Notes from JUPS students’ study abroad semester

Keatyn Wede is a JUPS major. She is from Mitchell, South Dakota, and studied abroad in Stockholm, Sweden.

Sami Levick (she/her) is a JUPS major. She is from Boynton Beach, Florida, and studied abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Both students noticed how their academic major in Justice and Peace Studies prepared and shaped their perspectives on the classes they took while studying abroad. Keatyn “often felt a bit of pressure to represent the field,” specifically highlighting how she “leaned heavily on [her] lessons from Conflict Transformation [a JUPS core class]” in one of her classes. In Sami’s Social Movements and Human Rights program, she saw “similar themes of social justice, human dignity, and community organizing” that she had learned about in previous JUPS courses.

Travel was an important part of both students’ experiences. Keatyn enjoyed traveling with her cohort to the Budapest Opera House (featured below) to learn more about European security dilemmas, her “core course” in her program.

Sami expressed how thankful she was to have “chats” with Indigenous Mapuche community members across different regions of Argentina, including southern Patagonia (featured below). She pointed out how “grateful [she was] to have had the opportunity to learn directly from community members about how they are battling problems like destructive environmental policies or land disputes.”

Both students expressed how rewarding their experiences were, not only as Hoyas but as JUPS students!