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 2007
Los Afro-Descendientes de Buenos Aires: Mitos y Realidades, William Cowles, Hamilton College
Gaaro: Nepali Women Tell Their Stories, Sarah Cramer, Harvard University
Learning to Live with the Past: Cultural Heritage Preservation in Aksum, Ethiopia, Lara Cueni, Hamilton College
Les Actions et Motivations des Gens qui Transmettent et Maintiennent Encore la Langue d’Occitan, Rita Dainko, Miami University - Oxford
Understanding Mental Health From a Candomblé Perspective, Kerilyn Daniel, University of Virginia
Senegalese Family Values and SOS Village d’ Enfants, Shauna Davidson, Southwestern University
Effects of Standardization on Cultural Identity and Community Involvement: Transgender Clients at the Vrije Universiteit Gender Clinic, Benjamin Davis, CUNY Hunter College
The Music of Senegal: A Way of Life in West Africa, Lucien DeLaBruere, Ithaca College
Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management in South Australia and Victoria, Rebecca DeVries, Ithaca College
Los Esfuerzos de Desarrollo Sostenible en Pucará, Ecuador, Eric Dooley-Feldman, Connecticut College
“Con Paciencia” : El Proceso y los Desafíos de la Textilería Mapuche, Julie Dorian, Belmont University
Murales y Memoria: Un Estudio Comparativo de Tres Casos de Arte Memorial en la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Mya Dosch, Carleton College
How Do Women in Prek Toal Village (Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve, Cambodia) Participate in and Benefit From Ecotourism?, Amy Dowley, Vassar College
Buscando la Luz: Changes in Partería and the Loss of Feminine Autonomy in Oaxaca, Mexico, Hannah Ewert-Krocker, Vassar College
Circumambulations, Prayers, and Meditations: A Journey to Kawagebo, Casey Flynn, University of Colorado at Boulder
Biomass Combustion and ARI in Kiwengwa, Unguja, Eric Fournier and Nicole Poepping, Bucknell University, Brown University
Where the Sky is High and the Hospital is Faraway: Strategies for Rural Public Health Education in Yunnan, China, Michael Frick, Kenyon College
Technology and the Classroom: Computer Education in Jordanian Public Schools, Ketan Gajria, Tufts University
The Politics of Engagement: The Influence of Identity on the Experiences of Activists Involved With the Roma Community in Serbia, Becca Gardner, Denison University
La Presencia de los Derechos Humanos en las Realidades Escolares de Buenos Aires y Santiago., Thea Garon, Carleton College
Responsibility, Reconciliation, and Remembrance: Serbian Youth Perspectives in Dealing with the Past, Erica Getto, Clark University
Accounting for Ecosystem Flows: Setting a Standard for Australian Industries to Make Sustainable Decisions, Emily Gilbert, Franklin and Marshall College
Community Forestry in Oaxaca: An Assessment of the Level of Autonomy in Forest Decision-Making and its Environmental and Economic Importance, Peter Gill, Carleton College
Implementing Uganda’s National Wetlands Policy: A Case Study of Kabale District, Sophie Glass, Colorado College
The Price of Gold: The Environmental Impacts of Toxic Chemicals in Gold Mining, Adam Goetz, Carleton College
The Story of Eej Khad: Mother Spirit of the Earth and Her Children, Ethan Gohen, Brandeis University
Living in the Margins: The Male Homosexual Experience in Salvador, Silvano Gonzalez, Pomona College
Causes & Perceptions: An Exploratory Study of Suicide in Indo-Fijian & Fijian Youth, Marcie L. Grambeau, Eastern Michigan University
You’ll Never Silence the Voice of the Voiceless: Critical Voices of Activists in Post-Apartheid South Africa, Kate Gunby, Kenyon College
La Construcción de Paz y Esperanza en Nicaragua Los procesos de paz y su legado hoy en día, Christopher Hammond, Bennington College
A Qualitative Study of Pregnancy and Maternal Mortality in Rural Senegal: An Examination of the Pregnant Woman’s Experience, Megan Frances Harlow, Amherst College
The Learning Organization in a Post-Development Era: A Case Study on Orgnizational Development at the Valley Trust, Justin Haruyama, University of Puget Sound
Predicting the Impacts of Serra Leste: a Case Study in Companhia Vale do Rio Doce’s Influence on Southern Pará, Jason Hayes, Colby College
