InteRDom to Host University of Rhode Island 2014 Winter Short Programs in January

The InteRDom program is excited to continue strengthening its partnership with the University of Rhode Island this January, by hosting for the fourth consecutive year, two groups of students who will perform service learning activities and explore cultural, political and social elements of Dominican society.

The two groups of students spending their January term in the Dominican Republic has grown from last year to include 12 nursing and 13 political
science students. The groups will participate in activities with Dominican professionals which correspond to their separate areas of study, as well as other cultural activities to get acquainted with the social, political and cultural practices of the Dominican Republic together.

The program will run from January 5-17 and students will participate in an orientation session in Santo Domingo before traveling separately to rural areas of the country to perform different
service activities. The nursing group, accompanied by professors Alicia Curtin and Diane Martins, will travel to the town of Las Matas de Farfán, in the Western border region of the country to perform medical and public health services; while the political science group, accompanied by Graduate Assistant Matthew Rosa, will travel to batey La Esperanza in the northwestern part of the country to work with InteRDom partner organization Yspaniola on a literacy program for children.

Both groups will spend a week working on their service projects in the Dominican countryside before returning to Santo Domingo to participate in an in-depth program of cultural and educational activities. The agenda includes tours of the historic Colonial Zone, the Dominican Congress, the Museum of the Resistance, the Mirabal Sisters’ Museum, urbanization and economic development city tour, as well as lectures and activities with experts on Dominican political history, public
health and the history of Dominicans and Haitians on the island of Hispaniola.

This program is a continuation of the successful January term trips made in previous years by University of Rhode Island students to the Dominican Republic. URI has also participated in the positive promotion of the country in the greater Providence community through their participation in the New Perspectives photo exhibit and in the InteRDom PRO program.

The internship
program, InteRDom, an initiative of Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) and Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE), is the premier internship, research and academic study program in the Dominican Republic. It offers international students the opportunity to research important topics at the forefront of the United
Nations agenda, obtain professional experience by interning with Dominican organizations and businesses related to their fields of study and/or earn academic credits by taking courses and seminars at a local university.