To Apply:
Early decision applications for the Fall 2010 will be accepted until 1 December 2009. Rolling admissions for the Fall 2010 program close 31 March 2010. Applicants are encouraged to use the early decision deadline to ensure a place in the program. Please see the application section of the ISLE web site for more information.
ISLE Updates
Get more details on the program info page.
ISLE's Silver Jubilee
The ISLE Program recently hosted a 25 Year Jubilee celebration in Sri Lanka. See our report here.
Security in Kandy
Christian Science Monitor article reports on how Kandy stays above the fray.
Fulbright Advice
Many ISLE students apply for Fulbrights, with a desire to return to Sri Lanka. Get application advice from an ISLE alumnus.
2009 Fall Program
The 2009 Fall ISLE Program is now under way. You can get reports and photos here.
Words of Wisdom
Go to Sri Lanka, get wisdom.
A Recent Student's Opinion:
"My time here has infinitely impacted my world views and my notions of myself within the world. The program was by far one of the most significant educational and mind broadening experiences of my life." Read more recent ISLE student comments about the program here.
Circular Vatadage, Polonnaruwa, Capital City, A. D. 993 - 1293
Check out the Fall 2009 issue of our Alumni Newsletter.
ABOUT ISLE
ISLE (Intercollegiate Sri Lanka Education) is an atypical study abroad program. It is a demanding academic and intense cultural experience designed for highly motivated students with interests in various aspects of South Asian cultures and societies. Past students have found it challenging in many ways: intellectually, emotionally, socially, and physically.
ISLE is located in Sri Lanka (see general and regional maps of Sri Lanka), a politically turbulent but socially congenial and astonishingly beautiful country located on a tropical island (the size of West Virginia) in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean, just off the southern tip of India. Before 1972, it was known as Ceylon. Among its many other names historically, it has also been known as Ceilao (Portuguese), Serendib (Arab), Taprobane (Greek), Dhammadipa (Pali), and Simhaladvipa (Sanskrit). Its Sinhala Buddhist culture is the oldest continuing Buddhist civilization in the world, yet modern Sri Lanka is a very diverse and extraordinarily complex society. Economically, it is a developing nation. Politically, it is democratic.
A Fresco at Sigiriya, Ancient Capital, A. D. 475 - 495
ABOUT THE PROGRAM: Since 1982, ISLE has introduced nearly 400 American undergraduate students from Bates, Bowdoin, Carleton, Colby, Grinnell, Holy Cross, Macalester, Swarthmore, Whitman and Whittier Colleges to Sri Lanka's history, archaeology, environment, society, religion, literature, language, politics, economics and art. Many ISLE students have subsequently returned to Sri Lanka for further studies on Fulbright grants or within the context of graduate study programs in the humanities and social sciences.
Yala Beach, South Coast, Sri Lanka