Bali Institute is a global education organisation providing high- impact, inspiring learning opportunities by exploring the intersection of Bali’s rich culture with vital areas of study including environmental sustainability, global health and wellness, social entrepreneurship and the arts. Over the last 10 years, thousands of students have participated in our 2-5 week faculty-led university programs, returning home with a newfound global perspective on their field of study, a passion for international experience, and a readiness to take on any challenge that comes their way.
CUSTOM DESIGNING THE PROGRAM
We custom design programs to make your field of study come to life, inviting students, leaders, and organizations in the field to meet with the class for presentations, discussions, and hands-on activities. To say students return to their university inspired would be an understatement.
LIVING CLASSROOMS
Exploring social, environmental, economic, and other challenges facing Bali provides real-world context for issues discussed in the classroom and brings them to life. Some programs involve students going out into local communities to conduct field research, turning the villagers into teachers and the village into a living classroom. The openness of the Balinese culture allows students to gain significant international experience and understanding in their field of study, even over a short timeframe.
CROSS-CULTURAL EXCHANGE
We partner with local universities in Bali to create seminars or mini-courses that give students the opportunity to meet their Indonesian counterparts from the same area of study. Students engage in dialogue on the issues in their field and work in teams on a project, challenging them to collaborate across cultures.
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
Our university programs incorporate relevant activities, inspiring individuals, and innovative local organizations that complement classroom learning. We custom design each of our program itineraries with the professor to add invaluable experiences to their syllabus and to return students home feeling inspired.
WHY BALI?
The Balinese are some of the most welcoming people on earth—don’t be surprised when people on the street meet your eyes, smile at you, or even invite you into their home for coffee without ever having met you before. The openness of the Balinese culture allows students to gain significant international experience and understanding in their field of study, even over a short time frame. Over our 15 years of experience, Bali Institute has forged deep relationships with amazing people and organizations all over the island who are excited to get to know you, share with you, and learn from you too.
A SAMPLING OF CLIENT PROFILES
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE
Global Public Health
Public health students from UC Irvine participate in a 5-week practicum working closely with local Balinese NGOs focused on issues like services for the elderly and disabled, access to healthcare, and sexual education. Student groups from our most recent program raised over $2,000 for a playground at a school for mentally disabled children, organized a medical supplies drive and an activities fair at a home for the elderly, and conducted social media outreach and grant research for an organization that provides free medical care to Balinese people living in remote areas of the island. In addition to their practicum work, the students experienced traditional medicine firsthand through visits to local healers, herbalists, and Ayurvedic experts.
NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY
Social Entrepreneurship
The success of our early social entrepreneurhsip programs with Northeastern University have led to several similar programs with other partnering universities. Our social entrepreneurship programs are particularly unique because we pair international students with a class of Indonesian students from Ganesha University, and together they create business plans that aim to address current social issues in the nearby Balinese communities. A group of students from our 2014 class presented their proposal to the Clinton Global Initiative University Conference.
LONG ISLAND UNIVERSITY
Environmental & Indigenous Studies
Students in the LIU Global Studies program spend each semester of their college career studying at a different one of their eight global campuses. Their Australia semester now contains a Bali component in partnership with the Bali Institute, providing an important regional and comparative context and allowing students to further deepen their understanding of the critical juncture of indigenous and environmental issues. Through seminars with Balinese students, guest lectures and visits to local NGOs, students learn about indigenous peoples and philosophies, local ecology and sustainability efforts, and the crucial relationship between social justice and environmental justice. University of Western Australia has also established an annual program for indigenous studies students to travel to Bali to explore the similar and contrasting issues facing the indigenous people of Bali.
TESTIMONIALS
OUR TEAM
Our cross-cultural team has a genuine care for the well being of Bali’s people, culture, and environment-that’s what brought us all together at the Bali Institute. Some of us are from Bali, some from other Indonesian islands, and some from the other side of the planet, but we all have one goal in common: to share our love and appreciation of Bali with the world, including you!