Custom Student Programs

HECUA specializes in an experiential, learner-centered approach that connects students, faculty and institutions of higher education with communities.

In addition to its academic programs that are open to all students, HECUA can provide programming at its domestic and international sites to individual institutions on a contract basis. HECUA program faculty are available to co-develop curriculum around a variety of topics to suit a diverse range of campus curricular needs. Program structures range from one-week comparative studies to short-term immersions in January, May, or summer terms. In addition to credit-bearing coursework, HECUA also provides workshops and training related to student leadership and service-learning, urban poverty and social justice, and public art.

Range of creative programming

• leadership training
• one to two week immersion components at our sites as part of a campus course
• complete short-term programs for January, May or summer term

Examples of custom programs recently developed for consortium schools

1.) “Global Search for Justice” Capstone Course, two-week program in Ecuador, embedded in a semester course on campus
St. Catherine University
St. Catherine University has offered a field experience at HECUA¹s Ecuador site co-taught by their faculty and HECUA staff. The course enables students to fulfill a core requirement by looking at social, political, and economic issues related to women and work in the context of an international experience. In addition, St. Catherine’s non-traditional students gain a short-term study abroad option that fits with their needs. The college has contracted with HECUA numerous times using this model and has plans for additional programs.

2.) Program “Political, Social, and Economic Dynamics in Today’s Ecuador: A Model for Interdisciplinary Programming in Latin American Studies”
Viterbo University
HECUA staff delivered a 12-day interdisciplinary program to a group of Viterbo faculty who wanted a model of international programming for a new Spanish minor they were developing on the Viterbo campus. The thematic aim was to look at the roles of civil society and historically marginalized or nontraditional actors in Ecuador’s economic and political development. Students examined and engaged with indigenous groups, women’s-rights organizations, and environmental movements. Visits to public health facilities were also arranged for participating health care faculty.

3.) Program “From Cod to Crude: International Business in Norway”
University of Minnesota
HECUA staff designed, and HECUA and University of Minnesota faculty co-taught, a 23-day program on the impacts of Norway’s modernization and rapid economic growth over the last 40 years. Particular emphasis was placed on Norway’s social welfare model, the continuing place of traditional industries in the Norwegian culture and economy, and the large-scale extraction of oil from the North Sea. The program also explored the tensions between oil extraction and concerns about environmental stewardship. Students were based out of HECUA’s site of activity in Oslo and took side trips several other Norwegian cities.

Topics connected to HECUA sites of activity:

BANGLADESH
South Asian country, ranks among the world¹s poorest. It is a predominantly Muslim nation state and has been the test site of most models of international development, most recently micro credit and micro lending. Offers the opportunity to witness the moderate practice of Islam and understand how poverty can offer an opportunity for dialogue, not violence.

Topics: Islam and other religions, geography, social movements, participatory fieldwork, international development, gender and human rights.

ECUADOR
South American country with a large indigenous population that is slowly gaining political power, a diverse natural environment, and a history of community participation. Recently strongly affected by war in Colombia and politics of oil.

Topics: Community participation, social movements, gender issues, globalization, indigenous peoples' movements, Afro-Ecuadorian communities, international development, education, environmental justice and human rights.

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL
Urban community with a history of progressive and liberal politics including support for community organizing, the arts, and environmental issues. Home to a vibrant arts community as well as some of the largest communities of Asian, African, and Latino immigrants in the United States. The region's vitality and emerging diversity make it an ideal context for the study of issues facing our nation's urban centers.

Topics: Experiential pedagogy, design of learner-centered programs, civic engagement, organizing and advocacy, human rights, gender issues, ethnicity, education, the arts, the environment, tools for conflict transformation, and community building for communities of color, immigrant communities and people in poverty.

NORTHERN IRELAND
European country with a history of violent conflict which is attempting to overcome centuries of religious division to build a sustainable democracy.

Topics: Conflict transformation, education system, social movements, human rights, gender issues, national identity and community building.

NORWAY
Scandinavian country with a solid tradition of grassroots citizen participation and state support of health care, education, and economic security. Innovative approaches to environmental sustainability and home of the Nobel Prizes. Since the 1990s, Norway has experienced immigration from countries with starkly different cultures, religion, and race, notably Pakistan.

Topics: Human rights, gender issues, immigrant identity issues, peace and justice, the welfare state, globalization, environmentalism and social justice.