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.

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Submissions from 2009

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“There are Beasts!” The Relationship Between Humans and Elephants in Xishuangbanna, Hannah Larson, Bowdoin College

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Monkeying Around: Spatial Differences in Riverine Habitat Utilization by Vervets, Sykes, and Baboons, Sondra Lavigne, Harvard University

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Grey to Green: The Wolf as Culture and Profit in Mongolia and the Importance of Its Survival, Samuel LeGrys, Goucher College

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Redrawing the Walls: Street Art in Belgrade, Emily Levitt, Washington University in St.Louis

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Rising Buddhism in Vietnam, H. Rebecca Lockwood, Hartwick College

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Pomacea Canaliculata in Tram Chim National Park: An Examination of the Golden Apple Snail within Local Vegetation Populations, Justin Loiseau, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Perceptions of Microfinance in Cameroon: A Case Study of UNICS, Yaoundé, Ian Long, Vassar College

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Comparative Medinas: Complexity and Contradiction in Tourist Spaces in Tunisia, Maxwell E. Loos, Macalester College

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Street Culture of Mombasa: Are the Survivors Really Surviving?, Danny Low, Pomona College

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La Calidad del Agua Potable en Arica, con Respecto a la Salud, Emily Lubell, University of Vermont

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“The Womb People” : Detection, Treatment, And Prevention Of Cervical Cancer With The Khayelitsha Cervical Cancer Screening Project In Khayelitsha, South Africa, Kirsten Lynch, Brown University

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“I Didn’t Feel Like Living”: The Prevalence, Perceptions, and Prevention of HIV/AIDS Among Tibetan Refugees in Kathmandu, Caitlin MacLeod-Bluver, Wesleyan University

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The Beauty of Arabic Script: Tracing the Artistic Significance of the Arabic Letter in Morocco, Sarah C. Malin, Northwestern University

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Sponges on Chumbe Island, Emily Marshall, University of Richmond

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Moving On From the War: The Factors That Influence Contemporary Perceptions of Former Enemies, Erin Martin, Beloit College

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Public Health Ethics: Establishing “Durable Solutions” Within the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in Nigeria, Tiffany T. Mason, Yale University

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Selective Filtration in the Tropical Marine Sponge Rhopaloeides Odorabile: Impacts of Elevated Seawater Temperature on Feeding Behavior, Andrew Massaro, University of Richmond

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Lessons From CIdeCI Las Casas : The Potential for Non-Directive Learning Spaces in the United States, Gideon Mausner, Yale University

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The Role and Potential of Businesswomen in Morocco’s Civil Society, Teresa Mbagaya, Yale University

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How to Build a Health Clinic: Disease Burden, Health Seeking Behavior and Clinic Structures in the Kibera Slums, Samuel McGowan, Brown University

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“Voter Sans Voter?”: A Study of Voter Participation in Bamako, Samantha McLean, George Washington University

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Survey of Anthropogenic Vegetation Changes on Uzi and Vundwe Islands: A Study on Deforestation and Its Implications for People and Wildlife, Lindley Mease, Stanford University

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Know Your Enemy: Tibetan Perceptions of and Approaches to Chinese Studies in Exile, Katherine Mechling, Wesleyan University

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Learning the Kora in Two Senegalese Contexts: As a Tradition vs. As a Religion, Emily Merkert, Alfred University

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India’s Role in Mongolia’s Third Neighbor Policy, Brandon Joseph Miliate, University of Southern California

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A Sociological Analysis of Crimes of Honor: Examining the Effects of Higher Education on the Concepts of Honor and Notions of Gender Equality in Jordan, Alex Miller, Illinois Wesleyan University

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Dwog Paco: Tackling the Challenges of Reintegrating Ex-LRA in Kitgum District, Takako Mino, Claremont McKenna College

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Integrating Identities: Negotiating the Religious Lives of Homosexual Christians in the Netherlands, Scott Mitchell, University of Notre Dame

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Vital Correspondence: Analyzing Local and International Media Coverage of Armed Conflict, Marissa Moran, The George Washington University

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Mental Health in Mali: An Analysis of the Expression of Major Depressive Disorder Across Different Cultures, Ashley Morris, Emory University

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The Economic and Social Development of the Moroccan Sahara: An Analysis of the Development of the Southern Provinces in the Context of Morocco’s Political Future, Rohini Muralidharan, Brown University

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Diagnostique sur la Santé des Récifs Coralliens à Nosy Tanikely et la Baie d’Ambanoro, Chelsea Nahill, Colby College

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The Cost of Progress: Failed Development and Community Response on Pulau Serangan, Julia Nakad, Oberlin College

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The Birds & the Bees of the West Usambaras: Family Planning & Population of Sagara & Kizanda Villages, Melissa Neville, University of Puget Sound

