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Intersession 2027

Western Sahara: Refugees and Resistance - Tindouf, Alegeria - CAS Faculty: Stephen Zunes

*Open to Undergraduate and Graduate students*

The start of the program will coincide with the second Solidarity Summit in which activists, political figures, journalists, academics, and students from around the world with an interest in Western Sahara come together for four days of panel discussions, keynote presentations, workshops, and cultural activities. The program will provide students an opportunity to learn about the Western Sahara conflict and its broader implications, to experience life in a refugee camp, and provide a hopeful glimpse of how people in desperate situations can improve their lives. 

Urban Development in Indonesia - Jakarta, Indonesia - CAS Faculty: John Zarobell

*Open to BAIS 4+1 students and Graduate students*

This program seeks to introduce students to dynamics and challenges of urban development in the Global South while training them in the techniques of urban planners, regional and national governments, developers, foundations and others who seek to promote sustainable development in one of the world's fastest growing cities.

Spring Break 2027

Beyond Borders in Costa Rica - San José, Costa Rica - CAS Faculty: John Zarobell

*Open to Sophomores and Juniors in the Beyond Borders LLC*

This immersion is focused on staying in San José and making day trips to various locations in the city and in the vicinity, anchored with lectures and presentations at UPEACE. We will hear from experts at UPEACE, but also from nonprofit and civic leaders from the area, as well as the populations they work with. Most of our visits are focused on environmental themes, such as sustainability, waste and the circular economy, and agriculture/farmer's markets, but some of them are more culturally specific, focusing on indigenous rights and the urban poor. 

"The Troubles" and Conflict Transformation in Northern Ireland - Belfast and Derry, Ireland - CAS Faculty: Keally McBride

*Open to Sophomores and Juniors in the Beyond Borders LLC*

Students will travel to Northern Ireland and meet with former combatants, peace groups, and other community organizations that are involved with overcoming the legacy of this conflict and its violence. This trip enables students to not only learn about other cultures but also challenge them to reflect on their own cultures and social identities, which creates spaces for both personal and collective growth, helping students gain new understandings of the roles they can play in social transformation and international conflicts.

USF Family Business Academic Global Immersion in the Philippines - Manila, Philippines - SOM Faculty: Monika Hudson

AGI-Family Businesses Immersion course is one of the School of Management’s Entrepreneurship & Innovation and International Business elective offerings that concurrently carries cultural diversity and community-engaged learning designations.  This year, the combined USF, Ateneo and Javeriana cohort will build upon general family business theory and extend theory-to-practice through a combination of USF, Ateneo and Javeriana on-site and remote coursework and business/cultural immersion experiences with students, instructors and family-owned firms located in Manila, Philippines.

Summer 2027

Civil Rights, Social Justice through the Context of Indigenous Sport - Dublin and Donegal, Ireland - CAS Faculty: Shannon Siegel

This short-term immersion travel course introduces students to Civil Rights and Social Justice movements in Ireland, examined through the lens of indigenous sport. Students explore topics such as British imperialism, famine, economic inequality, emigration, the Irish-American influence on the United States, civil rights, social justice, peace studies, indigenous sport and its role in society, and the function of sport as a tool for reconciliation. A comprehensive program of field trips integrated with classroom instruction will allow the students to increase their cultural competency. This course also fulfills the Cultural Diversity requirement. 

"French in the Community": Linguistic and Cultural Immersion - Aix-Marseille, France and Morocco - CAS Faculty: Zehlia Babaci-Wilhite

This course is a language-intensive immersion structured to incorporate reflective processes that undergird the development of inclusive and global citizenship, intercultural competence and cultural humility. This teaching-learning process is built constructively towards the "Theory to Practice" model personalized which we believe will transform students' lives and experiences. 

Wilderness Immersion - High Sierras, California - CAS Faculty: Kimberly Carfore

Through reading, reflection, conversation, and immersion of the senses, students will cultivate new perspectives and exercise creative thinking about food and its place in Italian culture and in the world. Particular emphasis will be placed on local food traditions and cultures to identify farming and production techniques. Further, emphasis on the significance of local holidays and customs, such as dining, will also be explored.

Japan's Anime Economies and the Business of Quality - Nishinomiya, Japan - SOM Faculty: Vivian Faustino-Pulliam

This short-term summer immersion program is a faculty-led, credit-bearing experience that combines structured academic inquiry with high-impact, site-based learning in Japan. The program is anchored in an on-campus course component that introduces the academic frameworks students will apply abroad (e.g., global market analysis, innovation systems, cultural industries, quality management, and entrepreneurship/intrapreneurship).

