The ISP, or Independent Study Project, is written by students from the undergraduate programs of SIT Study Abroad and relates to a program theme. Using primary sources students choose topics with a manageable focus that can be carried out in a variety of settings, such as schools, nongovernmental organizations or field research stations. During the independent study period students work closely with a project advisor and other key contacts in the field. The ISP is typically a 20- to 40-page paper presented to student colleagues, the academic director and, often, the advisor and other interested host-country individuals.
Copyright permissions have been obtained by all contributors to this collection.
Submissions from 2010
Queering Normal or Normalizing Queer? Marriage Equality and the Divisions Between the Queer and Mainstream Gay Movements in the Netherlands, Catharine Atkins
Energy from the Sun: A Solar Feasibility Study for Macquarie University, JJ Augenbraun
The rice farmer vs. the multinational: Mali’s winding path toward food sovereignty, Emily Bell
Faulty Structure and Uninspired Member States Fail the Euro: Lessons learned from the Greek crisis, Maximilian Bevan
Breaking the Cycle of Domestic Violence, Rebecca Bolden
Un estudio ecológico de las lagartijas del valle seco de Buenavista y de los valles húmedos de La Josefina y Salango, Ross Brennan
Innovation Education: Problems and Prospects in Governance and Management of the Vietnamese Higher Education System, Taylor Brooks
Internal Displacement: Recent History, Visions for the Action Ahead, Mayela Calderon
Factors That Contribute to the Low Uptake of Skilled Care During Delivery in Malindi, Kenya, Alexandra Carter
Orphanages of Accra: A Comparative Case Study on Orphan Care and Social Work Practices, Jessica Colburn
Assessing the Potential Ecological Impacts of the Proposed Kazungula Border Development at Cassandra Farms, Gabe Cordry
Painting the Town Green: Realities, Challenges, and Possibilities in Mexico City’s Budding Urban Agriculture Movement, Molly Alexandra Croog
An Approaching Epidemic: Exploring Diabetes Awareness & Care In Mombasa, Kenya, Benjamin Marhan Dropkin
Derecho Originario y Democracia en Bolivia, Thomas Christopher Elliott
Ecology of the Seboba Community Trust Nature Trail, Amie Fleming and Erica Hann
Malagasy Conceptions of Good Governance and Democracy, Molly Fredrickson
Intellectual Propriety: Compulsory Licenses through the TRIPS Agreement and the Doha Declaration on Public Health, Samuel Mintzer Fuchs
Coloured identity in the rainbow nation: Historical narratives of the Durban coloured community, Olivia Greene
Contrainsurgencia y salud: Contradicciones en la teoría, historia y aplicación del Programa Oportunidades en comunidades rurales en Chiapas, José Carlos Gutiérrez
“Real Culture” Preservation, Authenticity, and Change in Hoi An’s Heritage Tourism Industry, Ursula James
Civil Society and Inequality in Jordan: A study on the effectiveness of the Community Development Center in Ashrafiyah, Mary-Katharine Johnson
AIDS Epidemic in the Russian Federation and Policy Reform, Veronika Kiselev
Pabean Sangsit: A Cultural Study through the Lives of One Family, Sylvie Kovnat
Alcohol and Dutch Masculinity: How does Alcohol Influence the Dutch Male image?, Adriana Lara
Trapped in the Street: Defining the Health Care Use of the Homeless Adult in Salvador, Bahia, Nicole Lunardi
Lebanese Water Resources: A Potential to Alleviate Middle East Water Stress, Basil Mahfouz
Ethnicity, Gender, and Wetland Resources in Chobe Rural Livelihoods: A Database Analysis Project, Ian McCarthy
Modernization of the Hijab in Amman, Jordan: A symbol of Islam and Modernity, Nicole McDermott
Race, class, gender and the law: A study of the relationship between empregadas domesticas and their patroas, Vasti Marilyn Mejía
La Libertad do Expression Politica en la Prensa Escrita de Chile, Jessica Merrill
Indlovukazi Yase-Afrika (Zulu Queen): A curriculum for young women’s empowerment in Kwa-Zulu Natal, Judith Merzbach
Water Quality and Eutrophication: the effects of sewage outfalls on waters and reefs surrounding Stone Town, Zanzibar, Molly Moynihan
Perceptions of the International Media in Post-Conflict Srebrenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Erin Murphy
Utopian Marketization and the Historical Fate of Rural Society: Sideng Village, Shaxi Township, Ilona Nanay
Paradise Lost? Impact of Tourism and Public Use on the Mnemba House Reef, Allison Nangle and Vicki Sheng
Simplicity and the City: Understanding the Voluntary Simplicity Movement in Melbourne, Gershwin Penn
Social and community media in poor and marginalized urban communities: a study of collective action in Kiber, John Perkins
La Prise de la Violence, la Force de la Femme, Abi Pollokoff
The Kora and Korafolaw: A Treatise on the Musical Instrument and Those Who Play It, William Ridenour
Salud Reproductiva de Mujeres en Edad Fertil de la Zona de Intag: Deteccion Oportuna del Cancer Cervico Uterino (DOC) Papanicolaou, Astia Roper-Batker
