this research are now enrolled in a follow-up class Advanced Policy Analysis, where they will analyze and use the data collected on the trip.
Another group of students from the Policy Analysis course joined the established Team El Salvador winter term practicum, and conducted field research related to the Plas project regulating the usage of the mangrove ecosystem. Other members of the team worked on a variety of community development projects in the Lower Lempa Region of El Salvador, such as micro-business and natural resource protection.
Now in its eleventh year, DPMI or Design, Partnering, Management and Innovation was offered in two locations this January. In Monterey, students participated in the renowned intensive training program and then applied their lessons and new toolsets as consultants to a variety of local stakeholders, from the police department to non-profit organizations, working to find solutions to problems associated with homelessness. Carolyn Taylor Meyer, director of professional immersive learning and special programs, was happy to share the stack of letters she received after the student presentations from leaders of organizations praising the value and quality of the students’ work.
DPMI was also offered in Rwanda for the second time in partnership with Partners in Health, whose founders include Dr. Paul Farmer and Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank Group. Participants in the Rwanda session included 18 MIIS students and four Middlebury College students, as well as a number of established professionals. For their final project, students developed and presented a social marketing plan to Partners in Health around one of five health issue focus areas. Middlebury student Armel Nibasumba shared dispatches from his experience with the Middlebury Newsroom and was interviewed by the Boston Globe.
Led by professor Pushpa Iyer, a group of students participated in the course Peacebuilding in the Mindanao, travelling to the Philippines to conduct field research in an area that has witnessed decades of armed conflict. The students will continue to work with the information they gained from first-hand contact with stakeholders after their return.
Yet another group of students travelled to Cuba for the course Cuba: Changing Course for Changing Times. The trip was led by Middlebury Institute professor Jan Black, a member of the Board of Directors of Amnesty international USA. Students explored the costs and benefits of a revolution and the evolution of the U.S.-Cuba relationship.
There was plenty of activity on the Monterey campus as well. The Frontier Market Scouts program offered two-week training sessions in both Monterey and Amsterdam. Participants have the options to follow the training with two- to 12-month field assignments.
Other MIIS winter term courses included a seminar on International Marine Law, Spanish Community Interpreting, and courses in language program administration and intensive economics.