At SFS, students don’t just study global issues—they actively engage with them through experiential learning. International experiences are a hallmark of an SFS international affairs education, including Centennial Labs, alternative spring breaks and other courses with global travel components.
From promoting and protecting cultural heritage to the role of public interest technology in addressing global challenges, SFS students spent spring break engaging thoughtfully with host communities and gaining insight into diverse worldviews. Read on to find out where in the world our students traveled and hear a few reflections on their adventures.
In this Centennial Lab, students critically examine representations of Africa by exploring Ghana as a lens into the continent’s complex histories. Taught by SFS Professor Kwame Otu, they delve into vibrant cultural landscapes while engaging with legacies of slavery and colonization and experiencing some of Ghana’s socio-cultural richness.
Students visited iconic sites such as Black Star Square, the W. E. B. Du Bois Center, the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum and the Elmina Castle, which allowed them to experience the everyday sights, sounds and rhythms of contemporary Ghana.
Through a deepened understanding of Ghanaian and African societies, the course reframes Africa not as a static landscape but as a dynamic continent with its own innovative responses to historical and ongoing challenges.
Students enjoy the views at Shai Hills Reserve.Local children celebrate their Ghanian pride.Students prepare to embark through the Akwaaba walkway.
Participants visit the Visa Innovation Studio in Nairobi.
The Alternative Spring Break in Nairobi, Kenya—led by the African Studies Program and facilitated by SFS Professor Ken Opalo and Professor John Kraemer from the School of Health—combines lessons in international development and historical analysis with site visits and outdoor adventures in Kenya.
Students visited government offices, private sector firms and development organizations including Craft Silicon, Food 4 Education and the Visa Innovation Studio. They examined one of Africa’s most dynamic political economies. which faces entrenched development challenges but boasts major innovations in health, decentralization, mobile technology and business.
Hilltop campus students gather in front of Georgetown University in Qatar.
As part of this new course, students explore the cultural, social, historical, theological and political dimensions of two global capitals: Washington, DC, and Doha, Qatar. Through this immersive experience, they study the traditions of both cities and create individual portfolios that reflect their time in the sister city, offering a rich cultural perspective.
Last week, Hilltop campus students traveled to Qatar with SFS Professor Emerita Elizabeth Hervey Stephen, experiencing Doha’s dynamic academic and cultural landscape. They engaged in thought-provoking discussions and visited key institutions such as the Georgetown University in Qatar campus and the Al-Jazeera headquarters. They also engaged with local peers to strengthen cross-campus collaboration and deepen their global understanding.
Students meet for an Iftar celebration.
It was John Katial’s (SFS’25), first time in a Muslim country during Ramadan. He recalls learning to navigate dress codes and public fasting to help preserve the sanctity of the holy month: “Each night, as the evening dusk settled over the city and the last traces of the sun dipped beyond the horizon, a melodious prayer would ring out across the air. People would flock from their places of respite and join one another for Iftar. It was one of the most beautiful displays of community and connection in the name of faith that I have ever seen.”
For Alex Sandner (SFS’25), a Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) student and co-creator of the Building Capitals course, the project was about more than just academics—it was about fostering connections. With the student experience in mind, Sandner explains that his main goal was “to bridge the knowledge gap and to highlight that GU-Q is a fully-fledged Georgetown campus, equal in academic rigor and intellectual contribution to its DC counterpart, yet offering distinct advantages due to its location and regional focus. Hopefully, this is the first of many such collaborations, strengthening the relationship between Georgetown’s global communities.”
As part of this Centennial Lab taught by SFS Professor Rochelle Davis, students explore Egypt’s rich history of preservation, tourism and museum practices. The immersive experience in Egypt both examined how history, politics, technology and the environment shape cultural heritage and addressed global power structures and social justice issues.
Over the course of the week, students studied iconic sites such as the Pyramids and Sphinx, the Grand Egyptian Museum, the Ibn Tulun Mosque and the Coptic Museum. They also enjoyed plenty of hands-on experiences, such as visiting archives, making tiles and exploring music and dance.
Participants gained both theoretical and practical knowledge of cultural heritage, which will prepare them for careers in the fields of international development, tourism, foreign service and beyond.
Global Organizations and Culture: Dominican Republic
Students in the Dikran Izmirlian Program in Business and Global Affairs—a joint undergraduate initiative with Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business (MSB)—took part in a seven-day, on-location international experience in the Dominican Republic as part of their required signature course, led by SFS Professor Mario Ramirez Basora. SFS Professor Kwame Otu and MSB Professor Michael O’Leary also co-taught the course.
