SIT program examines social and environmental change in Oceania

Why study abroad in Samoa? The answers seem obvious: breathtaking scenery; welcoming people; compelling subject matter. Still, we decided to delve a little deeper into SIT Samoa: Social and Environmental Change in Oceania. (The fall 2022 program is enrolling now!)

“Everything was fun,” says 2020 program alumna Romily Coles. “Every day we learned new things, saw new things, ate good food. I loved our hands-on learning as well as our field trips to churches, fresh water caves, restaurants.”

“The entire experience was filled with unexpected adventures, which was what made it so life-changing,” says another alumna, Kalamakaleimahoehoe Porter, who participated in 2019.

“SIT Samoa is the place to go to explore stunning natural beauty and a vibrant, unique culture while building research skills and most importantly building community,” says Kalamakaleimahoehoe. “If you are not a ‘people person’ this may not be the country or the program for you, but I loved being a part of such a supportive environment that allowed me to literally dive into my ocean-based research while enjoying a genuine, relaxing evening when I got home!”

Students on the program live with families and learn from local communities. Program staff describe the homestay families as “caring, loving people who welcome students into their homes and look after them as though they are their own children.”

Romily says some of her favorite memories are time spent in Amaile, a village on the eastern coast of ‘Upolu. “I think it was just so humbling to be welcomed into someone’s home in the way that we all were,” she says.

SIT Samoa starts with a week-long orientation in Hawai‘i that includes meetings with members of Hawai‘i’s indigenous community and Samoans of the diaspora.

Once in Samoa, students visit the volcanic island of Savai‘I to see sea arches, blow holes, and lava flows of the South Pacific. There is also an excursion to Fiji, a culturally and religiously diverse society, to witness how Oceania’s diverse communities are supported by the environment but impacted by development, tourism, and climate change.

“Our program investigates the impact of colonial and modern forces of change on Pacific communities through indigenous and western academic lenses, and critiques the impacts these have had on the region with reference to globalization, development, and the environment,” says SIT Academic Director Dr. Fetaomi Tapu-Qiliho (“Dr. Taomi” to her students.) “We hear local narratives and voices tell stories of resilience in the face of change.”

For Romily, Dr. Taomi herself was a high point of the program. “Being profound, in charge, humble, powerful, witty, comforting, reliable, and seemingly capable of anything, she not only was a true example of a Samoan woman, but someone I still quote to this day. I cannot imagine the Samoa program without her. “

SIT Study Abroad programs are multidisciplinary, but Dr. Tapu-Quiliho says this one is especially relevant for majors in development, social sciences, history, sociology, and some STEM fields.

“The fact that it was a program focused on climate issues and also located in a part of the world that I have always found interesting made it an easy choice,” says Romily. “Also, most Oceanic culture, history, perspective, and ideology is not ever mentioned in western classrooms, so this was a great opportunity to learn more.”

… most Oceanic culture, history, perspective, and ideology is not ever mentioned in western classrooms …

Kalamakaleimahoehoe says her experience “simultaneously made me realize that I do, in fact, love environmental work and research, but at the same showed that I am a person with diverse interests. I am still working on shaping these interests into a career, but I will say that I have already put my research skills to use in my first job.”

The way classroom discussion was held, questions answered, holistic points of view noted on everything, it was hard to go back to western academia.

Says Romily, “The experience as a whole changed how I felt I needed to move in this world to make things happen. However, after being educated in the Pacific for a semester I decided if I ever went back to get my masters or my PhD, I wanted to be taught by people from Oceania. The way classroom discussion was held, questions answered, holistic points of view noted on everything, it was hard to go back to western academia. So much knowledge I feel was gained from this program and the educators that were part of it.”

School for International Training is pleased to announce the launch of the Fall 2021 SIT Critical Conversations Webinar Series beginning in mid-September. Building upon the success of two previous series, these free webinars are designed to inspire community-wide dialogue on global, interdisciplinary topics within SIT’s Critical Global Issues framework.

