PROGRAM DETAILS

Students on this educational program to Cuba so that the students can experience first-hand a culture, society, and political system that is very different from the one they know. Students will see the blending of African traditions with Spanish traditions, an experiment in a unique, Cuban political system, and a life style that is non-materialistic. It is an exploration into a different society and into the student's own identity.

The program is sponsored by Peace and Justice Studies and the History and Political Science Department with four primary goals.

• First, it will provide students with an exposure to life, culture, politics, and history of Cuba. Cuba is selected because of the important ways it is distinct from the experiences of most of our students. We will study under faculty of the University of Havana, with one course offering credit at the University of Havana. We will live with Cuban families.
• Second, it will provide some scholars and citizens of Cuba with an opportunity to become acquainted on a face-to-face basis with students from the United States and Utah. Our past experience indicates that we create close connections with Cuban scholars and citizens. Our students are excellent examples of the positive side of the United States.
• Third, students will engage in activities with Cubans in community gardens, health care facilities, schools, and NGOs to learn about their activities and support them.
• Fourth, it will provide students with experiences that can be used in evaluating their own life plans and styles, in enriching their academic development, in preparations for graduate school, and in providing them with skills to be represented in their resumes and work skills.

 PROGRAM DIRECTOR

Dr. Lynn England, Lecturer in Political Science, 801.863.8119, [email protected]

 PROGRAM DETAILS

Across human history human beings have experienced injustice, domination, destructive conflict, and lethal violence in in what often appears to be ubiquitous ways. How does a society torn by bloody civil war, escape from that violence and build a sustainable and resilient peace and reconciliation? There is no better place in the world to learn the answers to this question than Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is simply the world's best laboratory for conflict transformation, reconciliation, and peacebuilding theory and practice. The preponderance of the world's leading experts are there, and we study with them.

In addition to enjoying lectures and discussions with leading scholars, we also learn from peacebuilding professionals, civil society and religious leaders, political leaders, artists, journalists, victims, former militia members, and ex-prisoners. Students will experience the beauty of the island its music, art, culture, castles, breathtaking landscapes and seascapes, and more. The program and experience is transformative and irreplaceable. It provides a powerful benefit to students pursuing graduate school and employment.

 

 PROGRAM DIRECTOR

Dr. Lynn England, Lecturer in Political Science, [email protected]

Michael Goode, Assistant Professor of History, [email protected]

 PROGRAM DETAILS

This program will focus on the political, cultural, and economic aspects of Post Soviet nations, especially the Russian Federation and the Kyrgyz Republic, and the changes that have occurred since the break up of the Soviet Union. We will study the transition of those nations from communism to societies based on market principles and semi-democratic political systems.

The program is sponsored by Peace and Justice Studies and the History and Political Science Department with several important goals.

First, it will provide students with an exposure to life, culture, politics and history both of Russia and Kyrgyzstan. We will study under faculty of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences in Moscow and Alatoo University in Bishkek. We will live with local families. Students will study the challenges of creating new identities, legitimizing new political systems, and nation-building.

Second, it will provide local scholars, experts and citizens with an opportunity to get personally acquainted with students from Utah as United States representatives. 

Third, students will engage with local hosts affiliated to the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Moscow State University, and Alatoo University in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz Republic in activities of NGOs, health care facilities, and religious institutions to learn about them and their initiatives.

Thanks to established partnership with both hosts and interactions with scholars and citizens in Moscow and Bishkek, students will be able to gain experiences important for their professional advancement, enrichment of their academic development, and preparations for graduate school.

Locations: Moscow, Russian Federation and Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic

 PROGRAM DIRECTOR

Lynn England, Lecturer, Political Science, [email protected]

Baktybek Abrisaev, Senior Lecturer Political Science, [email protected]