What is the Social Engagement Program about?
The Social Engagement Program is Iberoamericana's Service Learning program for foreign students. The Ibero offers students the option to engage and to volunteer in a wide range of different social projects and thereby apply the knowledge obtained in their career. It's an academic activity carried out to benefit society and to strenghten the professional and human formation of the program's participants.
Participating in the program, students spend several weeks (up to a whole semester) working in a project of one of our 200 partner organizations (mainly NGOs). The participation can be designed in a flexible way, and can be integrated into a regular abroad semester, doing regular classes and gaining credits before, after or even during the project work.
What's the objective?
Getting to know the social reality of Mexico, contributing to the solution of problems in the communities and offering answers to the different social demands.
Who is the program addressed to?
To those students who want to:
- Apply their professional skills and personal creativity in solving social necessities.
- Find an authentic personal and professional growth by experiencing and understanding the Mexican reality.
- Contact other people in different cultural contexts.
- Get accreditation for a social internship from their home university.
- Enhance their curriculum by volunteer activities.
- Have a great time abroad.
Where are the projects carried out?
The projects are mainly carried out in Mexico City and in the southeastern states of Mexico (like Chiapas and Oaxaca). The main characteristic of the regions where the projects are established is the state of extreme poverty, marginalization and social vulnerability of the population.
Can credits be obtained?
Students have the option to carry out their project as a volunteering experience (without obtaining academic credits, but just available for the summer sessions), or they can choose to do the credit modality. In this credit modality, the participation in the Social Engagement Program is considered as an academic activity, and as such it provides academic credits. The number of credits depends on the participation in the mandatory online workshop and the overall number of working hours in the chosen project. When participating in the online workshop, students obtain the necessary theoretical background that they need to reflect on the social reality in Mexico and on their project work. In the volunteering modality in summer, the participation in the online workshop is not mandatory.
Can you enroll in additional courses at the same time?
The participation in the program can be carried out as a "stand-alone" program, or it can be combined with regular courses at the Ibero. For example, some students designate one day each week for the social project, studying at the Ibero during the remaining four days of the week. This option is only practicable when the chosen project is located in the Mexico City area. Another option would be to do the program once the regular semester has finished, and to work full-time in the chosen project during several weeks or months.
With previous authorization from the academic coordinators and the assigned teachers, there is even the option to carry out the program in other geographical region (farer away from Mexico City, e.g. in Chiapas or Oaxaca), taking some courses online at the same time. This way, additional academic credits can be obtained, without the necessity of carrying out the project within Mexico City.
During your stay:
Online workshop: The participation is flanked by personalized advisory services and, in case students choose the credit modality, by an online workshop. The workshop for Mexio City projects is carried out at the Ibero.
Supervision: Students working at the projects are visited regularly onsite by Ibero staff, and have an assigned Ibero advisor with whom they are constantly in contact via internet. At the project sites, a supervising tutor is in charge of the students' everyday work.
Which activities can be carried out? (examples)
Students participating in the Social Engagement Program will be preferably assigned to projects that match with their respective degree program. Thus, a Business student might be designing a marketing plan for small businesses, while a Pedagogy student would likely be teaching in elementary schools or designing a community program for adult education. Here are some examples of possible fields of work within the projects:
- School teaching.
- Rehabilitation and integration of handicapped people.
- Education and promotion of human and civil rights.
- Assistance to micro and small enterprises.
- Health services.
- Environmental protection.
- and more.
A more detailled list of the thematic project areas is published here.
When can you participate?
Depending on the modality and the personal preferences of the student, the stay can last a whole regular semester (January to May, or August to December), or a shorter period in summer.
What modalities are there?
The Ibero offers two different modalities to participate in the projects. In order to meet different demands and necessities of interested students, the schedules and the amount of working hours can be adjusted to a certain degree.
Credit modality: 100+ hours of project work and workshop
- Participation may start in January or August.
- 8 academic credits are granted (corresponding to 6 ECTS or 3-4 semester credit hours).
Extracurricular Modality ("volunteering"):
- As volunteering program (without academic credits), without the necessity of doing the workshop. Academic credits option available upon request.
- This modality is just avalable in summer (June/July). A minimum of 90 hours of project work is required.
- The participation possible during/after a regular study period at IBERO, or as a stand-alone program.
What is the cost?
There is no fee for students from partner universities who do a regular exchange semester at the Ibero during or before the participation in this program. The fee for independant and external students, with or without taking courses at the Ibero, is $390 USD (20% discount for students from any of our partner universities). In case academic credits are required (credit modality), the tuition fee for one regular 8-Ibero-credit courses applies.
What do you have to do to participate?
If you are interested in participating, or if you need additional information, contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Testimonials:
