Immersed in the culture
Short-term opportunities
2026 experiences announced
Most students fulfill their cross-cultural requirement through a May term experience, typically at the end of the sophomore or junior year. While each experience is unique, all provide an opportunity to interact with people in the host community, through formal presentations and in service settings.
Lodging is usually in a group setting (guest house, hotel, conference center, kibbutz or convent), with some opportunities for overnight or weekend home stays with host families.
Leader: Sarah Lehman & Christy Garmatter
Explore historical, cultural and geological areas including the Ecuator Museum, the market and an active volcano. Stay with host families and volunteer at the Centro Medico clinic.
Leader: Darryl Nester
Students work with and for local homeowners, building relationships that enrich all involved. Students do a range of work from painting and fixing leaky roofs to assisting with home additions and renovations, all the while getting acquainted with the families whose homes are being repaired.
Leader: Paul Neufeld Weaver and Brienne Sprunger
Students will visit rural and urban areas along with the Island of Zanzibar. Students will also learn basic Swahili and see lions, elephants, and zebras. Everyone on the trip will live with local host families for the duration of the experience.
Leader: Claire Kleman
Students will live at the EMU Washington Semester center in the Brookland neighborhood.
Projects and activities will include visiting and volunteering with local nonprofit
organizations, theater performances, neighborhood exploration, museums, local restaurants,
and cultural events.
Building relationships on campus and abroad
“The discussions we had in classes, the cross-cultural experience and the whole Bluffton package encouraged my passion and drive to be part of something bigger,” said Holly Metzger '05, now an enrollment counselor at Bluffton.
Contact
Noah Heiing
Executive assistant to the president and cabinet
College Hall second floor
heiingn@bluffton.edu
419-358-3285