The 25th Annual Conference of the Association of Academic Programs in Latin America and the Caribbean (AAPLAC) came to a close on Saturday, February 22 in Bogotá, Colombia with the announcement that InteRDom would host the 2015 edition of the conference at its parent institution, FUNGLODE’s, headquarters in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
During this year’s 4-day conference aat the Universidad de La Salle, Chapinero Campus, InteRDom representatives had the opportunity to explore the unique culture and history of Colombia, network with other international education professionals and participate in workshops and seminars surrounding the conference theme, “Cross Cultural Tools in Constructing Un Mundo Mejor.”
The AAPLAC Conference is unique in that it brings together a diversity of parties involved in international exchange—study abroad and international programs personnel from U.S. universities, local program coordinators in Latin American countries, U.S. faculty leaders of short programs in Latin America and representatives from Latin American host universities. The participants share challenges, successes and strategies to improve the quality of study abroad programs in Latin America, proper student preparation and innovative proposals for new and unique programming.
In the 2014 edition, InteRDom representatives made presentations during two sessions, in the first presenting tools for identity-building activities for cultural adaptation and in the second providing additional information about Santo Domingo as the next conference destination.
AAPLAC was created with the vision of facilitating and supporting the programming between Latin American and Caribbean higher education institutions and organizations dedicated to promoting academic and intercultural experiences with institutions in the United States. By its nature, it fosters communication between those institutions and professionals in the region.
InteRDom, an initiative of Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) and Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE), is the premier internship, research, academic study and exchange program in the Dominican Republic. It offers international students the opportunity to research important topics at the forefront of the United Nations agenda, obtain professional experience by interning with Dominican organizations and businesses related to their fields of study and/or earn academic credits by taking courses and seminars at a local university.