— Register now for fall 2021 Critical Conversations.

As keynote speaker for this series, Homi K. Bhabha will discuss representations and epistemologies of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Considered a leading voice in postcolonial theory, Bhabha is the Anne F. Rothenberg Professor of the Humanities in the English and Comparative Literature Departments at Harvard University.

“This semester, we continue to focus our attention on the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion as it pertains to our students, partners, and community,” says Meghan McMillan, SIT Graduate Programs Outreach Manager. “We hope these new webinars will engage the wider SIT community in important dialogues at a critical time.”

Other speakers represent a diverse pool of researchers, scholars, and community leaders including SIT faculty, program alumni, and thought leaders from partner schools in the United States and abroad.

The fall 2021 series includes 19 free webinars over three months. Topics range from Gen Z and DEI in education abroad; critical tools in gender and queer studies; and even soap making and cooking demonstrations.

The sessions will help prospective students experience an SIT program, navigate the admissions process, and hear from distinguished SIT alumni, and virtual open houses will give participants a glimpse into SIT locations in Samoa, India, and Ecuador.

These events aim to expand on the Critical Conversations Webinar Series in fall 2020 and spring 2021. Those webinars provided a platform for SIT to engage with members of our various communities when in-person events were not possible. More than 2,500 faculty, staff, alumni, and other global citizens participated in the two semester-long series.

To view the full schedule of events and register for the fall 2021 series, visit the Critical Conversations webpage. The sessions are free and open to all. SIT encourages participation from partner institutions and alumni, as well as those discovering SIT for the first time.

Links to recordings of most webinars will also be available on the Critical Conversations page shortly after each event.

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Samoa, Social and Environmental Change in Oceania

During Women’s History Month, SIT is spotlighting some of our extraordinary academic and program directors across the globe who are making history today through their thinking, their words, and their actions.

What’s your academic discipline and what inspired you to pursue it?

Pacific Studies, inspired by my love for my heritage, identity and people

Who is your hero and why do you admire her?

My mother was a phenomenal Samoan immigrant woman, mother, nurse and community advocate who never tired of working for and championing the needs of Pacific Island people in New Zealand.

Why do you teach?

I believe that every opportunity to educate and share about the issues in the Pacific through a framework embedded in Pacific values and knowledge is an opportunity to change the world positively.

What advice (life or academic) would you offer young women?

Make a difference wherever you are!

When you go down in history, what do you want to be known for?

Love for others.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has named SIT Graduate Institute alumna Lizbeth Anne Cullity to serve as a top expert to represent him at meetings with heads of state on critical human-rights issues in the Central African Republic.

In her new role, Cullity will serve as deputy special representative and deputy head of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic. This appointment tops a long list of UN and international posts that Cullity has taken on since graduating from the SIT Graduate Institute in 1990, with an MA in International Administration and a specialization in Human Service Administration.

Cullity has 25 years of leadership experience with the UN in Africa, the Americas and the Pacific. During this time, she has strongly advocated for those less fortunate while working closely with grassroots groups and locals in the field. “It’s really about getting out there and talking to the people and understanding how we can make that investment best through what I believe is expertise of the local context, local language, and rapport-building, to make sure that we have real partnerships,” she said at a regional management meeting of the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) in Bangkok in 2017.

From 2008-10, Cullity served as the representative of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and chief of the Human Rights section in the UN Stabilization Mission, both in Haiti. From 2011-13, she was chief of Political Affairs for Haiti’s UN Stabilization Mission, and she also was UN resident coordinator and UNDP resident representative in Samoa from 2013-17.

I think that we’ve seen a big shift in the world, a great divide economically between those who have and those who don’t, and that our strategy needs to change to make sure we are able to work with those who don’t have the means to help themselves.

In particular, Cullity has highlighted the need to systemically address the growing global economic divide. “It is my strong belief that investing in civil society and building capacity for ordinary people, for ordinary folks, for ordinary groups, is the path,” she said at the UNDP summit. “I think that we’ve seen a big shift in the world, a great divide economically between those who have and those who don’t, and that our strategy needs to change to make sure we are able to work with those who don’t have the means to help themselves.”

