Country Sites

Site: The Balkans

Site Context:

The Balkans IFP examines the dynamic between security and society with particular attention to issues of identity and migration along the Balkan route. It traces the physical, political, legal, social, and economic terrain that structures and defines the interactions between various actors along one of the main historic migration paths. As we shift our gaze from the Turkish Aegean coast, from one island "hot spot" to another, across Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Bosnia, we engage with histories of empires and their collapse, ancient and more recent migration flows, and the cultural sediment they have left behind. Student research agendas, internships, and media projects are arranged along several thematic axes connected to broader topics of security and society; human rights and democratic governance; identity relationships, the conversations and the conflicts they spark, and the actors that make claims about them; migration, refugee issues, and policies; EU and regional politics; and the built environment, camps, spaces of confinement, and the paths and actors of mobility, as well as the institutional and legal structures  and the dominant discourses that frame these topics.

Project and Partner Organizations: Various across the region

Lodging: Hotels and apartments

Program Duration: Seven weeks within June 1-July 31, 2023

Faculty: Everita Silina

Open to: All students in graduate school programs and advanced undergraduates at The New School and other universities 

SGPIA Concentrations: All concentrations in International Affairs are applicable to this program.

Spring 2023 Course Requirement: Global Governance or another class chosen in consultation with Professor Silina

Language Requirement: None

Contact Information: [email protected]

Site: Havana, Cuba

Country Context:

Cuba is witnessing profound change. The COVID-19 pandemic and the political changes in Cuba (with Miguel Díaz-Canel as president since 2018) and the United States (with the Trump and Biden administrations promoting a different stance on Cuba from Obama's) are dramatically redesigning the social, political, and economic reality on the island. This shifting environment positions Cuba as an ideal site to explore issues related to socialism, economic transformation, race relations, gender and sexuality, illicit/informal economies, poverty, food security and environmental risk, and urban challenges and planning as they unfold.

Project Context:

The objective of the Cuba IFP is to provide you with a unique research-oriented experience in which lectures and interactions with your peers from different countries provide you with a more in-depth understanding of global problems at play in a specific context. By studying the emergence of neoliberal practices in an allegedly market-less economy, of class and race disparity in a purportedly classless and post-racial society, and of gender equality in a highly gendered reality, you will acquire a political grammar that will make you a better citizen of your own country. 

Project and Partner Organizations:

Havana is Cuba’s economic, touristic, and political heart and a place where you will learn as much on the streets as in the classroom and through your involvement with Cuban organizations. Given the many assumptions of people outside, the shifting landscape within, and the need for cultural mediation in between, the project is articulated around three cores. First, you will take classes with leading Cuban intellectuals, providing you with an alternative viewpoint on concepts we question from and against a neoliberal perspective in the United States. Second, you will gain hands-on experience through visits, workshops, and direct engagement with projects run by Cuban NGOs and CBOs. Third, you will have to conceive, execute, and evaluate a research project leading to a publishable paper or other final product (e.g., a documentary film)—this can be an individual or group research project. 

• CASA/Casa de Las Américas (host institution)
• CEEC/Centro de Estudios de la Economía Cubana (macro- and micro-economy)
• CIPS/Centro de Investigación Psicológica y Social  (youth, inequality, social distortions, cuentapropismo, marginality) project in La Timba with the Nicolas Guillen Foundation
• REVOLUCIÓN Y CULTURA (peer-reviewed journal: Cuban culture)
• TEMAS (peer-reviewed journal: Cuban society)
• CEDEM/Centro de Estudios Demográficos (demography, Cuba-U.S. migration)
• FLACSO/Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales
• JUAN MARINELLO (society, race, youth)
• ICAN (anthropology)
• ISRI/Instituto Superior de Relaciones Internacionales (Cuba-U.S. relations)

Cuban and Foreign NGOs/GONGOS:

• FANJ/Fundación Antonio Núñez Jiménez de la naturaleza y el hombre  (environment, food security)
• Fundación Nicolás Guillen (marginality, race)
• OAR/Oscar Arnulfo Romero (gender, violence, marginality)
• CIERIC/Centro de Intercambio y Referencia-Iniciativa Comunitaria (culture, local development)
• CEDEL/Centro de Desarrollo Local y Comunitario (local development, decentralization)
• ANAP/Asociación Nacional de Agricultores Pequeños (food security, food production; 350,000 members)
• PUND/UNDP

Lodging: Life in Cuba is intense. The country is undergoing a profound transformation, and the reality on the ground is changing fast. You have a unique window through which to observe this change in the making. You will be hosted in a private home (two per room, breakfast included, with air-conditioning). 