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Mangroves and Crabs as Ecosystem Engineers in Zanzibar, Charlie Nicholson, Skidmore College

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Outside the Black Box: “Found-Transformed” Czech Theatres, Michele O'Brien, Vassar College

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‘They Have to Know That They Are Moroccan’: A Sending Country’s Perspective on the Second Generation of Emigrants Abroad, Olivia Paquette, Harvard University

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Tuberculosis por los Ojos de La Vida Aymara: La Correlación Entre Estilo de Vida y Tuberculosis en los Aymara del Norte de Chile, Sam Percy, University of Colorado at Boulder

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The Price of Water: Assessment of the Current Water Situation and Recommendation of Technical Methodology for the Community of Shirati, Tanzania, Max Perel-Slater, Wesleyan University

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Putting Trees Back in the Hands of Malians: L’Association Malienne Pour La Conservation de la Faune et de L’Environnement and the Balance between Using and Protecting Local Forests, Cara Peterson, niversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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The Elusiveness of Light: The Difficulty With Harnessing the Omnipresent Solar Energy in Africa, Hai-Vu Phan, Yale University

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“Mangra”- Exploring the Organization of an Environmental Education Curriculum in a Village Equipped for Sustainable Development, Abigail Phillips, University of Puget Sound

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Colorful Nothing: Mind & Matter in the Madhyamaka, Jimmy Pianka, Tufts University

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Conocimientos, Percepciones, y Prácticas de Mujeres Jóvenes Acerca del Papiloma Virus Humano, Michelle Marie Picón Ruiz, Duke University

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Grita. Erga-se : Colonial Cycles of Violence in Domestic Labour in Salvador, Bahia, Jessica Nina Pine, Occidental College

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Gendered Perspectives on Holland’s Prison Programs: Statistics and Practices, Amanda Pisetzner, Lafayette College

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Ending Violence…Creating Peace? Rediscovering the Connections Between The Women´s Movement and a Culture of Peace in Nicaragua, Sami Poindexter, University of Redlands

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The Phoenix, Catherine Jean Pond, Skidmore College

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Weathering a Different Kind of Storm: Vietnam's Reaction to Financial Disaster, Rebecca Price, University of the South

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Kibera Community Unconscious of the Silent Disease: STI, Sindhya Rajeev, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Tibetan Carpets…Or Are They? An Analysis of the Carpet Industry in Kathmandu, Nepal, Swetha Ramaswamy, The George Washington University

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Black & Red The Impacts of Development on Culture: A Case study of Dogon People of Sangha, Mali, Kathleen Remington, Middlebury College

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Spiny Forest Heterogeneity: Implications for Regeneration and its Detection, Catherine Reuter, Macalester College

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Chinese Painting: Philosophy, Theory, and the Pursuit of Cultivation Through the Dao, Elizabeth Reynolds, Barnard College

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Testing the Baobab’s Mettle: An Evaluation of the Sustainability and Economic Potential of Harvesting Adansonia digitata, Benjamin Rhodes, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

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History of Tibetan and Exile Radio, Irene Richardson, Tufts University

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“Toliki taa ub’ookin.” “Tell Them Everything.” The Changing Sexual Practices of the Maasai Women of Engare Sero, Adrienne Rosenberg, Harvard University

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Democracy and the Tribal System in Jordan: Tribalism as a Vehicle for Social Change, Jennifer Rowland, Duke University

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Cool Head, Warm Heart: Governance and the Mission of Microfinance in the Case of MC2 Micro-Banks, Cameroon, Claire Ruffing, Boston College

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Mandatory Measles Vaccination Program: Is There a Place for one in Switzerland?, Anne Rushman, Washington University in St. Louis

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Responsibility for Disease Management on Rusinga Island: Reconciling the Limitations of External Aid and the Role of Community-Based Initiatives, Allyson Russell, Brown University

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Implications of the Monck Head Boat Launching Facility on Adjacent Intertidal Sessile Assemblages (Coral Bay, Western Australia), Megan Sabal, Miami University of Ohio

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A Study of the East African Slave Trade in Bagamoyo, Jake Salyers, Wake Forest University

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Global Discourse, Local Context: Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights in Morocco, Christine Sargent, Pomona College

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Seeing is Believing: How the U.S. Government and American News Networks Spun the Iraq War, Sarah Schenter, Brandeis University

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The Modernization of Fiji ’s Food System and the Resulting Implications on Fijian Society: A Synthesis, Brian Schultz, Lewis and Clark College

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“Leur Rêve et Leur Vie Sont Ailleurs:” University Student Attitudes Towards Migration and Domestic Opportunity in Morocco, Annie Seibert, Washington University in St. Louis