Most recently, Cullity was chief of staff for the U.S. Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali. She has served in a wide range of leadership roles in Sierra Leone and Haiti, including regional coordinator of the UN/Organization of American States International Civilian Mission to Haiti from 1993 to 2000, and as chief of the human rights, political and electoral pillar of the OAS Special Political Mission to Haiti from 2002-04.

During the UNDP summit, she also underscored the importance of working through public-private partnerships to create job opportunities for youth around the world. “We’re looking for and building partnerships to enable young people and others who don’t have a lot of hope and opportunity to find those opportunities.”

We need to get out there more, get out in the field … inside the villages, inside the small towns, and working with ordinary civil society groups that are trying to make a difference, but don’t necessarily know how.

Cullity is fluent in English, French, and Haitian Creole, and enjoys working from the ground-up, even as her work becomes increasingly global. “We need to get out there more, get out in the field – and by the field I don’t mean inside the country office,” she said at the UNDP summit. “I actually mean inside the villages, inside the small towns, and working with ordinary civil society groups that are trying to make a difference, but don’t necessarily know how.”

Transferring lessons learned abroad to America’s leading aerospace agency

By Alyssa Kaewwilai

This past year I have been graced with more amazing, life-changing opportunities than I could have ever imagined. Through the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship and the Gettysburg College Global Engagement Office, I was given the resources and support needed to study abroad in a nation I had previously merely dreamed of traveling to — the Pacific islands of Sāmoa. Imagine my joy when I was accepted to the School for International Training (SIT) program Samoa: Social and Environmental Change in Oceania, where I could fully adopt and embrace the Pacific culture as my own for an entire four to five months!

As a Reach the World U.S Student Ambassador, I was also given the incredible opportunity to mentor a fifth-grade class in a Spanish immersion school during my travels to Sāmoa, alongside excursions to Hawai’i and Fiji.

What I didn’t expect … was how the abundance of lessons I learned abroad were so incredibly applicable to my summer internship at NASA.

The momentum of opportunities and adventures continued when I was greeted back to the United States with an internship offer at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center as an Earthdata GIS Software Engineering intern, an offer I use to believe was only obtainable in my wildest dreams!

As a first-generation and disadvantaged Thai-American female pursuing a STEM degree, I realized that I suddenly had a sea of opportunity ahead of me. What I didn’t expect, however, was how the abundance of lessons I learned abroad were so incredibly applicable to my summer internship at NASA. These lessons have reshaped my engagement and perspectives of the world and everyday work life.

Problem solving using limited resources

I was faced with a multitude of challenges abroad in an environment that I was not familiar with. Similarly, I had to approach these situations from perspectives I was not used to viewing problems from. I can still distinctly remember my first day after class when I needed to board the bus and find my way home. I was utterly and completely lost and without cell phone reception. Not only had I forgotten the Sāmoan name of the second bus I needed to transfer to, but street addresses are also oftentimes not referred to as they are in America (not that I would have remembered my address anyhow)!

After a prolonged period of panic, I began to calm myself down before evaluating my situation from a third-person perspective. That was when I began to think logically and recall familiar surroundings near my home. Piecing this information together with kind advice from locals, I was miraculously able to navigate my way back to my host family in the Alafua Village.

At NASA, I was oftentimes assigned mini projects where I needed to convert certain file types in order to make them compatible with various software and computer systems. I also used new, unfamiliar programs and Python scripts to manage satellite databases and information. Initially, I would feel small waves of nervousness whenever my attempts to complete a task did not work within the first few trials. However, utilizing my skills of problem solving which I obtained abroad I was able to invoke the help of both discovered online resources as well as other experienced employees. Much like my dilemma commuting home in Sāmoa, I was able to use the available resources at hand and my own intuition to find answers to my problems.

