YOUR IDENTITY BARCELONA | DUBLIN | FLORENCE | LONDON | SYDNEY
CAPA UNDERSTANDS THAT WE ALL CARRY DIFFERENT IDENTITIES Exploring your identities within the setting of a global city is an important part of your abroad experience, and CAPA offers resources and materials to help you prepare for your time abroad. CAPA’s commitment to diversity extends to the personal, experiential, and academic experiences throughout all of our communities. We strive to create inclusive environments for our students that allow them to experience and learn from people with diverse backgrounds, worldviews, and cultural traditions.
GETTING STARTED As a student studying in the US, you might find the perception of your identities may change while abroad. Some questions to consider might include: • H ow does the host country generally view people from the United States? • H ow does my racial, ethnic, or religious identity translate within the context of diversity in the host country? • How LGBTQ+-friendly is the host country? • W hat is the racial, ethnic, and religious makeup of the host country?
CHOOSING YOUR LOCATION CAPA Global Cities are cosmopolitan, multicultural, and socioeconomically diverse. As you choose your destination, CAPA can help advise on local resources, budgeting estimates, language differences, and more.
CONVERSATIONS WITH FAMILIES Studying abroad can be a life-changing experience, and we know making the choice to go abroad is a big decision. We want to ensure parents and families feel equipped to understand the CAPA study abroad experience, how we manage health and safety, scholarship options, and the value of international opportunities in US higher education. Join one of CAPA’s info sessions or learn more on our Parents and Families page: www.capa.org/parents-families
RESOURCES MY IDENTITY ABROAD in the CAPA Community App contains a variety of articles and resources tailored to your global city with topics including cultural and socioeconomic diversity in the city, services for students with disabilities, resources for LGBTQIA students, health and wellness services, and articles on practicing your religion abroad. Your assigned Program Manager and our team overseas will provide pre-departure and in-country advising, and are available 24/7 to offer support or connect you with additional resources. The CAPA World blog offer a number of resources based on students’ personal experiences studying and interning abroad. Topics covered include mental health issues abroad, live abroad as a person of color, London’s queer culture, African diaspora communities in London, and much more: capaworld.capa.org/topic/ diversity-abroad. CAPA is a member of the DIVERSITY ABROAD NETWORK, which offers students a robust online community of resources from information on scholarships and financing study abroad to destination and how-to guides. CAPA is proud to be the recipient of the 2020 Diversity Abroad Institutional Champion Award.
MY GLOBAL CITY CAPA’s My Global City calendar of activities will connect you with the history and culture of your host city. Some examples of events include: • An Aboriginal art workshop in Sydney • A walking tour of London through the lens of Black history • A guest lecture on Catalonia’s independence movement in Barcelona
BE AN ADVOCATE ABROAD! DIVERSITY ADVOCATES PROGRAM AND SCHOLARSHIP In recognition of the powerful role that our students play as leaders and advocates on their campuses, CAPA’s Diversity Advocates Program (DAP) seeks to connect student activists, organizers, and leaders with opportunities to engage with the work of diversity, access, and inclusion during their program abroad. Recipients are awarded grants of $1,000 for the semester for completing a project during their CAPA program related to inclusion, access, and equity. Past Diversity Advocates’ project topics include study and engagement with:
CAPA can also advise and recommend other study abroad scholarship opportunities through our access partner networks, such as: • Fund for Education Abroad (FEA) • Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program, for Pell Grant eligible students • F EA Rainbow Scholarship, for LGBTQIA+ students
• Storytelling and the immigrant experience in London • Black History Month in Florence • Cultural festivals in Sydney For more information, visit: www.capa.org/scholarships
…these stories are overlooked in our history textbooks…. [and] I have learned more about London’s cultural and historical landscapes than I ever could have done in a classroom.
2019 DAP SCHOL AR
LEARN MORE AT CAPA.ORG/DIVERSIT Y GET STARTED ON YOUR JOURNEY ABROAD AT CAPA.ORG OR CONTACT US BY PHONE AT 800.793.0334