IN-PERSON MADRID FOCUS ON PEDAGOGY. SECTION B

There are many benefits for students to participate in travel-based educational experiences. The term travel-based includes traditional study abroad programs which continue to be popular in higher education (Teig, 2026), study away domestic learning experiences (Mowreader, 2024), and traveling study opportunities developed by nonprofit organizations. Short-term programs are usually fewer than eight weeks long. Hench and Baroody (2026) found that students who participated in short-term study abroad programs grew in terms of personal behavior, self-awareness & development, civic responsibility, and learning & reasoning. Mowreader (2024) further explains that study away program can help alleviate barriers such as documentation, transfer of credits, time away from campus, and financial challenges. This presentation will explore the program development, curriculum, and outcomes for students who participated in three short- term travel-based programs in Wisconsin. The first program is the Leadership Institute for Borderlands Research and Education (LIBRE), a one-week study away program focusing on immigration at the U.S./Mexico border. Traditional undergraduates participated in this program and developed action research projects (Mancilla and Vukelich-Selva, 2024). The second program is the Mexico International Study Opportunity for Learning (MISOL), a month-long international study opportunity for undocumented DACA beneficiaries. Undocumented students can apply for Advance Parole (AP), a permission from the USCIS to leave and return to the U.S. for humanitarian, educational, or work reasons (Mancilla and Rosales Garcia, forthcoming). The third program is the Peru Study Abroad program, a month-long traditional undergraduate study abroad program. The students took the course Multicultural Lifespan Development while learning more about Peru.