Handle difficult situations diplomatically

It is no surprise that I encountered a plethora of difficult situations during my time abroad; this is to be entirely expected when living in a foreign country for a prolonged period of time. Many times, these issues dealt with miscommunication and misunderstandings with people in which general confusion led to feelings of frustration. Moreover, one of my greatest challenges abroad was trying my best to fully adopt fa’a Sāmoa, the Sāmoan way, in appropriate and suitable ways. This was a particularly difficult task on many personal levels during my week-long stay in the rural village of Amaile.

There were many days when I felt like everything I said and did were either inappropriate in the cultural context or simply considered rude. This was by far the most difficult situation I had during my semester abroad, which oftentimes left me feeling exasperated and isolated. However, I gradually learned to become more patient with myself and others. I slowly began to observe the people in my surroundings more often than I had earlier, in order to see how others around me operated under fa’a Sāmoa. I also learned to be humble and ask my mentors and host family to clarify for me how my actions and words could be improved.

One of my greatest challenges abroad was trying my best to fully adopt fa’a Sāmoa, the Sāmoan way, in appropriate and suitable ways.

I applied these same skills to my internship at NASA. Whenever I was assigned a project task with a steep learning curve, such as working with Python libraries (something I had never done) I would first sincerely tell my mentor that this was a new experience and that I would tackle the task to the best of my abilities. Whenever my attempts atcompleting the project goal failed and made me feel frustrated, I would calm myself down before thinking from a more level-headed perspective: What can I do to improve my situation? This was usually the moment when I would come up with solutions such as learning from past projects or speaking to my advisors about alternative paths to complete the task.

Be a self-reliant, functioning individual

The final portion of all SIT programs encourages students to conduct a month-long independent research project followed by a report. For this process, scholars conduct field work and interviews involving a research topic. I chose to conduct a study of the impacts and possibilities of future sustainable, climate-resilient technologies and urban design in Sāmoa. I needed to be confident in my communication, language, and academic skills in order to have a successful and all-inclusive study of my topic.

I gained an entirely new experience of perseverance in not only gaining real, verbal feedback from candidates around the island but also self-teaching myself an advanced 3D modelling, mechanical engineering software program with a constrained use of internet.

For my specific project, I also set a goal for myself to learn how to use a computer-aided design software called SketchUp in order to render three-dimensional models of future sustainable Sāmoan homes. Through the process of my project, I gained an entirely new experience of perseverance in not only gaining real, verbal feedback from candidates around the island but also self-teaching myself an advanced 3D modelling, mechanical engineering software program with a constrained use of internet.

I utilized these same skills of self-reliance during my internship at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Particularly in the beginning of the internship, there were moments when I felt symptoms of imposter syndrome in which I began to doubt my own skills and intellectual adequacy. I had still felt incredulous that I had earned one of the most prestigious and competitive science internships that a student, especially of my background, could be given.

However, I learned to acknowledge that I had the academic foundation and experience that would help me excel at NASA. Despite the fact that I was working well beyond my comfort zone of geographic information systems and learning new programming as well as data management skills, I knew that the only way to tackle these challenges was head-on. I am strong. I am confident. I am capable of accomplishing any and all goals that I set my mind to …

… and with that mentality, I conquered.

Dr. Tapu-Qiliho earned her PhD in Pacific studies from the University of Otago. She earned an MA with honors in Pacific studies and a BA in sociology and anthropology from the University of Auckland. She worked as academic director for SIT in Fiji from 2005 to 2011.

Dr. Tapu-Qiliho’s current research focuses on gender and development with particular reference to individuals with diverse sexual orientation and gender identity expressions. She has experience working in the CSO sector in Fiji and helped found two local NGOs that specialize in conflict transformation and peacebuilding in the Pacific. She also has experience working with the Pacific Conference of Churches as a lecturer at the Pacific Theological College. Her voluntary work has concentrated on issues such as HIV and AIDS, poverty alleviation, youth and women’s empowerment, and advocacy and community engagement.

SIT Study Abroad Programs

• Samoa: Social and Environmental Change in Oceania