AGI Bio-Entrepreneurship in China- Shenzhen, Beijing - CAS Faculty: Cary Lai

This AGI is intended to give students a sense of biotechnology enterprise in China, comprehending the mission and people of the major organizations which affect all elements of science and technology-based businesses, as well as its relation to the global biotech industry. During the visit, meetings will be conducted with global and national organizations, local start-ups, trade organizations, and cultural institutions. The intention is to learn about the starting, funding, managing and supporting fledgling biotech start-ups, to develop an appreciation for mature industry organizations, and to gain further insight into the biotech business process, which starts at the lab bench and ends with the consumer. Cultural experiences are intended to enrich student understanding of the socioeconomic factors at work.

Jewish Culture, Memory, and Resistance in Poland: Past, Present, and Future - Warsaw, Poland - CAS Faculty: Oren Kroll-Zeldin

This immersive trip to Poland offers students the opportunity to deeply explore the history, culture, and resilience of Jewish communities, with a focus on the intersection of history, memory, and ongoing issues of displacement and genocide. Through visits to key historical sites such as former Jewish centers, concentration camps, and forests of partisan resistance, students will examine the resilience of Jewish communities in the face of immense loss. 

Culture and Environment - Sitka, Alaska - CAS Faculty: Kathleen Coll

This field course in the island community of Sitka, Alaska examines the relationship between culture, community, and the environment. Students will learn about the region’s marine and terrestrial environments and their use by the indigenous Tlingit Indians (who today comprise a quarter of Sitka’s population) and by its non-Native residents. We will explore Tlingit and Western views of nature, stewardship, and conservation. The course will also examine current controversies surrounding the use of the area’s natural resources -- its fish, timber, and natural beauty. The latter includes the impact of large-scale cruise ship tourism on Sitka. Wherever possible the emphasis is hands-on, experiential learning. 

Intersession 2027

Western Sahara: Refugees and Resistance - Tindouf, Alegeria - CAS Faculty: Stephen Zunes

*Open to Undergraduate and Graduate students*

The start of the program will coincide with the second Solidarity Summit in which activists, political figures, journalists, academics, and students from around the world with an interest in Western Sahara come together for four days of panel discussions, keynote presentations, workshops, and cultural activities. The program will provide students an opportunity to learn about the Western Sahara conflict and its broader implications, to experience life in a refugee camp, and provide a hopeful glimpse of how people in desperate situations can improve their lives. 

Urban Development in Indonesia - Jakarta, Indonesia - CAS Faculty: John Zarobell

*Open to BAIS 4+1 students and Graduate students*

This program seeks to introduce students to dynamics and challenges of urban development in the Global South while training them in the techniques of urban planners, regional and national governments, developers, foundations and others who seek to promote sustainable development in one of the world's fastest growing cities.

Global Sport Management Immersion Week: South Africa - Johannesburg, South Africa - CAS Faculty: Michael Goldman

The purpose of this course is to immerse students in the economic and social transformational context of the business of sport in South Africa. Through a range of experiences, engagements, reflections and actions, students will gain a rich understanding of the dynamics of competing in this global sport management environment. 

Spring Break 2027

Disruptive Innovations in Mobility & Clean Tech - Belgium & Netherlands - CAS Faculty: William Riggs

This AGI will focus on two countries that have been working to build new systems for clean tech / energy, transportation, and financial infrastructure. In this context this STEM-oriented course will work with clients to ideate new strategies for market growth particularly in the clean tech and clean transportation sectors. Using work from strategy sessions with clients, students assimilate information and transform knowledge providing a consolidated report that further ideates the engineering and business models for the future of public and private sector innovations in the target sectors. 

Summer 2027

Crossing Borders, Changing Lives: Migrants at the Spain Morocco Border - Sevilla and Cordoba, Spain; Nador, Morocco -  CAS Faculty: Lois Ann Lorentzen

This course takes place at the Spain/Morocco border and analyzes the root causes and policies that have led to borders as zones without rights for many migrants who are in transit. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire world experienced closed borders, shaking our understanding and experience of global health, international politics, interdependent economies, and more. For many migrants, facing a closed border was nothing new and again revealed patterns of exclusion, racism and repression that seemed only to deepen during the pandemic. Many factors lead migrants to leave their homes, families, and countries of origin. Violence, political persecution, economic instability, food insecurity, climate change, reuniting with family members, or simply the dream of a better future all may play a role. Many face enormous legal and political barriers to entrance, embodied in border walls and the increased militarization of borders between affluent and less affluent nations.

Salzburg International Leadership Program on Becoming a Global Citizen - Salzburg, Austria - SOE Faculty: Noah Borrero and Walt Gmelch

The purpose of this program is to provide an intensive ten-day international experience that will allow participants to develop a better understanding of the processes and effects of globalization and to explore pressing issues of global concern from a variety of perspectives. Participants should leave with a better understanding of what it means to be a global citizen, why it is important, and how the core values of global citizenship can be incorporated into ones present and future actions. At the end of the session it is intended that participants will have the desire, ability and empowerment to envision and affect positive change on their own campuses and in their local and global communities.