Noemí has a degree in history and in teaching history and social sciences from Universidad Nacional Andrés Bello. Noemi has worked with SIT since 2014 and previously worked as a high school teacher in Santiago. As program coordinator for SIT, she works with partner universities, institutions, social organizations, teachers, and excursion coordinators to coordinate program activities. She also coordinates the internships and academic seminars that take place at Universidad Alberto Hurtado. Noemí is currently completing a master’s degree in Educational Policies, analyzing the main political-educational problems in the country and also from a comparative perspective.

Pablo manages program logistics and helps oversee day-to-day activities. He has been associated with SIT since 2002. Pablo received his diploma in journalism from the Lomas de Zamora University and Taller Escuela Agencia. He has worked as a freelance journalist for a number of Argentine national newspapers including Pagina/12, La Nación, Clarín, and La Maga. During the 1990s, Pablo worked in the Press and Cultural Promotion Department of the Secretary of Cultural Affairs and was host of a rock-and-roll radio show on FM La Boca. He is the co-author of Música y Dictadura – Porqué Cantábamos (Music and Dictatorship – Why We Were Singing). His research interests include music, literature, and cinema identity.

Dr. Peña earned a PhD in social sciences from IDES-UNGS, focusing on transnational migration processes between Paraguay and Argentina. She graduated from London Guildhall University in the UK with a major in political science and a minor in French. She later earned an MA in political science from Leiden University and an MA in development studies from Nijmegen University, both in the Netherlands. Prior to becoming the academic director for the Argentina: Transnationalism and Comparative Development in South America program, Dr. Peña was the assistant director and interim academic director of Argentina: Social Movements and Human Rights. She was born in Argentina and has lived and worked abroad for 12 years, mainly in London, Amsterdam, and Barcelona. She works as a consultant for international development agencies with a focus on gender and development. She worked for Oxfam International for five years, including several missions to West and northeast Africa and parts of Latin America, mainly Brazil and Nicaragua. She consults for international development agencies with a focus on gender and development.

Griselda Vallejo is a psychology student from Universidad Kennedy (UK) and holds a higher education diploma in gender, culture, and power from Instituto de Altos Estudios Sociales (IDAES) at Universidad Nacional de San Martín (UNSAM). She specialized in neurodiversity and classroom management, therapeutic accompaniment, and infant rehabilitation. Griselda worked as a therapeutic companion with children and adults, developing integration plans to gain social tools and coping strategies for anxiety and stress. She also has experience working with gender violence survivors at Hogar Juana Manso, a city shelter in Buenos Aires. 

Eliana Ferradás holds an undergraduate degree in history from Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) and has a master’s degree in journalism and social communication from the Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP). She is a PhD candidate in sociology at Universidad de San Martín (UNSAM) and has worked for SIT since 2011, broadening her knowledge on social movements and human rights. Her academic experience addresses various topics related to Human Rights (state terrorism, penal system, gender, migration, indigenous peoples, and extractive economic model). She is part of the Education in Prisons Program, organized by Facultad de Filosofía y Letras (UBA). As an activist, she collaborated for several years with Alameda, a Buenos Aires–based NGO that fights against human trafficking.  

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Ana Laura Lobo is a sociologist from the Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA), where she earned a master’s degree in social investigation. She completed doctoral work in social sciences at UBA and Universidad Nacional de San Martin. She completed her postgraduate research at Instituto Gino Germani (UBA). She began her tenure with SIT in 2011 as academic coordinator of the Regional Integration, Development, and Social Change program, also based in Buenos Aires. In January 2012, she joined the Social Movements and Human Rights Program as associate director.

Her research interests include sociology, social justice and human rights, and social transformation using art and culture. She is a member of the research project team Human Rights and the Protection of Strategic Resources in Latin America in the 21st Century. She has served as adjunct professor for UNICEF and the judicial power of the province of Buenos Aires and as a lecturer at UBA. Currently, she teaches Peace Culture and Human Rights, a seminar chaired by Nobel Peace laureate Adolfo Perez Esquivel.

She worked as an advisor to the Argentine Ministry of Industry and Production on enterprise and regional development projects related to social and local economic development. She also served as a technical consultant for Programa de Inclusión Social Envión in Avellaneda.

Valeria received her bachelor degree in anthropology from the University of Buenos Aires in 2014. Before joining SIT, Valeria worked as a guide in the ethnographic museum Juan Bautista Ambrosetti in Buenos Aires. As a member of the National Women Council, she participated in the technical evaluation of community projects to empower women and organized workshops in different provinces. In 2005, she had her own homestay experience in Troyes and Avignon, France. As a national recreational technician, she has worked as an educational coordinator with young people in social clubs and schools since 2006 and teaches at a technical school preparing students to carry out their own projects. Valeria joined a community theater in 2011 and participated in art projects and recreational activities there until 2017.

Dana received a bachelor’s degree in educational sciences from the University of Buenos Aires in 2016 and a Certificate in International Education from SIT Graduate Institute in 2021. Since 2004, she has been trained in non-formal education spaces and has coordinated educational activities for children and young people. In 2007, she had a personal educational experience abroad, spending a year in Israel with a Masa Israel program. She has integrated technical teams in charge of the administration of educational projects, both in private institutions (Training Area of ​​the Argentine Chamber of Commerce) and in governmental agencies (Ministry of Education of the Nation and Municipality of Quilmes).