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Naši Narodi? Moji Identiteti: Four Youth Perspectives on National Identity in Post-Dayton Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jacob Seigel-Boettner, University of California at Berkeley

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VIH y Alcohol en Arica, Chile: Percepciones de Portadores y Profesionales, Lena Sessions, Macalester College

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La Crisis Financiera de 1982-1983 en Chile: Orígenes, Intervención, Efectos y Implicancias Para el Modelo Neoliberal, Luke Shoemaker, Connecticut College

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Bromeliads as a Breeding Site for the Dengue Vector Aedes aegypti, Eva B. Shultis, Brown University

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Conflicting Loyalties: Changing Roles and Relations of Labor Unions in Vietnam, Jan Slezak, University of New England

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“Samoanizing” Human Rights: A Generational Comparative of Views on Human Rights in Contemporary Samoa, Margaret R. Smith, Hamilton College

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“Edutainment”: The Role of Mass Media in the Development of an Effective HIV/AIDS Youth Awareness Campaign in Viet Nam, Carmin Smoot, University of Puget Sound

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A Multidimensional International Examination of the Impact of GMOs: A Biological, Economic, International Trade, Intellectual Property, and Geopolitical View, Kevin E. Soubly, Hope College

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Guardians of the Grassland: A Qualitative Assessment of the Success of Community-Based Wildlife Conservation in Mongolia’s Eastern Steppe, Alexandra Sprague, University of Massachusetts - Amherst

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Supplying Clean Water to Jaipur: A Study of Two Current Government Projects, Jenna Stearns, Whitman College

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“But Who Can I Talk to?” Psychological Services for the Parents and Children of APDK, Jessica Steinke, Wesleyan University

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Lamu Sensitive Aid: Barriers to Distribution, Acceptance, and Use of Malaria Prevention in Lamu District, Kelan Stoy, University of Denver

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Behind Your Beach Vacation: A Review and Evaluation of EIAs as a Legal Framework to Regulate the Environmental Impacts of Tourism in Zanzibar, Mahima Sukhdev and Ayelet Singer, Yale University, Oberlin College

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Children on the Margins: A Case Study of I Care's Hope Centre for Street Children in Durban, South Africa, Morgan Sullivan, St. Michael's College

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Breaking the Silence: Professionals of Hera Speak Out About Lesbian Battering, Janelle Thompson, Lafayette College

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Changing Chalk and Talk: The Reform of Teaching Methods in Vietnamese Higher Education, Jessica Thompson, George Washington University

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Breastfeeding: A Landmark in Global Public Health, Melissa Tinling, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Miti Iko Wapi II ?, Taylor Tully, Colby College

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Environmental Conscience and Comportment of Youth in Dakar, Elizabeth Van Brocklin, Duke University

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The Heart of Forgiveness, in Light of Unforgettable Hurt: A Multi-Faceted Perspective on Reconciliation in Northern Uganda, Barbara Vi Thien Ho, University of Notre Dame

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Guide Accreditation in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area: A Study of the Practices, Attitudes, and Concerns of Small Tourism Operators, Nora Vogel, Wesleyan University

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‘These Things Are Simply Very Difficult’: An Exploration of the Existence of and the Relationship Between Sectarianism and Racism in Present-Day Northern Ireland, Coreen Walsh, Point Loma Nazarene University

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The Legend of the Almas: A Comparative and Critical Analysis, Nathan Wenzel, George Washington University

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Relájate y Disfruta: Lecciones de una Vida Musical y Temporal en el Zaidín = Relax and Enjoy: Lessons about a Temporal Musical Life in Zaidin, Granada, Laura Westman, George Washington University

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A New Kind of Middle Man: Looking at Fair Trade in Nepal, Julia Wilber, Hamilton College

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Doctors and Imams: Investigating the Integrated Schools of Mombasa, Kenya, Beth Ann Williams, Wake Forest University

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The Ties That Bind: Urban Migration, Family Networks, and Cultural Change in Modern Mongolia, Christopher R. Williams, Indiana University

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Vietnamese Resistence Mentality, Michael Williams, Hamilton College

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The Significance of Music Education in the Primary Curriculum, Mina Won, George Washington University

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El Desarrollo Sostenible: Las Aplicaciones de un Sendero Ecológico y una Farmacia Verde al Progreso Ambiental de Pucará, Ecuador, Matthew Woods, Kenyon College

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Creating a Category V: Conservation Perceptions and Cultural Changes in the Anjozorobe-Angavo Forest Corridor, Kate Wright, DePauw University

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El Carácter Militar de los Carabineros y Cómo Influye su Relación con el País, Joseph Francis Wyer, Occidental College

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The Material Remains of World War II on Viti Levu: A Historical Archaeological Inventory, Allison Young, The College of Wooster