Sin Vuelta Atrás: El Proceso de Cambio y las Amenazas Para el Futuro en una Comunidad Yuracaré, Joe Hejlek, Duke University
Una Vision General de los Problemas con la Enseñanza de las Matemáticas en Chile y Posibles Maneras de Mejorarla, Samuel Hickey, College of Wooster
Vecinos Indiferentes: Chile, Bolivia y la Gas Natural, Daniel Hodges-Copple, Rice University
Tornar-Se Negro & Thinking Beautiful, Ayana Hosten, Claremont McKenna College
Growing ‘Black Diamonds’: The Role of the Government in Small Business Development and Black Entrepreneurship, Will Houghteling, Harvard University
Permission to Change: The Role of Culture and Cultural Tourism in Development, Heather Houser, Rhodes College
Fueling Samoa’s Growing Transport Sector: The Impact of Rising Oil Prices and Imports on a Pacific Island Economy, Janis McDaid Ikeda, Lehigh University
An Ancient Practice: Scarification and Tribal Marking in Ghana, Alyssa Irving, Connecticut College
Unemployment, Women, and Taxis: A Study of the Taxi-Sister Program in its Test Phase, Mackenzie Israel-Trummel, Occidental College
A Survey of the Cockle A. antiquata, Chumbe Island, Kelsey Jacobsen and Lisl Esherick, Connecticut College, Vassar College
Creating Dreams, Fighting for Rights: A Study With Centro de Cultura Negra do Maranhão, Brazil, Laura Jenks, Brandeis University
La Recuperación de Ex-Centros Clandestinos de Detención Como Espacios de la Memoria: Un Estudio Acerca del Caso del Ex-Centro “Olimpo” en Buenos Aires, Katherine Jensen, Vassar College
Rescate sin Recursos: La Enseñaza Aymara en Codpa y Putre, Amy Johnson, Willamette University
Une Division Ambiguë: L’Immigration et la Société Civile en France, Kristen Johnson, Point Loma Nazarene University
Khal: An Exploration of the Language Around Blackness in Morocco, Rachel Leigh Johnson, Occidental College
El Discurso de Derechos en los Planes de Racionamiento de Unión FENOSA en Nicaragua, Lindsey Kaley, Columbia University
Beyond the Classroom: The Implementation of Creative Movement and Music in Schools for the Disabled, Rachel Katz, Bates College
Roma in Vojvodina: Expressions of Cultural Identity Through Performance, Jane Kaufman, Wesleyan University
Immigration: An Escalator to the American Dream Nicaraguans’ Experiences with Immigration to the United States in the Midst of the War on Terror, Allison Koenker, Vassar College
Beauty Ideals & Body Image: Suva, Fiji, Melissa Kong, Hamilton College
The Effects of Space on Sex Worker Experience: A Study of Amsterdam’s Red Light District, Hannah Koski, Vassar College
Masyarakat Tionghoa: Singaraja’s Chinese Community, Tammy Lew Lee Kreznar, Sarah Lawrence College
Investigating a Method to Measure Sperm Transfer in Chelidonura sandrana (Opisthobranchia: Cephalaspidea), Kate Kunigelis, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Resistant Cultures: Punk Identity and Anarchist Resistance in Three Yugoslav Successor States, Jeff Lambert, American University
La Identidad Colectiva del Pueblo Mapuche: El Pasado, Presente y Futuro de su Lucha Territorial, Katherine A. Lawyer, University of Washington - Seattle Campus
Construyendo un Nuevo Modelo: Un Estudio de la Relación Entre los Piqueteros K y el Gobierno, Daniel Lesser, Oberlin College
Atua of the Aga: A Comparison of Ancestor Worship in the Highlands of Bali and Polynesia, Jamison Liang, Washington University in St Louis
People Moving Matters: Theorizing Tourism and Migration on the Nepali ‘Periphery’, Adam Linnard, Dalhousie University
Changing Channels: The Bhutanese Middle Path Approach to Television, Kate Linthicum, Barnard College
The 1916 Easter Rising: A History Of Commemoration, Emily Litwin, Carleton College
Watered Down: The Intersection and Integration of Tourism Development and Water Resource Management in Marrakech, Morocco, Alison Maassen, George Washington University
Mame Coumba Bang: A Living Myth and Evolving Legend, Michelle Margoles, Carleton College
Valorar lo Nuestro Para Fortalecer el Futuro: Etnoturismo Mapuche en la IX Región, Ashleigh Martin, Duke University
No Shelter: UNESCO’s Efforts to Save Lalibela’s Culture, Kellen McClure, University of Vermont
Spectator to Actor to Multiplier: EDISCA’s Humanizing Methodology, Hannah McDowell, Occidental College
