Globalization and the Natural Environment

“Globalization and the Natural Environment: South Africa” is a study abroad program jointly administered by Macalester, Swarthmore and Pomona Colleges. Administration and staffing of the program rotate between the three colleges. The program is run on-site by a director from the Department of Environmental ( and Geographical Science at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Enrollment in the program is kept deliberately small, capped at 12 U.S. students and two South African students. In all, nearly 60 students have participated in the program since its inception.

The program begins in early January with a six-week core seminar which is co-taught by an American and a South African professor. The core seminar runs every day and tackles the major themes of the program, i.e., globalization and the natural environment. If you interested in this topic, you can check this site for more information. If you interested in this topic, you can check this site  more information. The seminar is designed to be rigorous with equal doses of social and physical sciences. While the core seminar must address the core themes of the program, each instructor is free to modify the syllabus to reflect their research and teaching interests. In addition to classroom-based lecture and discussion components, the core seminar is heavy on field trips, which vary in length from single to multi-day excursions.

After the core seminar is completed, students take two courses at UCT during the regular semester that runs from mid-February to mid-June. In addition to these two courses, students undertake an independent research project which is supervised by a faculty member at UCT ( with relevant research interests. During the semester, students continue to meet regularly for social events, occasional guest lectures, short trips, and several times at the end of the semester to present the findings of their independent research projects.

In sum, this is a hybrid study abroad program that includes a mix of local courses, a specially designed and administered core seminar, and an independent research component.