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Upcoming programs for 2023

Costa Rica

International Center for Development Studies

Sustainable Development and Social Justice in Latin America

September 6th – December 2nd/3rd

In this program students can choose from a variety of courses related to sustainable development and social justice including the environment, politics, and human rights. The goal of this program is to help students acquire an in-depth knowledge of these topics and develop cultural awareness through exposure and immersion into the Costa Rican way of life. 

Through organized field trips, daily life in San Jose, planned cultural activities, the homestay program, and the service-learning component of community work, students will have the opportunity to interact with locals, engage with the culture, and experience the pura vida lifestyle that the world has come to know and love of Costa Rica. 

The service-learning core course contains weekly sessions of community service in and around the greater San Jose area. Each student is individually matched to a community work site that aligns with their experience, career interest, and Spanish language level. Connecting with some of our at-risk populations or engaging with innovative sustainability projects is an important element of the ICDS curriculum that allows students to connect to the community on a deeper level.

Costa Rica is home to one of the most diverse populations in Latin America and to numerous cultural and ecological sites that students can see while studying with ICDS. With San Jose as students’ home base, many of the most iconic beaches, volcanoes, and waterfalls are easily accessible for day or weekend trips.

To apply, reach out to your university’s Study Abroad office.

Highlights:

  • No prerequisites
  • All Spanish Levels
  • 4 Courses / 12 Credit Hours
  • Select your own elective courses
  • Co-curricular service learning
  • Cultural activities & field trips
  • Airport pick-up & drop-off
  • On-site counselor & 24/7 emergency support

Core Courses:

  • Spanish (All Levels)
  • Community Engagement and Sustainable Human Development: A Service-learning Course

Elective Courses:

  • Current Environmental Issues in Latin America
  • Sustainable Development in Rural and Urban Latin America
  • Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development
  • Responsible and Sustainable Tourism
  • Development in Latin America from a Gender Perspective
  • Human Rights in Latin America: A Critical Approach
  • Democracy in Central America: An Ongoing Question
  • International Trade & Sustainable Development: The Experience of Latin America
  • Literatura Centroamericana (Taught In Spanish)

Spanish and Sustainability Practices in CostaRica

May 25th – July 26/27th

This four week summer program offers strong Spanish language and cultural immersion components as well as hands-on experience in rural Costa Rica. During the first two weeks, participants will be based in San José, where they will have orientation, take Spanish classes, and do community service in urban locations. During this time, students live with a local Spanish-speaking family and have an opportunity to be immersed into the language and culture before traveling to their Sustainable Practice site in rural Costa Rica.

The rural experience takes place in Cartago, a province that is famous for its lush, fertile countryside, that makes it the perfect location for the Sustainability Practices and Food Security course. Participants get involved in the culture of rural Costa Rica by living on site at a local farm. They also work alongside community members as part of Finca La Flor’s involvement in community’s development.

To apply, reach out to your university’s Study Abroad office.

Highlights:

  • No prerequisites
  • All Spanish Levels
  • 2 Courses / 6 Credit Hours
  • Select your own elective courses
  • Co-curricular service learning
  • Cultural activities & field trips
  • Airport pick-up & drop-off
  • On-site counselor & 24/7 emergency support

Core Courses:

  • Spanish Language and community work (all levels) – Taught in San José
  • Sustainability Practices & Food Security in Rural Costa Rica Finca Agroecológica La Flor (Cartago)

Spanish and Health in Latin America

June 29th – July 29/30th

This summer program offers students the opportunity to explore healthcare in a developing country while improving their Spanish speaking skills. This four-week program gives students and healthcare professionals the necessary language proficiency to work and interact with Spanish speaking patients, their families as well as future colleagues.  

Clinical rotations for advanced Spanish speakers or community service in social welfare services for lower to intermediate level Spanish speakers are experiential learning components of the Spanish and Health in Latin America program. Spanish classes before, during, and after these hands-on experiences are designed to provide students with an on-the-job Spanish skill set specifically for careers in the healthcare industry. 

Students’ understanding of the course themes are enhanced through the ongoing  experience of cultural immersion. First, the ICDS homestay program allows students to live with a local family and learn the culture and values of daily life in the tropics. ICDS also provides several opportunities for students to meet, relax, and explore unique aspects of Costa Rican culture through planned group activities and field trips.

To apply, reach out to your university’s Study Abroad office.

Highlights:

  • No prerequisites
  • Intermediate and Advanced Spanish Levels
  • 2 Courses / 6 Credit Hours
  • Select your own elective courses
  • Co-curricular service learning
  • Cultural activities & field trips
  • Airport pick-up & drop-off
  • On-site counselor & 24/7 emergency support

Core Courses:

  • Spanish for Health Sciences (intermediate and Advanced)
  • Health Care Systems in Latin America

Health and Society in Latin America

November 23rd/24th

ICDS provides students interested in the field of health with the opportunity to gain knowledge and real-life hands-on experience on Costa Rica’s universal public-private mix health care system, ranked among the top 36 worldwide and as number 1 in Latin America, as well as different health care platforms in the region. In coordination with Hospital Clínica Bíblica and Universidad Latina de Costa Rica, this program offers students the opportunity to explore health care in a developing country and improve their Spanish speaking skills. Spanish has become a necessary language to work and interact with Spanish speaking patients and their families, as well as with future colleagues.

Advanced Spanish speakers can opt to do observational clinical rotations at Hospital Clínica Biblica. Students with an intermediate/beginner level do community service in health-related initiatives. Through practical courses and visits to health care facilities that integrate the country’s health system, participants learn about the unique health care model in Costa Rica and the way global public health issues unfold in the region. Spanish classes before, during, and after these hands-on experiences are designed to provide students with an on-the-job Spanish skill set specifically for careers in the health care industry.

Students’ understanding of the different course themes are enhanced through the ongoing, dynamic experience of cultural immersion. First, the ICDS homestay program allows students to live with a local family and learn the culture and values of daily life. ICDS also provides several opportunities for students to meet, relax, and explore unique aspects of Costa Rican culture through planned group activities and field trips. These, combined with the on-site rotations and community work, give students ample opportunity to interact with locals, engage with the culture, and learn from one of Latin America’s most beautiful countries.

To apply, reach out to your university’s Study Abroad office.

Highlights:

  • No prerequisites
  • Basic knowledge of Spanish (desirable but not requied)
  • 4 Courses / 12 Credit Hours
  • Select your own elective courses
  • Co-curricular service learning
  • Cultural activities & field trips
  • Airport pick-up & drop-off
  • On-site counselor & 24/7 emergency support

Core Courses:

  • Spanish for Health Sciences (all levels)

Elective Courses:

  • Health and Vulnerable Populations in Latin America
  • Health Care Systems in Latin America
  • Economics of Health Care Systems
  • Tropical Diseases in Latin America
  • Health Care Innovation in Latin America
  • When Perception is Reality: Subjectivity & Health in Latin America
  • Health and International Cooperation

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