Community Service Argentina
Embark on a month-long partnership with a rural community, joining local people in completing important service projects. Help make building improvements to the village’s high school, tend community crops, and teach English to local children. Experience Argentina’s geographic and cultural diversity on visits to Iguazú Falls, and to the avenues, monuments, and cafés of cosmopolitan Buenos Aires.
Community Service Costa Rica
Discover a simpler life as you stay for a month in a rural Costa Rican village and work side by side with local people on service projects useful to the community. Wake each morning to the sounds of howler monkeys and exotic birds and spend your day helping build a community center or classroom, teaching English, or running a summer camp for local kids.
Community Service Dominica
Join us for three weeks of community service in a small rural village tucked into the volcanic hills of Dominica’s windward coast. Organize a summer arts program for kids, join local workers to complete small-scale construction projects, snorkel in crystal clear ocean water among schools of tropical fish, and explore the Victorian capital of Roseau.
Community Service Dominican Republic
Travel to a small village on the Dominican Republic’s undeveloped southwestern coast to live and volunteer with welcoming Dominicans and complete several important community projects. Spend your days running an enrichment camp for children, laying cement blocks to help build a new classroom, and learning about the lives of local families as they support themselves by finishing semiprecious larimar stone for jewelry and ocean fishing from wood longboats.
Community Service Ecuador & the Galápagos
Spend three weeks living in a small village in the highlands of this fascinating country – with a culture as colorful and diverse as the local array of brilliantly dyed llama wool sweaters. Join members of the local community in meaningful service projects, from light construction to teaching schoolchildren, to helping with the local harvest. Then, explore the other-worldly landscapes and extraordinary wildlife of the Galápagos – one of the most unusual places on earth and home to giant tortoises, lava tunnels, equatorial penguins, marine iguanas, and blue-footed boobies. Traveling from island to island by boat, cruise, hike, and snorkel through unmatched geographic and biological diversity.
Community Service Fiji
Join us for three weeks of community service and exploration in the South Pacific. Work alongside community members to complete a small-scale construction project and volunteer time at the local kindergarten. Gain a deeper understanding of the Fijian way of life and learn about this diverse island nation. Fijians maintain strong ties to their heritage by preserving the traditional arts, ceremonies, and ways of life that make the island culture so unique. Experience this culture first hand as you get to know our Fijian hosts and explore the mountains, coast, and coral reefs of this charming country.
Community Service Ghana
Spend a month in a small fishing village in Ghana, West Africa. Work on meaningful projects at the Trinity Yard School with local friends, visit the breathtaking Wli Falls, and learn about Ghana’s history at the Cape Coast slave castle.
Community Service India
Experience life in high desert India, and join an effort to bring educational opportunities to rural families, especially girls, who otherwise would not go to school. Help out at the school while absorbing the rich colors, sounds, and scents of village life from our unique base in a renovated castle.
Community Service Nusa Penida
Awaken to the sounds of gamelan music and join the rhythm of village life for a month of service and cultural immersion on the island of Nusa Penida. Work alongside local people to complete a variety of meaningful projects, and explore the secluded white sand beaches, the towering limestone cliffs which rise from the Indian Ocean, and the thriving coral reefs of this mystical place.
Community Service Peru
Immerse yourself in village life in Peru’s historic and culturally rich Sacred Valley, as you take on construction and agricultural projects alongside local people in an indigenous community. Over the course of one month’s time, complete meaningful service projects, learn about the colorful and rich culture of the descendants of the Incas, and visit some of the most important sites of the ancient Incan empire, including Machu Picchu.
Community Service Rwanda
Immerse yourself in village life as you join extraordinarily warm local people to work on community-initiated projects, from construction at a school to working with handicapped young people. Visit memorials of the 1994 genocide, and talk with survivors about Rwanda’s progressive approach to reconciliation. Explore the lush northern volcanoes region of Rwanda and visit Lake Kivu before your return home.
