Location:

Quito, Ecuador

Program Type:

Study Abroad

Degree Level:

Undergraduate

Term:

Academic Year, Fall Semester, Spring Semester

Program Overview

Program Description:

Examine Ecuador’s social and economic realities both in the classroom and through an internship or research project. Experience contemporary Ecuadorian culture—a blend of indigenous and Spanish colonial—while living with host families and honing your Spanish language skills. 

Spend seven weeks engaged in coursework in Quito, followed by six weeks working as an intern or conducting a research project with a local grassroots organization. Explore the complexities created by issues such as the environment, globalization, public health, and social justice.

The program puts you in direct contact with the social and economic realities of actual communities and of people working within them to address complex problems. Through classes, field trips and an extended internship or research placement, MSID strives to establish a continual dialogue linking experience with theory and critical analysis.

Homestays are an integral component of the learning experience, and often a highlight for participants. Your family provides not only housing and most meals, but is also a vital connection to Ecuadorian culture. 

Although excursions change from semester to semester, you can expect to visit a variety of sites that may include local markets, development agencies, and other areas of interest around Quito.

Setting Description:

Few countries as small as Ecuador contain such remarkable geographic and biological diversity. Geographically, it ranges from coastal deserts to temperate mountain valleys to Amazon forests. Culturally and racially, its population includes a mix of indigenous, Spanish, and African elements. The program is based in Quito, an Andean city that houses a remarkable combination of colonial and modern, rich and poor. Internship sites are scattered within a three-hour radius of Quito.

Additional Program Information

Requirements:

2.5 GPA; juniors and above; minimum four semesters college-level Spanish; American degree-seeking students

Scholarships:

Yes

Scholarships Description:

The Learning Abroad Center’s Study Abroad Scholarship provides awards for non-University of Minnesota undergraduate students going on eligible Learning Abroad Center credit-bearing programs.