This summer marked a milestone for one of Pitzer’s leading study abroad offerings, the Costa Rica Summer Health program. In the 1990s, Professor of Sociology Ann Stromberg (pictured above, far right) was working with pre-med students who felt that they couldn’t spend a semester abroad. Stromberg thought that a summer program based on health would appeal to them while engaging them in intercultural education and Spanish learning—an asset in this part of the world. After trying Guatemala for a year, Pitzer moved the program in 1998 to the Institute for Central American Development Studies (ICADS), a partner in Costa Rica that had already been hosting individual students. Whether students want to fulfill Pitzer’s Social Responsibility Praxis requirement, improve their Spanish, or work in education or health care, they’re able to expand their academic horizons in Costa Rica.

“It’s been one of the greatest pleasures of my career for Pitzer to allow me create this,” said Stromberg. “A strong combination makes this program special: the home stay, intensive Spanish, hands-on internships, and raising questions of social justice and environmental health. It’s all part of Pitzer’s mission and ICADS’ mission.”