“It’s a White People Thing”: The Experience of Negotiating Sexual and Cultural Identity for Young-Adults in Durban, Erin Schaff
Mujeres en las sombras: Un estudio sobre el aborto en Chile, Molly Serventi-Gleeson
Banking for the Rich: a case study, Cindy Shuck
¿Aprendemos Juntos? Guiando educación comunitaria en Oaxaca, Raisa Slutsky-Moore
Rural Tree Decline in Tasmania’s Midlands: Stand Structure, Substrate Geology, and Carbon Content Analysis, Claire Superak
Babylon by Tro-Tro: The Varieties of Rasta Identity and Practice in Ghana, Jonathan Tanis
Vietnamese Beauty: Exploring the Definition of Female Beauty in Present Day, Urban Vietnam as seen through the Desire for White Skin, Dorie Topolsky
Las Jefas de Hogar Empobrecidas: Servicios y Recursos Públicos para Estas Mujeres en Chile, Florence Williams
HIV Risk Factors among Moroccan and Turkish Same-Sex Attracted Youth in Amsterdam, Daniel Woznica
75 Hours, 18 Babies, Dozens of Women, and Me: Exploring Gynecological and Obstetrical Care in Bamako, Minnie Yordon
Submissions from 2009
Effects of Re-grown Forest Habitat on Lemur catta Behavior, Sophie Ackoff
“We Didn’t Choose to Live in a Transition Society:” The Youth of Milošević’s Serbia Ten Years Later, Jessica Tsunami Acosta
Critical Mass Representation in Uganda, Daisy-Cynthia Nneamaka Adi
Train Hard, Win Easy: Running on the Periphery in Rural Kenya: The Last Shall Be First, Jordan Apfeld
Marriage in Conflict: Formerly Abducted Women’s Struggles with Marriage Upon Return, Julie Bailey
Yugonostalgia: The Pain of the Present, Claire Bancroft
Who’s to Blame?: An Analysis of Agricultural Subsidies and their Effects on Development, Jared Baragar
Spirits & Sacred Sites: A Study of Beliefs on Unguja Island, Julie Bardenwerper
L’Aide au développement : les perspectives des immigrés sénégalais = Development aid: the perspectives of Senegalese immigrants, Allyson Barnett
Political Capital and the Project Planning Process: An Action Research Exercise of the Shirazi Community Health Clinic Project, Lindsay Beebe
Tradition in Transition: Tharu Traditional Governing System in Post-Conflict Nepal, Briana Bellamy
Lost Wax: An Exploration of Bronze Sculpture in Senegal, Kevin Bell
Forever Home: Funeral, Burial and the Life After This Life in Hue, Vietnam, Molly Bennett
Un Juego de Identidad y Percepción: Un Estudio de Caso de “Visuales,” una tribu urbana en Viña del Mar, Chile, Anya Bergman
The Role of the Local Community in Integrated Conservation with Development Projects: A Case Study of the Phu My Lepironia Conservation Project, Marion Boulicault
Rompiendo el Espejo Invertido: La búsqueda para autosuficiencia y una vida campesina y digna, Tara Brian
O Último Peixe Ideas About the Future in Coastal Trairí, MaryCate R. Brower
Shake It: A study of traditional dance and drumming in Tanzania with the African Traditional Dance Group, Megan Browning
El Espíritu Revolucionario: El Movimiento Obrero en los Sindicatos de Siglo XX y Catavi, Will Brunnquell
The Ethical Limitations Of South Africa’s Education Market, Ethan Chang
Prevalence and intensity of trypanosome infections in stable and declining populations of brush-tailed bettongs (Bettongia penicillata), Melissa Chiasson
The Efficacy of Climate Change Projects in Samoa: Evaluating Community-Based Adaptation Initiatives, Marisa Chock
Disparities in the System: The Effects of Free Primary Education (FPE) on the Quality of Education in Nairobi’s Public Schools, Adrienne Chuck
“Fusion” Musics and Tunisian Identity in the Age of the Global Stereo, Rachel Colwell
Renewable Energy as a Means to Community Development: A Case Study of Solar Power with Avani in Kumaon, Uttarakhand, Sarah Connette
Bodhisattvas in the Pagoda and in the World: Socially Engaged Buddhism in Hue, Rachel Cotterman
Una manera de vida diferente: Embarazos en adolescentes y planificación familiar en la zona de Intag, Ecuador, Jennifer Dabrow
Die Taal is Gans die Volk? Building a Common Afrikaans-Language Identity and Community in Post-Apartheid South Africa, Susan DeMartino
The Impact of Brazil’s Bolsa Familia Program on Food Security in Santo Antônio de Jesus, Bahia, Mario Felipe Dest
Ugandan by Birth, Proud by Circumstance: A look at Pride and Patriotism in Northern Uganda, Hannah Detig
“It’s A Ripple Effect”: Global Mamas in a Developing Ghana, Mara Dold
Ceeb ak Jën: Deconstructing Senegal’s National Plate in Search of Cultural Values, Megan Duffy
Constructions of Disease in Mayo Village, Rachel Eades
An Oriental Christ: A Perfect Condition After the State was God, Thomas Nathaniel Eaves
Herbs, Qur’an, and Mashetani: Practice, Use, Perception, and Integration of Traditional Medicine in Bodo, Elan Ebeling
Power to the People: Rural Electrification in Uganda, Zachary Ezor
Teaching Peace: An Exploration in Youth Peace Building through Peace Education Programs in Gulu Municipality, Northern Uganda, Julia Firestone
L’adoption de Bracharia par les éleveurs Mahafaly : un étude du projet de AVSF dans la commune de Betioky, Michelle Fisher