Country Sites

Between 1998 and 2002, Argentina suffered from a great economic depression, also referred to as “the most severe emerging market crisis in history.” In 2002, at the peak of the crisis, the economy had shrunk by 28%, unemployment reached 23%, and more than 50% of Argentines lived in poverty. Since 2003, in the aftermath of the crisis, Argentina has been restructuring its social and employment policies to address the social and economic crisis, especially the very high levels of poverty and unemployment, by generating decent work opportunities.

Through a collaboration with the UMET university and links with trade unions, human rights organizations, municipalities, research centers, and government officials, the Argentina IFP provides the opportunity to critically study social development and public policy in Argentina since the turn of the crisis. Students can focus their projects on a diverse set of topics such as poverty reduction programs, inequality, human rights issues, educational policies, employment policies, the role of trade unions, or the role of the state in the global system. This type of research is key to understanding current challenges that Argentina and the region are facing, and the role that these organizations and policies can play in mitigating local, regional, or global shocks on democracy and equitable development.

Faculty Country Chair: Lena Simet and Michael Cohen.

Migration studio: Topography of the refugee 'crisis' focuses on the phenomenon of migration, along the Balkan route. It traces the physical, political, legal, social and human terrain of the refugee 'crisis' unfolding along one of the main historic migration paths.  We take the current refugee situation in this corridor as our departure point. As we shift our gaze from the Turkish Aegean coast, from one island "hot spot" to another, across Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia, 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 migration, refugee issues and policies; EU and regional politics; identity relationships, the conversations and the conflicts they spark and the actors that claim them; the built environment, camps, and spaces of confinement and the paths and actors of mobility; the institutional and legal frameworks and the discourses and representations of the 'crisis' that have come to define it. Last summer's work in the Balkans can be seen in this blog.

Faculty Country Chair: Everita Silina

Cuba is witnessing profound change and the need to redesign its economic and political paradigms, following the ongoing economic overhaul begun by Raul Castro in 2010 and the current diplomatic thaw between Cuba and the United States. This shifting environment positions Cuba as an ideal site to explore issues related to socialism, economic transformations, race relations, gender and sexuality, informal economies, poverty, food security, and urban planning as they unfold. The objective of the Cuba IFP is to provide you with a unique research oriented experience, where lectures and interactions with your peers from a different country will provide you with a more in-depth understanding of global problems at play in a specific context. Studying as it unfolds the emergence of neoliberal practices in an allegedly market-less economy; of class- and race-disparity in a purportedly class-less and post-racial society; of gender-equality in a highly gendered reality - these are some of the building blocks of a political grammar the Havana IFP will provide you with, in order to ideally make you better citizens of your own country.

Faculty Country Chair: Gabriel Vignoli

In this studio, we will explore strategies and challenges for building cooperative enterprises that facilitate both access to markets and decision making power for members. The context for this work is a new partnership between a green coffee import company based in Oregon and a coffee grower's cooperative in Colombia. These companies have an economic relationship but are also engaged in a project to organize and build capacity among women farmers. The long-term goal is to strengthen organizational capacity and increase revenues of women, improve the visibility, marketability, and revenues of the coop, and strengthen the trading position and price setting capacity of the importer.

The Studio will:

• Research cooperative models and assess the coop partner's operations in light of these
• Research marketing of cooperative enterprises and marketing strategies for promoting the co-op partner's products
• Research definitions and strategies for assessing “women's empowerment” and develop tools to test these with the coop partner
• Research price setting in the coffee industry and design tools for improving price transparency so that partners have stronger negotiating positions.

I addition to the above, Studio participants will have the opportunity to learn about the specialty coffee industry including cupping, grading, logistics, sales, and marketing as well as the “culture” of coffee.

While the focus is primarily on Colombia, other countries will be addressed and the work will be transferable to other contexts. Students, singly and/or in teams, are expected to produce finished or nearly finished products. These will form the building blocks for a Summer 2018 International Field Program in Colombia, and a Fall 2018 Studio II where the preceding work will be used as primary research for masters or undergraduate capstone projects whether these are theses or practicums.

Faculty Country Chair: Chris London

Ethiopia is a country rich in culture, history, and landscape. It struggles, however, with poverty and remains ranked toward the bottom in many human development indices, despite having one of the world's fastest-growing economies. The state controls not only the economy but also national politics, repressing political opposition and forbidding human rights and domestic NGO and INGO work that even implicitly has a human rights agenda. The population, Africa's second largest, had for years largely bought into this government agenda to reach “middle-income status,” however the last two years has seen much political and social unrest.

The Ethiopia IFP is organized around project work with grassroots client organizations involved with poverty and development, gendered development, and environment and climate change. Many assignments will focus on developing tools for monitoring and evaluation, such as data collection, data analysis and reporting.

Faculty Country Chair: Mark Johnson

Sub-Saharan Africa is a region that is urbanizing rapidly and from very low-income levels. As a result, many cities in the region face significant challenges in terms of urban poverty, access to jobs, and housing and household services. The purpose of the South Africa field program, conducted in collaboration with Slum Dwellers International (SDI) and the African Centre for Cities (ACC), is to actively engage students with research on topics concerning urbanization in African cities, privileging opportunities for fieldwork and collaborating with important professional and academic partners. During the last four years, students worked projects such as the 60 days, 1 city, 11 maps, the City Communities blog and the SDI annual Report.

Faculty Country Chairs: Achilles Kallergis and Laura Wainer