Our courses are designed in collaboration with local communities, learning first hand about ecology, human rights and what it takes to create a more sustainable world. With the greatest diversity of any study-abroad program in Thailand, students learn and work with villagers and local experts from the North to the South of Thailand.
All ISDSI courses are expedition based and experiential. Most of your time will be outside in the field directly studying culture and ecology. This may include backpacking and hiking through the jungle, sea kayaking, skin diving coral reefs, talking with tribal elders, working alongside villagers, etc. Strongly experiential with high academic standards, the ISDSI courses are challenging--and rewarding!
For an application, email apply@isdsi.org.
FOUNDATIONS: Thai Language, Society and Development.
This intensive two part course focuses on the acquisition of the Thai language and
understanding of Thai society and key issues in development. In addition to small intensive
language classes, students study the urban geography of Chiang Mai city and selected topics
in Thai culture and society. |
 FORESTS: Ethnic people and natural resources.
Working with Karen villagers in the remote northern mountains of Mae Hong Son, students will study how the Karen are working to preserve their
forest and traditional way of life. Students will spend time backpacking between villages, working in the fields and forests, and learning about the
culture and local ecosystems of the Karen.
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AGROECOLOGY: Social and Biological Factors in Sustainable
Agriculture [Biology/Sociology]
Food--or the lack of it--is probably the most important challenge facing the poor. This course looks at
the problem of sustainable food production by examining agroecology--sustainable farming based on ecological
principles. This course includes extensive field studies of both upland and lowland agriculture and communities.
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ISLANDS: Marine Protected
Areas and Reef Ecology [Ecology/Geography]
Island communities are on the front line of the ecological impact of marine resource depletion and global fish stocks. This course examines islands, focusing on the human communities that depend on fishing and
on reef ecology.
The course is in the Adang Archipelago in the Andaman Sea, Southern Thailand.
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 RIVERS: Human rights and the environment.
The Rivers course works with two communities--one group in the Northeast displaced by the building of
the Pak Mun Dam, and a group in the North fighting to keep the Yom river from being dammed. Living with displaced villagers and paddling the Yom
with village elders is a unique opportunity to understand the link between human rights and the environment.
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 COASTS : Islands, reefs and mangroves.
The Coastal course starts out sea
kayaking, skin-diving and studying the reefs and mangrove forests of Trang, Southern Thailand, and wraps up with students living in a small
fishing village which is working to conserve its threatened mangroves and sea grasses upon which their livelihoods depend.
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| Students earn 16 credits of coursework each semester, with the option of a 4 credit-hour internship. |
INTERNSHIP: Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGOs) and Development. A
service-learning internship is a chance for students to work with a local organization
focused on sustainable development issues and apply what they have
learned during their field expedition courses to a specific project and problem. (Optional for summer)
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The program is open to undergraduate students in all majors in good academic standing (minimum 2.7 GPA) and enrolled in accredited US colleges and universities. While not required, students are strongly urged to have taken some classes dealing with sustainable development, ecology and ecosystems, development studies, and related fields before the program starts.
To learn more, please read the Course pages, as well as the information on applying, and our FAQ. To learn more about the ISDSI approach to experiential education, please read our whitepaper.