Community Service Senegal
Immerse yourself in the rhythm of Senegalese village life, as you work alongside local friends tending fields, making bricks for a construction project, or simply sharing stories in the shade of a mango tree. We explore the vibrant, historic cities of Dakar and Saint-Louis, view the abundant wildlife of the Bandia Reserve and the Sine-Saloum mangroves, and become a part of our small community, where Senegal’s national motto, “Teranga” or “Welcome” is a heartfelt way of life.
Community Service Tanzania
Immerse yourself in village life as you join local people to work on community-initiated projects, from constructing a classroom to teaching school children. During the final week, enjoy a specially designed safari that combines world-class wildlife viewing in Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire National Park with a stay at a remote Maasai village.
Community Service Vietnam
Immerse yourself in the life of a tiny Vietnamese village by partnering with the community to build three simple houses for some of the poorest residents. Just five kilometers from the site of the My Lai massacre, our work provides an opportunity to engage in satisfyingly tangible service and to build lasting connections with the friendly and enthusiastic local people.
Cultural Exploration Australia, New Zealand, Fiji
Join us for an active cultural adventure Down Under. Experience subtropical Queensland, the alpine winter landscapes of New Zealand, and the South Pacific paradise of Fiji. Get beyond the typical tourist itinerary and experience these unique places in engaging and exciting ways.
Cultural Exploration Kilimanjaro
Immerse yourself in village life as you join local people to work on community-initiated projects, from construction to teaching school children. Join trekking experts to attempt an ascent of majestic Mt. Kilimanjaro, 19,340 feet high. During the final days, enjoy a specially designed safari that combines world-class wildlife viewing in Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire National Park with a stay at a Maasai village.
Cultural Exploration Switzerland, Italy, France, Holland
From the mountain trails and summer snowfields of the Swiss Alps and the Italian Dolomites, to the rich culture of Florence and Paris, and on to the bike paths, cheese markets, and beaches of rural Holland, join us to experience Europe as an actively engaged traveler with a group of like-minded students. This is the original Putney program, first led 61 years ago by founders George and Kitty Shumlin.
Cultural Exploration Theatre in Britain
Join the storied ranks of the Putney Players as we work as a team to write and produce an original production for debut at the world-renowned Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Deepen your knowledge of acting, playwriting, stagecraft, history of the theatre, and publicity on your way to a comprehensive understanding of the theatre world.
Cultural Exploration Turkey
From the soaring minarets and spice bazaars of Istanbul, to the lunar landscape of Cappadocia, on to the expansive ancient ruins at Ephesus, and ending with a scenic cruise along the Mediterranean, join us for an active cultural adventure in Turkey. Go beyond the typical tourist itinerary and experience this unique and colorful country in engaging and exciting ways. In recent years visitors have begun to recognize Turkey for its unparalleled mixture of cultures, both ancient and modern, and for its importance as a place where these cultures interact, learn about each other, and devise ways to coexist and thrive.
Excel Amherst College
Join us for three weeks of college-style learning on the tree-shaded, historic campus of the prestigious liberal arts school, Amherst College. Excel’s small seminars are engaging, interactive, and free from the pressure of grades and exams. Explore your artistic side with a Drawing or Photography class or debate investment strategies in a Business and Economics seminar. Make new friends from across the country and around the world, and be inspired by your supportive and talented instructors. Take weekend excursions to some of New England’s most beautiful cities, beaches, and natural areas.
Excel China
Experience the excitement of contemporary China and the richness of its cultural heritage through in-depth, field-based learning. Build your Mandarin language skills, and explore economics, religion, current events, or photography in a small seminar. From your base in Beijing, visit the Great Wall, Hangzhou, and Shanghai.
Excel Madrid/Barcelona
Get to know modern Spain through the complementary lenses of its two largest cities: Madrid, the stately hub, and Barcelona, the cosmopolitan port. Choose from fun, field-based seminars to improve your Spanish skills, build a photography portfolio, or learn about dynamic Spanish artists such as Goya, Dalí, and Picasso. Spend a weekend in the Pyrenées and take days trips to Segovia, Toledo, and the Mediterranean coast.