China Environmental Study, Monty McGee, Norfolk State University
Expectativas de Alumnos de la Enseñanza Media: Un Análisis del Nivel e Influencias de las Expectativas de Estos Estudiantes en la Comuna de Quinchao, Chilé, Jennifer McNally, Tufts University
Throne Names, Pen Names, Horse Names, and Field Names: A Look at the Significance of Name Change in the Ethiopian Political Sphere, Krista Mehari, Hope College
Manifester une Solidarité Active : Devoir d’Histoire et la Cimade, Hillary Mohaupt, Macalester College
The Realization of the Rights to Health, Education and Social Welfare Among Disabled Youth in Ingwavuma and Bhambanana, Kwazulu Natal, Ali Mumford, Brown University
Analyzing Site Loyalty in Nyctimene robinsoni at the End of the Dry Season, Kolleen Nellett, Oberlin College
Self-Employed, Self-Empowered: Working Women in Benares, Madeline S. Oatman, Middlebury College
Diarios Bajo Democracia: La Prensa Escrita en Chile, Hoy en Día, Jake Pearson, Tufts University
La Musique Malgache : Moyen de Protection de l’Environnement, Geneviève Pearthree, University of Redlands
Unholy Union: The Convergence of Agendas Between the Gay Community and the Political Right-Wing in the Netherlands, Michael Wayne Perry, Wake Forest University
AIDS Optimism and Condom Usage Among Men who Have Sex With Men in Australia, The Netherlands and United States., Tan Pham, University of Connecticut
A Caldron of Militancy: Construction of Feminine Consciousness in the Movimento Sem-Terra: A Community Study in Palmares II, Caroline Lamar Pihl, Harvard University
To Live With the Sea: Community-Based Management of Marine Resources in Southwest Madagascar, Hannah Pitt, Northwestern University
Helping Women Help Themselves: Sex Work, Health, and Development in Mahajanga, Madagascar, Rachel Pryzby, Smith College
What’s a Girl to Do: Repatriarchalization and Croatian Women’s Reproductive Freedom, Brittany Rast, Agnes Scott College
A Critical Analysis of the Current Status of the Fijian Language, Stephanie Roberts, Dickinson College
El Movimiento de Mujeres y Anamuri: Un Estudio de Caso, Stephanie Roberts, University of Evansville
“Tout Travail Doit Nourrir Son Homme” The Dakar-Niger Railroad and the 1947-1948 Strike in the Political and Labor History of Senegal, Julia Coyner Robinson, Columbia University
Memory, Place and Nation-Building: Remembering in the ‘New’ South Africa, Kate Ronan, Syracuse University
“Share the Wealth” A Critical Analysis of Private Sector Development in Uganda’s Rural and Urban Settings, Michael Roscitt, University of Notre Dame
Reconstructing Gender and Activism: The Case of Women’s Initiatives in Al-Wihdat Refugee Camp, China Sajadian, Smith College
Child Labour and Microfinance in Morocco: Using Microfinance to Reduce Child Labour and the Case of the Al Amana Microfinance Institution, Kristyn Schomp, Duke University
“Sustainable Soy” in Santarém: Power Struggles for the Future of Development, Jake Schoneker, Villanova University
A Place in the World: MH2O’s Construction of a Peripheral Identity, Ryan Schutt, Pomona College
The Role of Industrial and Traditional Fishing in Sustainable Resource Management, Aime Schwartz, Colby College
Education in a Rural Context: A Catalyst for Disappearing Villages?, Seth Schy, University of Colorado at Boulder
Aborto Legal Para no Morir: Un Análisis de los Discursos de la Lucha por los Derechos Reproductivos en Argentina, Jessica Scruggs, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
“Happy Dancing Natives” Minority Film, Han Nationalism, and Collective Memory, Benjamin D. Shaffer, Columbia University
Desarrollo Turístico y Sustentabilidad: Caso Villa Pehuenia y la Comunidad Mapuche Puel, Sasha Shahidi, Swarthmore College
Liberation Theology in the 21st Century: The Catholic Church, the CPT, and Rural Movements in Southern Pará, Eleanor Sharp, Oberlin College
Messages of Maternity: The Relationship of State and NGO Institutions to Reproductive Health Services and the Construction of Family in Jordan, Julia Shatz, Vassar College
Potentiality of Biogas and the Role of Substrates in Biogas Formation Potential, Scott Shealy, University of Colorado at Boulder