IS Summit Retreat

The Summit retreat is back for Spring 2023! 

The IS Summit is a weekend retreat for IS majors and minors
to reflect and connect while studying abroad.

Study abroad can be a life-changing experience, but it can also be a blur while you’re in the middle of it. So we’re offering a unique opportunity to reflect on that experience while it’s happening. At the IS Summit, you’ll explore and integrate the challenges, insights, and growth experiences that arise in your academic and personal life while studying abroad.

Thanks to a collaboration with the Center for Student Formation, the entire weekend is offered at almost no cost. Students need only to pay for their travel to/from Amsterdam, and subsidies are available for those with financial need.

About the Summit:

Our inaugural Summit took place in mid-March, 2019, at a country estate in the English countryside of Sussex.  Our second Summit, planned for late March 2020, was cancelled due to COVID-19 health and travel restrictions, as was the Spring 2021 Summit.  The next Summit will be hosted in the beautiful city of Amsterdam, from March 24-26, 2023! See the Program flyer for more details.

We are also working with the Office of Global Education and the Center for Student Formation, and hope to expand the program in the future to provide reflective experiences for students abroad in the Fall semester, and for those who can't meet physically due to travel or health reasons.

What will you do there?

  • Reflect on the academic and personal aspects of your study abroad experience at the mid-point of your semester.

  • Connect with your fellow IS majors in small-group settings and social hours.

  • Get to know International Studies faculty and other faculty, staff, and administrators from the BC community.

  • Enjoy the fascinating city of Amsterdam! 
Amsterdam canal and homes

How does it work?

  • Eligibility: Open to IS majors and minors studying abroad, and other BC students studying abroad if space is available. 

  • Size: We can host up to 20 students. Slots fill on a first-come basis, with priority for majors.

  • Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands 
    Students will share private rooms at the hip ClinkNOORD, housed in an iconic building on Amsterdam's riverfront. Our retreat will take place in the Tolhuistuin cultural center, directly across a small canal from where you're staying.

  • Travel: Students are be asked to arrive into Amsterdam by train or plane by noon of Friday March 24. (You'll take the train to Centraal station and catch a free 5-minute ferry across the IJ River to your lodging.)

    Students are free to depart after noon on Sunday, or of course can stay to explore the city as you wish. 

 

Images from the 2019 Summit retreat, in Sussex, England

Ashdown Park Hotel, in East Sussex, England, site of the 2019 IS Summit.