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AT DRAGONS WE LEARN BY DOING

We travel like locals, live with families, apprentice with artists, and learn from scholars, farmers, sages, and community leaders alike. We empower you to experience a different place through hands-on engagement. Each program is custom-crafted and led by expert instructors to ensure the most profound levels of immersion and mentorship. Explore our program offerings throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

SUMMER TRAVEL ABROAD PROGRAMS

Ages 15-20

We adventure. We explore. We learn. Our summer travel programs for students combine our nine program components to ensure every participant has a well-rounded and immersive journey.

SUMMER PROGRAMS

GAP YEAR PROGRAMS

Ages 17-22

Hear new stories, discover fresh perspectives, and engage with critical global issues through cultural immersion, wilderness exploration, language study, hands-on apprenticeships, and community engagement.

GAP YEAR PROGRAMS

COLLEGE STUDY ABROAD PROGRAMS

Ages 18+

Take an alternative approach to college study abroad through cultural exploration, regional and intercultural studies, independent research projects, language courses, and a small-group experience.

COLLEGE STUDY ABROAD
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What Makes Us Different?

Authentic Immersion

Our goal is to connect participants to a direct experience of a different place through hands-on and meaningful engagement.We embrace a leadership model of lead-from-behind, such that participants follow their own questions and curiosity.

Dynamic Itinerary Design

Dragons itineraries are flexible to create space for unscripted, serendipitous, and candid moments of surprise and discovery. Backpacks, not roller bags, are on the packing list because it’s a novel combination of gravel roads, local transportation, and dirt paths that make each program an original adventure.

Ethical Travel

Responsible travel is environmentally conscientious, culturally self-aware, and focused on developing mutually meaningful connections with local communities. We approach each program component and host community with respect and the humility to listen first.

Small Groups & Professional Instructors

A typical Dragons group consists of 12 students and 3 instructors. This small group dynamic fosters deep dialogue and an inclusive group spirit. Our instructor teams have expertise in group facilitation, local language fluency, deep regional experience, and intimate connections with our host communities.


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Meet A FEW of Our instructors

They are educators; they are community builders; they are activists; they are experts in the places they take students. Dragons Instructors have spent an average of 4+ years living abroad and their life-experiences help to bridge the distance between students and local communities. We feel honored to work with these incredible global educators. We hope you’ll take a moment to get to know them.

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Claire Bennett

Southeast Asia & Himalayas Instructor

M.A. History, University of Cambridge
Claire is passionate about global equality and social justice. She founded a rural development organization, coordinated regional strategy for global education within the UK school system, and facilitated a project for disadvantaged youth. Claire has boundless energy—mainly fueled by her British tea-drinking habit...READ MORE
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Ming Jiu Li

China & Southeast Asia Instructor

B.S.E. Environmental Engineering, Duke University
Ming was born in China and spent most of his youth in Singapore. He obtained his engineering degree from Duke University while working on issues of gender and social justice with the Women’s Center. As an educator, he is guided by Simone Weil’s quote that “attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity”...READ MORE
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Uttara Pant

India Instructor

B.A. Liberal Arts, Sarah Lawrence College & M.A. International Education Policy, Harvard
After university in the US and Germany, Uttara found her way to SECMOL, a school in the remote Himalayan communities of North India, and later worked at Navdanya, an India-based NGO working to preserve traditional agricultural methods through seed banks and advocacy for women farmers’ rights...READ MORE
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Babacar Mbaye

Senegal Instructor

M.A. English, Cheikh Anta Diop University
Babacar worked as an English teacher after receiving his MA in English. He's been with Dragons since 2006, supporting summer courses and working as the Director of Princeton Bridge Year Senegal. Babacar maintains that he is first and foremost a student of participants' unique perspective and wisdom...READ MORE
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Caitlin McKimmy

North India Instructor

B.A. Religion and Neuroscience, Carleton College & M.T.S. Buddhist Studies, Harvard Divinity School
Caitlin speaks Tibetan, Hindi and Spanish. She has lived in a Buddhist monastery in central India, taught English in Tibet, interviewed Sri Lankan forest hermits about love, and worked with the Tibetan community in exile to understand their conception of “Buddhist Ecology”...READ MORE
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Rita Suwantari

Indonesia Instructor

B.A. English, Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Rita was born and raised in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. She is the youngest of 9 children. After 15 years in the guide industry, we were lucky enough to harness her talents as an experiential educator. Rita is an invaluable mentor, graciously helping students and instructors unpack the intricacies of Indonesian culture...READ MORE
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Richard Brown

Latin America Instructor

B.A. Anthropology, Columbia University
Born in South Africa to a journalist and a diplomat, Rich has lived in Guatemala since 2013. After graduating from Columbia, he worked with miners and activists in rural Appalachia to combat mountaintop removal coal mining. Rich is just as passionate about identifying bird and plant species as he is about fostering intercultural dialogue...READ MORE
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Shuier Zhang

China Instructor

M.Sc. Translation Studies, University of Edinburgh & M.A. Interpreting and Translation, University of Westminster
Shuier spent 10 years in London studying and working as a professional translator and interpreter. She loves using her language fluency to bridge cultures and facilitate communication. When not leading Dragons students, she works as a freelance art journalist, writing about art exhibitions in London...READ MORE
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Get Connected…Stay Connected

Whether you are new to Dragons or Alumni, we offer many ways to connect and stay engaged…

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Updates from the Field
  • Our Own Milky Way
    • 2019 Summer
    • Madagascar: Island of Diversity
    • Student Programs
    • Yak of the Week
    • Transference
    08.12.19
  • These are Legendary Times
    • 2019 Summer
    • China: Mandarin Language Intensive (6-week)
    • Student Programs
    • Yak of the Week
    08.07.19
  • My Poem to Madagascar
    • 2019 Summer
    • Madagascar: Island of Diversity
    • Student Programs
    • Yak of the Week
    • Transference
    08.07.19
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Community News
  • When Things Go Wrong – An Essay by Jody Segar, Dragons China Program Director

    "Twenty-two years ago I walked into a small town in southwestern China near dusk and realized I was in trouble..." <a href="http://www.wheretherebedragons.com/news/when-things-go-wrong-an-essay-by-jody-segar-dragons-china-program-director" style="color:#61818F;text-decoration:none">Read more »</a>

    08.15.19
  • Introducing Our Newest Offering: Independent Spring Experiences (ISE) 

    We’ve heard from many past Dragons students that the travels they pursued on their own left them feeling lost or even conflicted about the ethics and efficacy of their presence and projects. So we’re launching Dragons Independent Spring Experience (ISE), an independent Gap Year experience supported by Dragons ... <a href="http://www.wheretherebedragons.com/news/introducing_independent_spring_experiences_ise" style="color:#61818F;text-decoration:none">Read more »</a>

    08.01.19
  • Announcing Dragons (Spring Semesters 2019) Photo Contest Winners!

    Congratulations to the winners of Dragons Spring 2019 Semester Photo Contest... <a href="http://www.wheretherebedragons.com/news/announcing-dragons-spring-semesters-2019-photo-contest-winners" style="color:#61818F;text-decoration:none">Read more »</a>

    07.25.19
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