Nicaragua: Revolution, Transformation, and Civil Society

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Examine the different ways in which Nicaraguan movements are shaped by domestic and external influences, including US foreign policy.

Students consider the repercussions of recent Central American revolutionary movements, including those focused on women, indigenous people, campesinos/as, and the environment, and also discuss Nicaragua’s future.

Study key topics of contemporary relevance to Nicaragua and its neighbors such as:

• Nicaragua’s political and economic history including US involvement in Central America and the Caribbean; the Sandinista Revolution and the Contra War; neoliberalism, privatization, and structural adjustment programs
• Social movements and civil society including grassroots movements; feminism; economic cooperatives, maquilas, and community development
• Culture of Peace including peaceful democratic transition; economic issues of free trade versus fair trade; Human Rights as the pillars to a Culture of Peace
• Coastal culture and identity including indigenous rights; aspirations and frustrations of regional autonomy; Creole and Garífuna culture; community health and resource management
• El Salvador including El Salvador’s civil war; role of the United States; the 1992 Peace Accords; the Truth Commission and reconciliation; “dollarization”; community-based alternatives; migration

Learn more about the program’s three main excursions.
Students travel to:

• Rural Matagalpa
• Creole and Garífuna communities on the Caribbean Coast
• El Salvador

Students also visit the well-known Parque de La Paz (Peace Park) in Managua and typically have the chance to converse with former Sandinista and Contra combatants who have buried their past and are working today to promote reconciliation in rural communities.

Intensive instruction in Spanish and homestays in urban and rural settings help students become deeply immersed in Nicaraguan communities.   

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Cultivating a Culture of Peace
In 1979, Nicaragua was flung to the forefront of international attention with the triumph of the Sandinista Popular Revolution. Internal and US opposition to Sandinista reforms led to the Contra War, which cost an enormous number of Nicaraguan lives and devastated the economy. Today, despite significant progress towards national reconciliation, Nicaragua’s political structure and economic discourse continues to be polarized around key issues, and the country remains the second poorest in the Western Hemisphere. Nevertheless, despite its turbulent history and contemporary challenges, both Nicaragua and its neighbors have developed exemplary peaceful conflict resolution and administration processes that have been paradigmatic for other areas of the world.

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"What are we doing here?" a film co-created by SIT Study Abroad Alum, Daniel Klein, recently premiered at the Atlanta Film Festival. This controversial look at the international aid industry in Africa was also featured on CNN's Inside Africa. Watch SIT alum, Daniel, interviewed on CNN and watch the video clip on YouTube.

Read more about how students on this program participated as election observers in El Salvador. Read more about Jamie Cistoldi Lee, a Bucknell University and SIT Study Abroad Nicaragua alum who continues to work with local community members in Managua.

Browse this program's Independent Study Projects/Undergraduate Research