Ana Rita received her BA in sociology from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Santiago, Chile, and her MA in social demography from the Universidad Nacional de Luján. She is a PhD candidate at the University of Buenos Aires’ prestigious College of Social Sciences and a researcher at the Instituto de Desarrollo Económico y Social where she specializes in social, population, and health policy. Previously, she served as the academic director for SIT’s Argentina: Regional Integration, Development, and Social Change program. She joined SIT in the fall of 2005.

Ana Rita was a professor at the University of Buenos Aires law school in the family studies master’s program from 2000 to 2017. She has extensive experience as a consultant for government and international agencies such as the Pan American Health Organization; the United Nations Development Programme; the United Nations Population Fund; and the Inter-American Development Bank.

Her research is on poverty, social policy, and health system reforms. Currently, she is researching the impact of social policies in reducing social inequality in early childhood. She is the author of numerous books, academic articles, and technical reports.

Born and raised in Ushuaia, María holds a PhD in biological sciences from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). She studied for her undergraduate degree in the Patagonian city of Puerto Madryn and returned to Ushuaia to carry out her PhD research for her dissertation in fishery and the reproductive biology of the Beagle Channel King Crab. María has been a member of the Marine Crustaceans Laboratory of the Austral Center for Scientific Research since 2010. She has extensive fieldwork experience in marine and coastal areas.

During her dissertation research, María formed close connections with the Tierra del Fuego fishing sector. This allowed her to observe and reflect on the different realities that often cause socio-environmental conflict. María’s research interests include the perspectives, knowledge, and needs of the fishing sector and other stakeholders in a fundamental partnership for real success in natural resource management.

Since 2012, María has been a math, ecology, conservation, and science professor at the National University of Tierra de Fuego and supervised students in field and laboratory internships. In addition to her academic work, María enjoys pottery, dance, and cycling. Her academic interests and personal connections with Ushuaia communities and the surrounding areas intersect perfectly for this program.

Applications open Sept. 15

With undergraduates’ schedules in full swing for the new academic year, it’s not too soon to start thinking about how to make the most of summer 2019. Imagine snorkeling in one of the world’s top diving sites as you study marine ecology in Panama, building career skills with an internship at an NGO in Vietnam, exploring Madagascar’s extraordinary natural environment to learn about traditional medicine, or learning Arabic in Jordan or Morocco.

Those are just some of the many opportunities available through School for International Training (SIT). During summer 2019, SIT Study Abroad is offering 23 programs in 17 countries that will appeal to a wide range of majors and interests, including five skills-building internship opportunities.

Like all SIT Study Abroad programs, each summer program offers academic rigor and an immersive cultural experience within the framework of at least one critical global issue. Applications for these programs open September 15.

New to the SIT Student Abroad summer portfolio this year are:

Colombia: Building a Culture of Peace – Integrate peace studies with Colombia’s cultures through music, dance, and food from the program base in the vibrant, multicultural Caribbean Coast city of Cartagena, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Vietnam: Nongovernmental Organization Internship – Learn about development and the roles of nongovernmental organizations engaged in social change through this guided internship, which also includes lectures and site visits. Customize this program based on your areas of interest.

SIT summer programs, sorted according to themes, are:

Climate | Environment

Iceland: Renewable Energy, Technology, and Resource Economics  

Indonesia: Biodiversity and Conservation in Bali and Borneo  

Jordan: Engineering and Design for Sustainable Environments  

Nepal: Geoscience in the Himalaya  

Panama: Marine Ecology & Blue Carbon Conservation in the Pacific & Caribbean  

Tanzania: Climate Change and Sustainability, Mount Kilimanjaro to Zanzibar

Development | Economy | Inequality

India: Agroecology and Food Security in the Himalaya  

Panama: Community and Nongovernmental Organizations Internship  

Vietnam: Nongovernmental Organization Internship

Global Health

China: Community Health and Traditional Chinese Medicine  

India: Traditional Medicine and Healthcare Practices

Jordan: Counseling and Humanitarian Action Internship  

Kenya: Public Health in the Tropics Internship  

Madagascar: Traditional Medicine and Healthcare Systems  

Switzerland: Food Security and Nutrition

Media | Arts | Social Change

Argentina: Art, Memory, and Social Transformation

Migration | Identity | Resilience

Jordan: Intensive Arabic Language Studies  

Morocco: Arabic Language and Community Service  

Peace | Human Rights | Social Movements

Colombia: Building a Culture of Peace  

South Africa: Education and Social Change  

South Africa: Social Justice and Activism Internship  

Switzerland: International Studies and Multilateral Diplomacy  

Uganda and Rwanda: Peace and Conflict Studies in the Lake Victoria Basin

Visit our website for more information on these and all of SIT’s immersive, experiential study abroad opportunities.

SIT Study Abroad Programs

• Argentina: Art, Memory, and Social Transformation (Summer)
• Argentina: People, Environment, and Climate Change in Patagonia and Antarctica
• Argentina: Public Health in Urban Environments
• Argentina: Social Movements and Human Rights
• Argentina: Transnationalism and Comparative Development in South America
• IHP: Cities in the 21st Century: People, Planning, and Politics

SIT Study Abroad Programs

• Aargentina: Art, Memory, and Social Transformation (Summer)
• Argentina: People, Environment, and Climate Change in Patagonia and Antarctica
• Argentina: Public Health in Urban Environments
• Argentina: Social Movements and Human Rights
• Argentina: Transnationalism and Comparative Development in South America
• IHP: Cities in the 21st Century: People, Planning, and Politics