September 1 – 10, 2026

CIEL just completed another France and Germany student trip with a group of students from the University of California, Irvine and the University of Washington. Over ten days we moved through Paris, Normandy, Strasbourg, Colmar, and Berlin, examining a relationship between two countries that went to war three times between 1870 and 1945 and now anchor much of the European Union.

June 11 – 19, 2026

Just recently we completed a two-week Bosnia Program with students and faculty from Chapman University, University of Miami, and Colgate University. Together we traced Bosnia and Herzegovina’s history of war, genocide, and post-conflict reconstruction, from Sarajevo to Srebrenica, Tuzla, Zvornik, and Mostar, and back.

June 4 – 16, 2026

CIEL just wrapped two weeks in Northern Ireland with Chapman University students, exploring one of the most studied conflicts in the world and its still-unfinished aftermath (see recent protests and counter protests). 

From the peace walls to the Stormont Assembly, from former paramilitaries to community peacebuilders, the program put students in direct conversation with people who lived through the Troubles and are still navigating what comes after. Grateful to our partners and to every speaker who gave their time and their story to this group.

May 26 – 31, 2026

In May, CIEL partnered with UCL Centre for Holocaust Education to bring a group of UK secondary school teachers to Berlin for a five-day professional development program exploring perpetration, complicity, and responsibility.
From Sachsenhausen to the Wannsee Conference House, the Alexander Haus to the streets of the Barn Quarter, teachers engaged with history as both subject experts and educators asking how to bring this material back into the classroom.

May 20 – 26, 2026

CIEL just completed another Northern Ireland Trip with a group of students from Vanderbilt University’s Dialogue Program. Over one week we moved through Belfast, Derry/Londonderry, and the border region, examining a conflict that officially ended over twenty-five years ago and whose consequences are still being worked out.

The program centered on the history of the Troubles, the architecture of the Good Friday Agreement, and the ongoing work of reconciliation and dealing with the past. Students met former combatants, victims’ advocates, politicians at Stormont, and civil society leaders working across the sectarian divide, including organizations in Derry and East Belfast still navigating what peace looks like on the ground.

January 3 – 19, 2026

After 2.5 years CIEL returned to the Middle East in January with a newly developed Jordan program in partnership with the University of Wyoming.

With 17 students we traveled to Amman, Ajlun, Aqaba, Wadi Rum, Petra, and Madaba and focused on four intersecting pillars: Israel–Palestine, Jordan’s role in navigating regional migration, displacement and political strife, environmental pressures (especially water), and regional security.