In 2018, the villages of Semiluna de Bronz welcomed American university students who spent two weeks working as interns with local partners to address environmental problems, health concerns, and economic issues. This supervised field education experience laid the foundation for the interdisciplinary rural praxis model that was expanded the following year when the number of American students and faculty studying, interning, and teaching in Moldova reached 32. Besides local participants, the project also involved students from universities in Moldova.
This cultural immersement experience exposed students and educators from such disciplines as social work, nursing, and environmental science to the rich rural tradition in Moldova, offered opportunities to collaborate with local population in social entrepreneurship activities, and contributed to environmental, health, and economic needs of rural communities. The students also took part in archaeological excavations of a magnificent Neolithic culture that existed in these lands seven millennia ago.
The model was further expanded through the synthesis with university programs in the United States in Moldova into the credit-bearing Interdisciplinary International Continuing Education Program that will welcome social service professionals from Europe and the United States. This unique Program was designed as a platform for cultural and educational cross-pollination that would enrich foreign participants with new professional, cultural, and epistemological insights.