Nicaragua: Revolution, Transformation, and Civil Society

Key Features

Class at the Palacio Nacional with Eden Pastora who overthrew Somoza

The SIT Nicaragua program treats the literacy campaigns of the Nicaraguan Revolution as a point of origin for the expansion of awareness of human, health, and educational rights in Nicaragua, and as a backdrop to current demands — particularly by youth — for better platforms of information and expression.

Program highlights:

Engage in writing workshops with community members.
Interact with Nicaraguan youth who are assuming roles as political protagonists, artists, writers, and media producers.
Visit women’s centers and interview architects of Nicaragua’s autonomous feminist movement.
Work on projects with local radio stations.
Engage a range of residents with simple technology to both elicit and share dialog.
Visit a university dedicated to working with students from different ethnic groups.

Live in Managua (program base).
During the first seven weeks of the program, students live with host families in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua and the country’s largest city, home to more than one million people. Managua is known as the city where the streets have no names. While at times this might be challenging, students learn to navigate the city’s streets through historic reference points. As Nicaragua’s economic and political center, Managua has a wide variety of cultural offerings including theaters, restaurants, museums, and a highly appreciated cuisine.

Engage with academic, professional, and community experts.
Students are exposed to a broad array of perspectives and in-country entities, particularly those engaged with the program’s themes: youth culture, expression, contemporary history, politics, and advocacy.

Resources and partners typically include:

Universidad Centroamericana (UCA)
Centro de Estudios e Investigaciones sobre la Salud (CIES)
Centro de Estudios Internacionales (CEI)
Instituto Martin Luther King at the UPOLI
Centro de Prevencion de la Violencia (CEPREV)
Former leaders in the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional and the Resistencia Nicaragüense

Notable excursions and events

In the spring semester, students will travel to the city of Granada for the International Poetry Festival to immerse themselves in Nicaraguan poetry, music, and literary presentations.
In both semesters, students visit Solentiname, an island community of artists, which offers students an opportunity to learn about expression, radical protest, and the arts in a beautiful setting. Students can read about the island of Solentiname in Julio Cortazar’s "Apocalípsis de Solentiname."

Learn more about the program’s visits outside Managua.

Independent Study Project (ISP)
Through a final independent research project, students will explore a specific issue related to youth culture and expression. Students may conduct research for their ISP in Managua or other sites in Nicaragua, as approved by the academic director.

Sample ISP topics include: