Location:

Nairobi, Kenya

Program Type:

Study Abroad

Degree Level:

Undergraduate

Term:

Academic Year, Fall Semester, Spring Semester

Program Overview

Program Description:

Delve into hands-on learning in Kenya, a country of abundant wildlife, dramatic landscapes, and a highly diverse culture. Take classes, intern with a local NGO, live with host families, and conduct research to address complex issues of Kenyan people and their communities.

Spend 7 weeks engaged in coursework in Nairobi, followed by 6 weeks working as an intern or conducting a research project with a local grassroots organization. MSID students enroll in 4 required courses, in addition to an internship or research project.

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

Setting Description:

Kenya’s geographic and cultural diversity make it a microcosm of the African continent. It includes hot coastal plains, vast plateaus, Africa’s largest lake and highest mountain, and hundreds of miles of the great Rift Valley. Home to more than 45 tribes, significant European and South Asian minorities, and a population of 28 million speaking dozens of languages, Kenya shares with its neighbors the challenges of forging a multiethnic, postcolonial nation. Most Kenyans are farmers or herders, yet the capital of Nairobi is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in East Africa and the base for many international and Kenyan organizations promoting development and social change.

Additional Program Information

Requirements:

2.5 GPA; juniors and above; 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.