Excel Oxford/Tuscany
From the Gothic spires of Oxford’s venerable colleges, to the dazzling lights of Paris, to the marbled Roman basilicas and renaissance legacy of Florence, join us for a month of cultural and intellectual exploration in three of Europe’s most evocative and historic cities. Choose two fun, field-based seminars as your focus. Build a photography or design portfolio, learn about the complexities of European integration, hone your creative writing skills, and much more! Spend three days in Paris, and take day trips to the vibrant cities of London, Venice, and Rome, as well as the seaside villages of Cinque Terre.
Foundations Costa Rica
Using a small beach town as your home base, set out to explore beautiful Costa Rica. Enjoy the tropical white sand beaches of the Pacific coast, and immerse yourself in the local culture while working alongside villagers to complete community service projects.
Global Awareness in Action Cambodia
Join a small team to learn in-depth about the lives of contemporary Cambodians, to record their stories, and to shape this material through the lens of your personal impressions to prepare as a team a production that fuses Cambodians’ accounts with your perspectives. Present your team’s work at Yale University at the conclusion of the program.
Global Awareness in Action El Salvador
Join us in El Salvador as we travel the road from increased understanding of this Central American country to constructive action. Experience first-hand how the energy and passion of Salvadoran youth can vitally transform this beautiful but economically challenged nation. Travel to Yale University during the last three days of the program to share your experiences with all Global Action groups.
Global Awareness in Action India
Join us for one of Putney’s most “off the beaten track” programs as you explore issues related to conservation and resource allocation on large and small scales while surrounded by the extraordinary beauty of Northern India’s Himalaya mountains. Live and work with young students at an innovative school, hike from village to village over high passes, stay with Tibetan monks in monasteries, and contrast the calm majesty of the mountains with the frenetic pace of New Delhi and the serenity of the Taj Mahal in Agra. Travel to Yale University during the last three days of the program to share your experiences with all Global Action groups.
Global Awareness in Action Rwanda
Join a small group of students and two leaders in an in-depth examination of the provision of health care in Rwanda—a small, lush, mountainous Eastern African nation with a horrific recent history, but a remarkably progressive and positive approach to confronting its challenges. Visit and work in settings ranging from a remote rural health clinic to more modern and better-equipped facilities in a small city, and return with a nuanced understanding of the human, social, economic, and technical issues affecting public health provision in a developing nation. Travel to Yale University during the last three days of the program to share your experiences with all Global Action groups.
Language Learning Argentina
Give your Spanish speaking a boost by immersing yourself in Argentine life with a month of community service-based language learning and travel adventures. From the gregarious people and rugged natural beauty of your host village, to the colonial splendor of Salta, to sophisticated and thriving Buenos Aires, explore the fascinating cultural and geographic range of this South American gem.
Language Learning Costa Rica
Immerse yourself in the life of a rural Costa Rican village where you are surrounded by lush mountains, high altitude coffee farms, and warm, welcoming Ticos. Practice your Spanish with a farmer while you harvest coffee beans, learn to lay blocks as you build a wall at the community center, run a day camp for children, and delve into Costa Rican life during a week-long family homestay.
Language Learning France
Immerse yourself in French language and culture as you explore the cosmopolitan cities and off-the-beaten-track villages of France with a group of motivated, like-minded students. Visit the chateaux of the Loire Valley, swim and picnic beneath the Pont du Gard, go zip-lining and canyoning in the Alps, and spend a week becoming part of a French family.
Language Learning Spain
Immerse yourself in Spanish language and culture as you explore Spain’s cosmopolitan cities and small, whitewashed villages with a group of motivated, like-minded students. Visit El Museo del Prado in Madrid and the Alhambra palace of Granada, learn to surf on Spain’s northern coast, hike and horseback ride in the Picos de Europa mountains, and spend a week paired with a local teenager.
Space
From confused cave men to the curious early scientists of the Middle Ages to stargazing modern day astronomers, space has fascinated humans since time immemorial. Space was long thought to be mysterious or even incomprehensible, but our understanding and perception …
