CLACS Featured Study Abroad

Costa Rica

In late May 2025, 11 students (both undergraduate and graduate) participated in the KU School of Social Welfare’s study abroad program in Costa Rica, "International Social Services: A Costa Rican Perspective", receiving 3 hours of KU credit in 12 packed days of learning with University of Costa Rica faculty, site visits to community partners, and meaningful cultural exchanges. The program, which received valuable support this year from KU’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, introduces students to Costa Rican perspectives on social work education and practice, profoundly enriching their academic study and professional preparation. Students got the chance to meet with leaders at PANI (Patronato Nacional de la Infancia)—the nation’s child welfare organization—a social worker leading water justice efforts in rural Costa Rican communities, and an organization combating gender-based violence from San Ramon. KU was greeted generously in all these encounters, and students were able to ask questions to help them connect their international learning to their own future social work careers, including considering how U.S.-based social workers can ally with Central American migrants in our communities and how Costa Ricans serve LGBTQ+ populations within the Catholic cultural context. Students found the two days in Guácimo, where they experienced the community-engaged practice of social worker and UCR professor Liliana Monge, particularly inspiring. Liliana and the students in her interdisciplinary TCU (Trabajo-Communitario-Universitario) project collaborate with small family farms to diversify their revenue streams with the incorporation of eco-tourism activities, where social work students focus on community-building with the association that represents the farmers. KU students continue to reflect on these experiences as the course concludes back in Kansas, but it’s already evident their time in Costa Rica will shape their evolving social work identities for years to come. Pura vida!

Cuba

Marta Caminero-Santangelo, CLACS affiliated faculty member, led the Study Abroad trip "Literature, Arts and Culture in Cuba" during Spring Break 2025. She was joined by CLACS Assistant Director Mary Raple, CLACS graduate student worker Mary Self, and CLACS affiliated professor Luciano Tosta, along with other undergraduate and graduate students, for a 9-day immersive experience in Cuba.