The New Zealand semester program focuses on environmental studies from an interdisciplinary perspective with courses in Environmental and Cultural Issues of New Zealand, an internship experience, and a faculty seminar. While the emphasis will be on environmental studies, the program is intentionally broad and interdisciplinary such that it is open to any student interested in examining the relationships between humans and our natural world from the perspectives of the natural and social sciences, the humanities, and the arts.

Academic coursework will be both traditional in the form of classes, lectures, and assigned readings as well as experiential through immersive field trips, group discussions, journaling, and hands-on project-based learning.

At the beginning of the program, students will arrive in Whanganui on the North Island for an orientation period at the Quaker Settlement. Following the orientation period, students will be placed with homestay families in the town of Whanganui and begin to attend classes and internships.

An extended excursion is planned to the South Island to experience a tramping component in Fiordland National Park, a visit to the wild “West Coast” where students will stay in an eco-lodge while learning about New Zealand’s struggle to generate “clean and green” energy, and travel to Kaikoura—a world renowned marine reserve home to an incredible diversity of wildlife as well as a model for sustainable development. Finally, students will have a chance to spend time in Christchurch—learning about the challenges of rebuilding after the devastating 2010-11 earthquakes.