To Apply:
You'll find applications and deadline info here for the Fall 2008 and Spring 2009 ISLE Program.
Changes for ISLE
ISLE will now have two sessions per year. 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.
Alumni Newsletter
Alumni! Be sure to contact us about signing up for the ISLE Alumni Newsletter. Click here to read the most recent issue.
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.
2008 Students
The 2008 Spring ISLE Program is now under way. You can get reports and photos here.
Words of Wisdom
Go to Sri Lanka, get wisdom.
A Bowdoin 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."
Circular Vatadage, Polonnaruwa, Capital City, A. D. 993 - 1293
- Did you miss the Spring issue of our Alumni Newsletter? No worries. Get it here.
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, Swarthmore and Whitman 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