The International Honors Program is in its 50th year of providing an unequaled opportunity for college students to examine the most significant social, political and environmental issues confronting countries and cultures around the world.

The hallmark of IHP’s programs is a unique comparative approach in which participants study a thematic topic in several different countries over one semester or full academic year. This multinational perspective allows students to analyze and contrast today’s global conditions, evaluate issues and challenges, and compare solutions. The IHP experience engenders new questions and ideas, and prompts students to consider their lifelong roles in the global community.

Themes such as public health, the environment, globalization, urban planning, governance, social justice and human rights are studied within the framework of the program.

Offered in affiliation with SIT, the accredited higher education program of World Learning, IHP offers a rigorous curriculum enhanced by a diversity of learning methods and settings.

Experiential activities such as site visits and case studies complement interdisciplinary team teaching led by in-country and traveling faculty. Students also step out of the classroom to interact with activists, public figures, government and organizational leaders, as well as citizens from all walks of life who are directly involved in the themes explored. Homestays give students the opportunity to get to know local families and to become immersed in the culture and traditions of each country, creating lasting connections and memorable insights.

IHP participants are as broadly diverse as the places they visit and the people they meet. Personal backgrounds and areas of study vary widely among students, who come from all academic levels at colleges and universities across the USA, Canada and beyond.