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.

Team: HECUA program staff have expertise in social change, the arts, the environment, and urban development. We also draw from a broad array of community partners.

ECUADOR: South American country with a large indigenous population that is slowly gaining political power, a diverse natural environment (Galapagos), 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.

Team: Faculty and researchers of the Institute for Ecuadorian Studies, a research organization for human rights and economic and social development.

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.

Team: Faculty and researchers of the University of Ulster and UNESCO Center, which specializes in conflict transformation and support of democracy through education and community organizations.

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.

Team: Faculty of the University of Oslo and the International Summer School, a program begun after World War II to promote understanding among students.

BANGLADESH: South Asian country, ranks among the world’s poorest. It is a predominantly Muslim nation state and has been the test site of most models of international development, most recently microcredit and microlending. 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.

Team: Faculty of Independent University of Bangladesh, an institution that trains Bangladeshi students for participatory fieldwork and understanding of international development and globalization.