Alumni Mentor Students as They Complete Their Practicum Projects
| by Jason Warburg
The Middlebury Institute’s mentor program matches students with alumni willing to provide guidance about potential career pathways.
This semester almost sixty 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.
Our practicum and internship students are working with organizations as close as Monterey, California, and as far away as Honolulu, Hawaii in organizations ranging from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to Uplift Northwest. We also have several students working abroad in France, Indonesia, Italy, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam at places like the International Organization for Migration and as Boren Fellows.
Students in our translation practicum are gaining real life skills while broadening their education and serving others through these partnerships.
The following courses provide students with applied, hands-on learning that connects their academic training with their professional fields of interest.
The Professional Service Semester (PSS) is an experience designed for students in the Environmental Policy and Management and Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies programs. The PSS experience allows students to apply skills and knowledge gained through their prior coursework in a professional setting. These experiential learning courses serve as stepping stones to their future careers.
Name | Organization | Location |
Libby Mohn | NOAA Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary | Monterey, CA |
Lily Edelman-Gold | California Energy Commission | Monterey, CA |
Eleanor Bent | Coral Reefs of the High Seas Coalition (CRHS) | Monterey, CA |
Hannah Ditty | Foundations of Success | Washington D.C. |
John Ciarico | Independent Research Project | New York, NY |
Garrett Hambaro | KUPU | Honolulu, HI |
Sherlin Benjamin | California FarmLink | Aptos, CA |
Noemi Cerritos Gatto | African Wildlife Foundation | Washington D.C. |
Diego Tabilo | Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA) | Monterey, CA |
Maya Hoffman | Collaborative for Right Relations | Monterey, CA |
Gabe Albright | BOREN Fellowship | Taipei, Taiwan |
Benit Mbiakolo | City of Monterey | Monterey, CA |
Leo Eckel | Istituto Affari Internazionali | Rome, Italy |
The International Education Management (IEM) and joint MPA/International Education Management practicum is focused on gaining practical experience and advanced management skills for students entering the career of international education.
Name | Organization | Location |
Jordyn Dezago | Monterey County Rape and Crisis Center | Monterey, CA |
Margaret Reagan | International Sustainable Development Studies Institute | Chiang Mai, Thailand |
Ellie Hoffman | Middlebury Schools Abroad France | Paris, France |
Tyson Takeuchi | Linfield University International Programs Office | McMinnville, OR |
Starting in May 2023, the Master in Public Administration (MPA), MA in International Policy and Development (IPD), and MA in International Trade (ITED) degrees combined all practicum course options within one course. Students can select to complete a work project for an organization where they are completing a job or internship, a client project for a partner organization, or independent academic research that is published in an academic journal or self-published through Middlebury digital platforms.
Below is a list of current participants for both programs, their organizations, and their locations:
Name | Organization | Location |
Adiba Juya | Education for Employment | Washington D.C. / Remote |
Elizabeth Hammond | CASA of Santa Cruz | Santa Cruz, CA |
Jeanette Burke | Monterey Audubon Society | Monterey, CA |
Jeff Williams | Independent Journalistic Research in Southeast Asia | Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam |
Jonathan Phan | PHANBI | Monterey, CA |
Kathleen Rabe | Independent Research | Dixon, CA / France |
Kimberly Mendez Lemus | Department of Homeland Security | Baltimore, MD |
Landry Dohou Bi | PHANBI | Monterey, CA |
Marion Ayer | International Organization for Migration | Indonesia |
Marisa Jones | Independent Research | Hanoi, Vietnam / Chiang Rai, Thailand |
Phoebe Jones | Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism | Washington D.C. |
The Translation and Localization Management (TLM) program offers hands-on experience through Localization practicum, which is a core class both in the fall and the spring semesters for second-year students. The spring TLM Practicum is led by Professor Martins, is designed for people who prefer to work on existing student-run projects, such as the student-led magazine, podcast, mentorship program, school outreach, etc., or create and run their own special project. Students can also design and complete their own localization-related research project, participate in an internship in a real-world company, or work for a nonprofit organization such as Women in Localization or The Globalization and Localization Association (GALA). The projects and internships all have a learning component, and students are expected to share their experiences with each other to foster knowledge sharing.
Below is a list of current projects for Localization Practicum:
Name (s) | Organization |
Lea Bruzzo, Man-Yi Ma | Localization Voices |
Hannah Epstein | Tierra Luna |
Stephanie Lu | TILM Mentorship Program |
Lesley Chang, Huiyu Chen, Xiaohui Hu, Min-Hai Kim | Women in Localization |
Jiayi Zhai | All See Robotics |
Maddy Sanchez, Lindsay Vail | Loc Ready |
Xiaoyu Cai, Jing Min, Shuyun Xiao, Albert Zhu | Translators for Elders |
Xiaoyan Chen | Translators for Elders |
Da Sun | Mother Tongue |
TESOL and Teaching Foreign Language (TFL) students are combining reflective practice and professional development in preparation for careers in language education.
Below is a list of current participants for both programs and their projects:
Name | Project |
Kari Naumova | Middlebury College Russian Program, Middlebury, VT |
Allie Campbell | Hyalite Elementary School, Bozeman, MT |
Lori Zink | Monterey Adult School, Monterey, CA |
The Experiential Learning Team at MIIS
ExperientialLearning@middlebury.edu
831-647-6417
| by Jason Warburg
The Middlebury Institute’s mentor program matches students with alumni willing to provide guidance about potential career pathways.
| 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.
| 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.