Over the course of the week, students engaged with government officials, NGO representatives, local entrepreneurs and community members to explore the complex relationship between the Dominican Republic and Haiti and its impact on regional trade. They toured large-scale agricultural enterprises, such as sugar and banana plantations, where they observed supply chain management firsthand. A key highlight was visiting the binational market near the Haitian border, where they witnessed informal cross-border trade in action.
Students get hands-on experience at a banana plantation.Students tour large-scale agricultural enterprises.This trip is part of a signature course in the Dikran Izmirlian Program in Business and Global Affairs.
Students observe a mass grave at the Jewish cemetery in Iaşi where the victims of the Iaşi pogrom were buried.
This Centennial Lab brought students to Romania and immersed them in the study of the lesser-known “Holocaust by bullets” in Eastern Europe. Guided by forensic anthropologist Fr. Patrick Desbois and human rights lawyer Andrej Umansky, participants reckoned with the historical retellings of mass crimes and learned the forensic methodologies used to investigate genocide and mass atrocities.
During the trip to Romania over spring break, students visited sites of mass killings, listened to the testimonies of local witnesses, and engaged with historians and tour guides dedicated to furthering Holocaust education. The students gained a deeper understanding of the realities of mass violence and memory through visits to key locations such as the Holocaust Memorial in Bucharest and the Iași Pogrom Museum.
Students visit the Great Synagogue in Bucharest.
For Abigail Becker (SFS’27), the Centennial Lab experience also revealed new insights into human nature: “To me, learning about the Holocaust in Romania demonstrated the banality of evil or the idea that evil can be normalized to the point that people participate in extreme violence without thinking.”
The course equips students with practical investigative skills and deeper historical insight by broadening their understanding of genocide beyond the crimes in Western Europe. Hearing firsthand accounts of the atrocities exposed the students to the complex ethical and legal dimensions of uncovering the past in a country where the killings went unrecognized for decades.
“As a Jewish person, being physically present in a place where so many of my community members had experienced deep trauma and tragedy impacted me on a different level than in the classroom, motivating me to continue working to prevent mass genocide in my career and beyond,” Becker says.
In this Centennial Lab, co-taught by SFS Professors Rajesh Veeraraghavan and Katherine Chandler and Sidy Ndao, founder and President of partner school Dakar American University of Science and Technology (DAUST), students investigate how technology can be designed to serve the public goods in both the Global North and South. Students immerse themselves in a bidirectional exchange: SFS students travel to Senegal during GU’s spring break, while DAUST students will spend their break in Washington, DC, in early April.
Students beautiful views in Senegal.
A core part of the class is connecting technological design to the needs of community partners, in order to create technologies that address social problems that transect the globe. During their recent visit, Georgetown students visited local agriculture research, met with mayors in the local townships of Somone and Guereo, traveled to local healthcare clinics, met with communities impacted by heavy floods during the rainy season and engaged community members working in local markets and tourism. Students aim to develop an affordable tool to monitor blood pressure, an app to connect motorbike taxis, a translation app between Wolof and English, a community platform for flood prevention and a tool to connect agricultural researchers and farmers. In Washington, DC, students will meet with local activists who are responding to local challenges, including access to health care, mitigation of climate risks and urban farming.
Through these collaborations, students engage with emerging technologies, policy frameworks and innovative development projects to develop equitable, community-centered approaches that foster dialogue and social impact.
This Centennial Lab, taught by SFS Professor Kristen Looney, allows students to develop an understanding of Taiwan’s dynamic political evolution, specifically how its democracy emerged from years of authoritarian rule and how it endures amidst ongoing geopolitical tensions and security threats from mainland China.
Jazz Jones (SFS’25) shares that she was pleasantly surprised by the “personality” of Taipei and the general sense of kindness from the capital city’s residents: “As a foreigner and mixed Black woman, I was slightly worried about how my appearance would be taken as I walked around the streets of the city. My worries quickly dissipated because everyone was polite and respectfully curious.”
During their trip, the class engaged with Taiwan’s prominent academics and students from National Taiwan University as they explored the island’s historic evolution and current, delicate political balance. Along the way, they visited key historic sites like Longshan Temple and the National Human Rights Museum and immersed themselves in local culture with activities like cooking classes and nature walks.
Among Jones’ favorite moments from the trip was the visit to Hualien Aohua Village, an indigenous Taiwanese village. This included lunch, a tour of the community, meeting elementary-aged students and an informal talk about indigenous rights and environmental concerns.
“I look back at this moment so fondly because much of the class and this trip has focused on the concerns of the urban and international, but this moment in Aohua Village reminded me that the rural and domestic [sides of] Taiwan deserve as much emphasis for any country or nation, politically and socially,” Jones says.
Students get a taste of Taiwanese cuisine during a cooking class.At the Legislative Yuan, students learned more about Taiwan’s political balance.Students experience the rural side of Taiwan in Aohua Village.
