The International and Comparative Education Program is delighted to share news of a recently completed trip to Costa Rica with Dr. Garnett Russell, Associate Professor and Director of the International & Comparative Education Program, Amine Meechal, Director of Global Engagement,, and Jazmin Guardado International Projects and Partnerships Manager, to formalize a partnership between Teachers College and the United Nations established University for Peace (UPEACE). While Amine and Jazmin are both MA students in the ICE’d program, they completed this trip in their capacity as TC staff members in the Office of Global Engagement (OGE). This special partnership comes off the heels of a Global Peace & Education Symposium event held in Spring 2024 which brought together UPEACE and TC faculty, as well as ICE’d alumni and practitioners, to discuss themes of peace education and peacebuilding specifically within the context of international education and international human rights work. This event gave way for collaborations to be initiated between the two institutions and as a result led to the creation of a study abroad program in Costa Rica which will be the first formal study abroad course as a part of a new TC initiative to offer courses during the winter term.
Thus, the Office of Global Engagement is excited to work alongside Dr. Russell in offering Teachers College students the opportunity to participate in a short-term credit-bearing study abroad course on Education, Conflict, and Peacebuilding in partnership with UPEACE in Costa Rica. This course is anticipated to take place January 10 – 19, 2025 with a maximum enrollment of 15 students. This program will offer students the opportunity to engage in themes such as forced migration, gender and identity, peacebuilding, transitional justice, and sustainability, while also allowing students to gain hands-on learning experiences. The program will include site visits and engagement with international organizations, and government agencies such as UNICEF, the Costa Rica Ministry of Education, the Inter-American Court for Human Rights, and the US Embassy to Costa Rica, among others. In addition, it will include visits to local schools, grassroot organizations, museums, and significant environment and/or agricultural sites. A majority of the program will take place at the University for Peace (UPEACE) campus and will incorporate guest lectures from UPEACE faculty, panel discussions, and opportunities to connect with UPEACE students. If you are interested in participating in this course, please fill out the Interest Form linked here.