Field Residentials
Our academic program includes four on-site residential periods. Residential countries vary with the program concentration being offered. Education at these residentials is integrative and not sequential.
India Residential (Conservation / Peacebuilding)
Residential studies begin in India where the class examines community-based development in the context of India’s history of progressive social movements. Studies commence in Mumbai with an orientation class that familiarizes students with the Graduate School and the expectations of the American system of higher education.
During our stay in Mumbai, we begin thinking about empowerment and peacebuilding with visits to the Mumbai slums. From Mumbai, the class moves to the Nagpur area for a concentrated session on peacebuilding before heading to Gandhi's ashram at Sevagram.
Here students are introduced to the philosophy and practice of nonviolent social movements and to the theory and process of SEED-SCALE. Leaving Sevagram, students and faculty travel to Jamkhed, the site of a 40-year running comprehensive program of rural health. Lessons on empowerment that began in Sevagram are now strengthened through village site visits and field exercises. Here also students begin to define their practicum project and are introduced to a set of qualitative research techniques useful in practicum work.
Haiti Residential (Peacebuilding)
Haiti is a country with a long history of working through conflict as well as natural disaster. Haiti is a place where a lot does not work. We go to Haiti to see what works, how it works and why it works. From the Cite Soleil slums of Port-au-Prince to agricultural innovations in the hinterlands, we will be looking in Haiti for successes.
In Haiti, the Peacebuilding concentration will wrap up its coursework with a course in natural resources and conflict.
Kenya/East Africa Residential (Peacebuilding)
As part of the Peacebuilding Concentration, our class travels to Kenya in East Africa. The colonial history of the region, combined with the more recent conflicts that have inflicted many of the regions countries, gives us ample study material for the Peacebuilding concentration.
While in Kenya, we will be looking at root causes for many of the regions, conflicts as well as ways countries have worked to resolve ethnic and tribal diff erences to rebuild their societies. This term and residential will focus on two core courses from the Peacebuilding concentration: Building Bridges through Inter-Group Dialogue and Engaging Structural and Cultural Dimensions of Peacebuilding. In these courses students will be building their skills in the areas of negotiations, facilitation and conflict resolution.
While in Kenya, the class will also continue to build their research skills through the Practicum, a monitoring and evaluation course and a course in applied statistics.
Nepal Residential (Conservation)
Nepal is a country with two stories. Nepal’s community forestry program is internationally recognized for its effectiveness in rebuilding the forest cover of Nepal and its contribution to enhancing the livelihoods of community members. While studying conservation in Nepal, we visit with local forest user groups, walk through lush regenerating forests, and learn how communities are using their sustainably grown forest resources to produce value added products for the local and international market.
Nepal is also a story of confl ict and nation-building. Emerging from an eight-year-old civil conflict, Nepal is now rebuilding societal bonds and a new governance system. While in Nepal, we look at the issues that led to the conflict, and the
ways Nepal is working in this post-conflict period.We take a five-day trek in the Himalayas to look at community-based natural resource management
in the Annapurna Conservation Area.
Peru Residential (Conservation)
The Peru residential provides a lesson in transforming theory into practice. Students are able to witness a process of activating empowerment at the community level and growing local successes in both quantitative and qualitative ways. In particular, they see the Community Health Administration Association (CLAS) in action, where the management of over 2,100 primary health care facilities has been transferred directly to these private, non-profit community associations.
United States Residential (Conservation / Peacebuilding)
The last residential in this academic program is based in the USA. Here we bring the Master’s Degree program to an end and prepare you for a life of learning as part of the Future Generations family.
In the USA residential, we focus on leadership and organizational development and a global perspective on sustainable development. These “finishing courses” prepare you to be able to put your community development work into a global context and connect your community to the world. An important part of your USA residential is the presentation of each student’s practicum project work. Here you learn from each other and share the lessons learned from your research and practicum development projects. The USA residential program, and your Degree program, ends with graduation ceremonies held in Washington D.C. This is an opportunity to celebrate your successes and welcome you into the ranks of the Future Generations Graduate School alumni body.
