Global Field Experiences

Global Field Experiences

Global field experiences involve educational programs designed to bring the world into the classroom by preparing students to understand, care, and engage with key global issues.

Barefoot College, Tilonia, India

The faculty-student study trip to India over Spring Break 2019 is a result of ongoing program evaluation work by Dr. Ellen Fitzpatrick, Visiting Scholar at the Interdisciplinary Institute with Barefoot College. Leveraging her rich experience as an architect of global field experiences for students and her connections with Barefoot College, Fitzpatrick reached out to Dr. Simona Sharoni, Director of the Interdisciplinary Institute with a proposal to lead a small delegation of faculty and students to Tilonia India to explore future collaborations between Barefoot College and Merrimack College. This pilot global field experience is also designed to nurture collaboration among faculty and students.

Faculty will become familiar with the work of Barefoot College,  an International Non-Governmental Organization (INGO) that may serve as an interdisciplinary laboratory for innovative research and pedagogy. Students will have an opportunity to see the application of their coursework to the problems of poverty, inequality and environmental degradation while participating in fieldwork and observing the activities at Barefoot College. The team will document and assess this experience and make recommendations for future initiatives.