Experiential Learning and Study Abroad News

J-Term 2026: Global Courses Across Three Continents

March 6, 2026

Where Classrooms Meet the World — January Global Courses Across Three Continents

Each January, Middlebury Institute (MIIS) students step beyond Monterey’s classrooms into immersive global courses that translate theory into lived experience. Supported by the Davis Collaborative in Conflict Transformation and MIIS Experiential Learning Funds, the 2026 Winter Term brought nearly forty students to South Africa, Czechia/Austria, and Bhutan — three distinct contexts united by a shared pedagogical model: experiential learning grounded in partnership, practice, and reflection.

News Stories

From Kazakhstan to California to Montenegro, Students Are Making a Difference Around the World

October 25, 2023 | by Nadia Pshonyak

This semester more than eighty Middlebury Institute students are participating in our distinguished semester-long experiential learning and practicum courses. Students are working around the globe with organizations making a positive impact in various fields while continuing their studies here at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.

News Stories

Alumni Mentor Students as They Complete Their Practicum Projects

October 6, 2023 | by Jason Warburg

The Middlebury Institute’s mentor program matches students with alumni willing to provide guidance about potential career pathways.
 

News Stories

Field Work: Saving Polar Bears Is a Complex Geopolitical Puzzle

June 20, 2023 | by Stephen Diehl

An internship with Polar Bears International helped environmental policy student Alex Shahbazi hone his skills as he sought common ground among Arctic nations.
 

News Stories

Students complete summer practicum work on pressing global and local topics

May 31, 2023 | by Carolyn Meyer

This summer, six Middlebury Institute students will complete internship field projects and research as the culminating experiential learning course in their graduate degree programs.  

People

How I Got Hired: Grants Specialist, ClimateWorks Foundation

May 16, 2023 | by Monique Rao MAIPD ’17

International Policy and Development alumna Monique Rao describes how cold emailing and advice and encouragement from MIIS faculty and staff helped her to land the internship that launched her career. 
 

News Stories,  People

International Development Student Dion Miller Is a UNICEF Program Evaluator in Phnom Penh

April 13, 2023 | by Stephen Diehl

Miller’s International Professional Service Semester has given him new insights into how a career in policy work could play out.
 

People

How I Got Hired: Director of Development, Center for Oceans, Conservation International

April 9, 2023 | by Sahara Saude MAIEP ’08

International Environmental Policy graduate Sahara Saude describes how an internship helped her cultivate connections that led to her current position with Conservation International’s Center for Oceans.