Communications & Journalism in the Dominican Republic

Please note, this program is open to faculty and staff along with students. If faculty are interested in taking a group of students this program, please contact us to learn about possibilities. 

To read more of our itinerary, click “Register Now” to view the registration portal.

Communications and Journalism in the Dominican Republic
March 28, 2020 – April 5, 2020 : Register Now (use Trip 182778)

• Site Visits: Visiting various sites will give students the chance to develop stories based on what they find important and relevant. Students will visit Centro León, Monumento a los Héroes de la Restauración, La Catedral, Parque Duarte, along with other sites that speak to the history and complexity of the Dominican Republic.
• Guest Lectures: Guest lectures will be given by host university professors, and will discuss digital communication, audiovisual communications, and touch on the complex history of the Dominican Republic and Haitian relations.
• Hermanas Mirabal Museum & Cocoa Trail: Students will have the opportunity to view the movie ‘In the Time of the Butterflies’ which tells the story of the Mirabal Sisters, who became some of the most iconic faces of the opposition to the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo, ruler of the Dominican Republic from 193-1961. This movie will give students a glimpse into this dark period of Dominican history and an idea of how just how recently the Dominican Republic was under Trujillo’s brutal regime, which is often overlooked outside of Latin American history books. Later, students will visit the home-museum of the Mirabal sisters, which houses many historical artifacts from the sisters’ movements and legacies. (Entrance fee included). On the way to the museum, students will visit the Sendero de Cacao, or Cocoa Trail, a plantation and factory where they will learn the process of planting Cacao plants and what makes the Dominican Ecosystem perfectly suitable for the plants. Then, students will visit the chocolate factory and learn how the plantation’s cacao beans are made into chocolate.
• Cigar Factory: Learn about the importance of tobacco in the economy in the Dominican Republic. Tour a cigar factory and learn about the art of cigar making, which can take anywhere from 2 to 3 years, from planting the tobacco to rolling the cigar. The history and tradition of cigar smoking in the Dominican Republic offers many possibilities to create journalistic work. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in the Dominican Republic, and history generally credits Christopher Columbus with introducing tobacco to Europe. Learn more about this industry and uncover the history behind cigar manufacture in the DR.
• Service Project: Give back to the community by participating in a service learning project, details TBA. Find more information about potential service learning projects on the Dominican Republic ISA Service Project website.
• Homestays: Students will  have the unique experience of living with a family for the duration of your program. This gives students the ability to learn more about their topic of interest, and source information to supplement the focus of assignments or coursework.
• Independent Study: Students are given time to work on independent projects or coursework assigned by home universities.