Finca de Samford
Samford in Costa Rica
The newest addition to the Samford Abroad portfolio, Finca de Samford provides exciting experiences and opportunities for Samford students in Costa Rica.
¡Pura Vida!
The Finca de Samford is located near Ciudad Colón in the canton of Mora. It is the district’s head city. Ciudad Colón is located about forty-minutes southwest of San José. Ciudad Colón is near the Universidad para la Paz, a United Nations mandated university focused on issues of peace and sustainability. Semester students studying at the Finca de Samford will learn about the diversity of Costa Rica, its people groups, industries, agriculture, the arts, and other sectors, while engaging in experiential learning opportunities in Ciudad Colón and the great San José metropolitan area.
Connecting with Culture
For this course, Costa Rica Culture and Society (INTL 399), students will head out on a variety of excursions to connect with important places in Costa Rica. Through these hands-on activities, students will learn from a variety of local experts, and their faculty-in-residence about the history, geography, and people groups of Costa Rica.
Community: Connecting with People
Designed to fit any language level, from absolute beginner, to almost bilingual, Spanish for Costa Rica (INTL 300), focuses on practical language learning. Students are given assignments that build their vocabulary, speaking skills, and linguistic cultural lenses. Every lesson takes students out of their textbooks and into the community, requiring them to put the lessons into practice by communicating with local Costa Ricans and exploring important cultural sites.
Identity: Connecting with Self
In this Special Topics (INTL 430) course, students will be guided to reflect on their experiences through the lenses of identity, intercultural competence, and vocational calling. This course will also deal with the pragmatics of living abroad, such as strategies for cultural adjustment and settling in, skills of cultural observation, and facing the return home. No matter a student’s reason for choosing to study at Finca de Samford, this course will help them get the most out of their time there.
Faculty in Residence Course: Connecting with Expertise
Each semester, the Faculty in Residence will teach a course that connects their field of study with the local culture. Faculty leaders will take the course material out of the presentation slides and into the real world. These courses will generally count toward core curriculum requirements but will vary in their credit area with the semester’s faculty leader.