A Schedule

This is the most thorough schedule at this time! Sent to me by SIT:

The schedule described below may be changed depending on local conditions, at the time, particularly weather conditions. It is presented here as the working plan as of today.

From the airport we will travel to Ulaanbaatar (UB) for our Orientation Seminar. This will last a week and will include discussions about the various program components, the academic requirements, and logistics. During this time, we will begin our Fieldwork Studies Seminar (FSS) and you will also be introduced to your language instructors and begin formal study of the Mongolian language. You will also meet your UB host families and begin your urban homestay.

Following our orientation in UB we will drive to Delgerkhaan soum of Hentii, considered one of the most beautiful provinces in Mongolia due to its pristine rivers, taiga forests and wide steppes. Delgerkhaan, the place of Chinggis Khan’s Aurag palace, is where you will live with homestay families of herders and help them during the busy winter preparation season. During this period you will continue to receive language classes from your language instructors and also be required to master nomadic skills and herding songs. You will also be required to collect some oral history from informants in the field and write your first paper.

Following our excursion, we will return to UB for a week and begin the first part of our Thematic Seminars conducted by resident scholars and field specialists. At this time, you will meet and move to your UB host families, and come to school five-six times a week to resume a schedule of daily language classes, excursions and lectures.

The first part of our Thematic Seminar will culminate in an educational excursion through the Hovsgol lake region, the home of several ethnic groups including the nomadic Darkhads and reindeer herders, the Tsaatan/Dukha people. These people are also renowned for their active practices of shamanism. If time permits, we will also try to visit the lake of Hovsgol.
After the Hovsgol excursion, you will return to UB and attend the second part of Thematic Seminar, resuming the schedule of language classes and lectures. During this time you will also be required to finalize your Independent Study Project (ISP) proposals.

The ISP is a month-long segment in which you conduct original fieldwork on a specific topic. As your Academic Director, I will help you to individually design your ISP topics as well as to find resources and contacts. This ISP period is a culmination of the initial three courses - Intensive Language, Culture & Development Seminar, and the Field Study Seminar. Projects might include topics about traditional games, falconry, the folklore of Mongolia’s ethnic groups, sacred landscapes, ‘houmi’ throat-singing, religious dance, Mongolia’s international relations, human trafficking, poverty alleviation programs or revival of traditional medicine. In the past, students have also investigated subjects from shamanism to the role of a specific NGO in Mongolia’s nascent democracy. The possibilities are only limited by your own imagination.

The final week of the program is an important period for assessment of both academic growth and personal change over the course of the semester. During this final evaluation week, each of you will orally present your Independent Study Projects, conduct an overall program evaluation and start to think about and prepare for your re- entry to the U.S.
The program is designed to expose you to as many diverse elements of Mongolian culture as possible. Education is the responsibility of the individual, not the mandate of the teacher. Therefore, you will be expected to motivate yourself to make the most of what can be a truly stimulating experience.