Program Duration: May 28-July 23, 2023

Faculty: Gabriel Vignoli

Open to: Graduate and undergraduate students at The New School and other universities. Students from institutions other than The New School should determine how credits will transfer to their home institution.

SGPIA Concentrations: Cities and Social Justice, Development, Media and Culture, Governance and Rights

Spring 2023 Required Course: Cuba: Critical Concepts

Language Requirement: Knowing Spanish is a plus, but it is not a precondition for acceptance. If not already fluent, students are encouraged to take Spanish classes at their home institution (New School students may audit fall and spring Spanish classes). Students will take Spanish classes throughout the IFP in Havana, based on the results of a language test administered upon arrival in Havana. 

Contact Information: [email protected]

Site Location: Ethiopia

Country Context:

Ethiopia in the last few years has undergone dizzying swings in its political environment, from a one-party dictatorship to dramatic but short-lived reforms under new Prime Minister Abiy, back to more repression and, tragically, for the last two years, civil war. Ethiopia remains a fascinating site to observe, offering an opportunity to study the major development challenges of our time, including: 

• National unity, identity, and governance in an environment of ethnonationalism, federalism, and violence 

• One of the world’s fastest-growing economies over the last decade, including massive infrastructure construction, much of it fueled by Chinese investment, yet continuing to struggle with deep poverty and correspondingly low health and education indicators

• Climate change–affected populations struggling with droughts and food shortages

The war is now largely confined to the Tigray province in the far north, and IFP activity will occur in the capital Addis Abeba and the south. We will mix readings and lectures on the country’s fascinating history, unique culture, and current explosive political situation and armed conflict; with workshops and project work review. 

Project Context: 

The Ethiopia IFP began in 2008 and has a long working relationship with two organizations, mostly in Monitoring and Evaluation:

• Consortium of Self help group Approach Promoters (CoSAP) in Ethiopia—A national coalition of approximately 13,000 women’s groups  and upwards of 250,000 members. The New School began working with CoSAP in 2010 and began monitoring group member economic performance five years later, trying to capture the way membership has affected financial security and documenting significant success in helping women and their families move out of poverty. Last year, we started an in-depth examination of the non-financial benefits, conducting a quantitative survey on psychosocial benefits, with very interesting initial results. 

• Wide Horizons for Children—A child welfare agency that works with impoverished families in Sidama, Addis Ababa, and Tigray on children’s education, income generation, and microenterprise. 

We will also work with a cohort of Addis Ababa University graduate sociology and anthropology students to collect data and process, analyze, and report on project results. 

Student Work and Research: While our client organization work has focused on collecting data and monitoring and evaluation, students are free to work on other relevant topics and areas of interest. 

Monitoring and Evaluation is a systematic method of collecting and analyzing data on project impact and success. It is a skill and profession that has developed into the development and nonprofit industry’s best means of determining results and effectiveness. 

Program Duration: June 5–July 31, 2023 (eight weeks)

Faculty: Mark Johnson

Eligibility: All students in graduate programs and advanced undergraduates at The New School and other universities

SGPIA Concentrations: Development, Governance, and Rights

Spring 2023 Required Course: Monitoring and Evaluation or alternative determined according to specific interest

Language Requirement: None; students will be encouraged to study Amharic.

Contact Information: Mark Johnson, [email protected]

Country Context:

Students enrolled in this program will focus on gaining firsthand knowledge of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict by living and studying in the the West Bank. They will have an opportunity to discover the real Palestine, dive into local culture, and expand their academic network. Internships in local or international NGOs and research institutions are possible. 

Project Context:

The Palestine IFP is a combination of courses at the Arab American University Palestine’s Ramallah campus and possible internships with local and international NGOs, UN agencies, and research institutions. University courses offered include: 

• Palestinian Identity

• Human Rights and International Justice

• International Law and Conflict Resolution

• Structures and Culture of Settler Colonialism in Comparative Perspectives

Partner Organization:

Arab American University Palestine—The first private Palestinian university, founded in year 2000, in a collaboration with California State University Stanislaus and Utah State University Logan. The summer program takes place on the graduate campus in Ramallah.

Program Duration: Eight weeks (summer 2023)

Faculty: Nahed Habiballah and Benoit Challand

Open to: All students in graduate programs and advanced undergraduates at The New School and other universities

SGPIA Concentrations: Conflict and Security, Governance and Rights, Media and Culture

Spring 2023 Course Requirement: To be determined

Language Requirement: None

Contact Information: Nahed Habiballah, [email protected]