The Dartmouth Dept. of Linguistics offers a foreign study program in Auckland, New Zealand (Aotearoa) and Rarotonga in the Cook Islands every winter term, which corresponds with the summer season in New Zealand and the South Pacific. The portion in Auckland is in coordination with the Dartmouth Dept. of Anthropology FSP. Linguistics students take classes in the Dept. of Māori Studies at the University of Auckland. Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand, with a culturally diverse population of 1.5 million people. The University of Auckland is an internationally recognized center for the study of Pacific and Māori linguistics and anthropology. It is also a leading institution in the comparative study of indigeneity.

For seven weeks in Auckland, students take 3 classes: a class on Māori language, a course that serves as an introduction to Māori society and culture titled "Te Ao Māori: The Māori World,"  and a course preparing students for linguistics field research taught by the Dartmouth Linguistics FSP faculty director. The time in Auckland includes field trips to Māori communities and significant historical sites near Auckland. Students live in University of Auckland campus dormitories with a cafeteria on site.

Students spend the final 3 weeks in Rarotonga participating in a linguistics field research project on Cook Islands Māori led by the Linguistics FSP faculty director documenting Cook Islands Māori. The portion of the FSP in Rarotonga is hosted by the University of the South Pacific, Cook Islands campus. Students share a house together in Rarotonga and cook meals together.

Both portions of the FSP involve frequent opportunities to participate in water-related activities and sports. In order to participate in these activities, students must pass swimming tests both in Auckland and in Rarotonga.

In Winter 2022 the program took place in Hawaii due to disruptions to travel to New Zealand caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Since Winter 2023, the program has returned each year to Auckland, New Zealand and the field study has been in Rarotonga in the Cook Islands.

Winter 2023 program participant, Simon LaMontagne '24, shares about the FSP in a blog for the Admissions Office at: https://admissions.dartmouth.edu/follow/blog/simon-lamontagne/what-linguistics-anyway

Winter 2024 program participant Antonio Jorge Medeiros Batista Silva '25 also describes his experience in his blog for the Admissions Office at: https://admissions.dartmouth.edu/follow/blog/antonio-jorge-medeiros-batista-silva/studying-abroad-new-zealand

Winter 2024 program participant Lexie Gauthier '26 made a video for the Dartmouth College Fund where she described the Linguistics FSP experience in Auckland:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJx2NENPSoY

Watch a series of local TV interviews with Professor Jim Stanford and students on the Winter 2025 Dartmouth College Linguistics FSP in Rarotonga in the Cook Islands here:

https://linguistics.dartmouth.edu/news/2025/02/local-tv-rarotonga-covers-dartmouth-college-linguistics-fsp

More information about the upcoming FSP, including how to apply, can be found on the website of the Frank J. Guarini Institute for International Education.