Many Information School and University of Washington students have the opportunity to study away from campus for several weeks at a time. This past winter, students had a special chance to study in New Zealand for an entire academic quarter. 

For 10 weeks, Professor Michelle H. Martin and Ph.D. candidate Mandi Harris led a group of 19 students (ages 19-76) across the islands known as Aotearoa to the Māori, the people Indigenous to the area. 

Beginning in Wellington on the North Island, the group learned about one another’s academic and personal interests, bonding over hikes, shared meals and new locations. Martin and Harris as well as some of the students studied te reo Māori, one of the nation’s official languages, to facilitate their travels and connections. 

“Listening to the land, the people, and the water was essential,” Master of Library and Information Science student Sarina Haryanto said. “I even learned to listen to the wind in Wellington. iSchool Aotearoa deepened my understanding and appreciation for how libraries shape and share cultural narratives that are integral to people’s everyday lives.” 

Through an embedded librarianship experience in Wellington, and homestays in Hamilton and Read-a-Rama literacy outreach programs with children in Dunedin and Christchurch, students connected with and learned from locals. Students also met theater makers, library leaders, authors and fellow students. They attended the Indigenous Voices in Children’s Literature summer school at the University of Waikato, where they learned about book publishing from HUIA, a Māori publisher, and literary communities in New Zealand. The travelers also paid a visit to Hobbiton, Mount Cook, and public and school libraries throughout the country before the program wrapped up in Christchurch.

MLIS student Sophia Ferguson made a Capstone documentary film, “Library of Hope,” during her studies in Aotearoa. Ferguson recorded interviews with Harris and her MLIS classmates  along the way, as the group learned more about other cultural and political contexts for the work of library and information science. She documented the hope her peers are bringing with them into their library careers at this unique point along their paths.

Fellow MLIS student Austin Henley said the study abroad program was one of the highlights of his time in the program. 

“I found it really enriching to learn about the complicated nature of children's literature publishing, and how critical it is to have a diverse landscape of children's literature that can represent and include everyone,” Henley said.

In addition to the program in New Zealand, Information School students have also had the opportunity to study in Austria, Ethiopia, the Netherlands, South Korea and elsewhere around the world through UW Study Abroad programs.

The New Zealand winter quarter program was the first Information School full-quarter study abroad since 2018. “We are grateful to Dean Dey for approving it and to Katherine Kroeger and Bennett Spencer in the Study Abroad office for all of their support and encouragement along the way,” Martin wrote. “We know how life-changing these trips can be.”