A key part of the Institute’s mission is to provide you with immersive, hands-on learning as part of your studies.
Unlike other classroom-based graduate programs, these immersive experiences allow you to apply practical skills in your field of study before you graduate. Not only do you gain professional experience, but you are exposed to relevant networking opportunities that often lead to jobs after graduation. Below are some of the options available, with more emerging as the Institute’s professional partnerships grow and change.
Institute students can apply for up to $3,000 in experiential learning funding to costs for eligible unpaid or minimally paid opportunities including virtual internships, volunteer opportunities, and more. View funding requirements and application.
Once you’ve completed your experience and are seeking reimbursement, submit your information including a a communications deliverable documenting your experience for current and future students.
Learn from the experiences of other students through our experiential learning blog.
Read our 2022-2023 Impact Report to see what past students have done through Middlebury Institute programs. Get ideas for your next research project or internship.
You can also view the 2021-2022, 2019-2020, 2018-2019 and 2017-2018 Impact Reports for more inspiration!
Students complete projects in courses for real-life local and international clients. Courses use simulations to teach and build in-depth understanding and critical thinking around complex global issues.
My name’s Chris Nemarich, and this January I just completed a immersive learning program doing DPMI in Rwanda. It was really surprising where you hear about Rwanda as this amazing development success story. Reading about it and then seeing it is a completely different experience. Being able to see how much development has taken place and where the country is at now. Just reading about it in a book just doesn’t capture.
We started the program in Kigali, the capital, and had a few days to orient ourselves. We then went out to Rwinkwavu, which is a smaller town in the eastern provinces, and we would have a mix of classroom experiences. We did some field visits and then went through this process of really iteratively learning a concept, learning some new material, and then turning around and applying that to the client projects.
And so being able to be in a classroom, and be in a setting, and be in a group where it’s not just the Middlebury students that you’re interacting with but people from all different countries around the world, all different backgrounds, at different places in their career. And bringing that knowledge, and that experience, and that richness and depth into the classroom. That interaction really adds something to the classroom dynamic that you don’t normally just get in the course of the semester.
For me, as a development practitioner, one of the most important things is taking into account where you are, who you’re working with, and what those local needs and that local capacity is. And so, really to have a program that’s geared towards that has reinforced and reminded me of why I chose this path.
It’s definitely something that has made me excited to come back and really throw myself back into my course work. And it’s an experience that I think I’ll draw on, and already have drawn on.
The Nonproliferation Internships and Fellowship programs provide training and internships for graduate students interested in the work of international nonproliferation organizations. Speak with your academic advisor for more information.
Who: Institute graduate students in the Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies program.
The Professional Service Semester (PSS) helps students secure graduate-level internships, jobs, or consultancies in international organizations in the U.S. and abroad.
Who: Institute graduate students in the Environmental Policy and Management or Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies programs.
Students take courses at one of the prestigious partner universities in Amman, Bergen, or Cairo.
Who: All Institute students.
In the Middlebury Social Impact Corps (MSIC) program, Institute students serve as “Scholars”, participating in an eight-week international summer internship with a social change organization, serving as mentors within a cohort including undergraduate Middlebury College interns, conducting their own action research, and engaging in partnership development within the organization and the region. Each year, one to three partner organizations are identified by the MSIC staff and faculty, and cohorts are created in partnership with the organizations’ mission and goals for that summer. Faculty Advisor: Dr. Netta Avineri
Who: All Institute students
Every winter, spring, and summer, faculty and students embark on a number of projects in the fields of peacebuilding, international development, and environmental conservation opportunities in Peru, France, Czech Republic, Kenya, China, Spain, and Bhutan.
Who: All Institute graduate students
The Institute’s Centers and Initiatives give students opportunities to participate in internships or fellowships and conduct further research, and the chance to be published in world-renowned scholarly journals.
You’ll often hear the term “stretch work” used on campus to describe our promotion of self-directed learning and new skill development. Students can create many of their own learning opportunities:
The Digital Learning and Inquiry team provides students with training opportunities, technological resources, and collaborative spaces to facilitate peer-driven teaching and learning.
The Center for Advising and Career Services (CACS) is the hub for all advising, career education, and professional development activities. Advisors can help you make connections between your area of study and employment.
Linked In Learning is an online education company offering thousands of video courses in software, creative, and business skills. It’s offered for free to the Institute community.
Our collaborative, innovative, and interdisciplinary approach is highlighted through team challenges and case competitions.
Students can complete internships at a wide range of nonprofit, government, and social enterprises in Monterey County and Santa Cruz. Speak with your advisor for more information.
The Experiential Learning and Study Abroad Manual covers policies and procedures that broadly apply to our Immersive Learning and Study Abroad programs, including step-by-step guides to researching, applying for, and participating in our programs.
| by Nadia Pshonyak
Join us in celebrating the professional and research accomplishments of Middlebury Institute students documented in our 2022-2023 annual Experiential Learning Impact Report.
| 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.
| by Jason Warburg
The Middlebury Institute’s mentor program matches students with alumni willing to provide guidance about potential career pathways.
