Eric Gentry working in a lab

Preparation & Training

Experience your host culture as an informed, engaged citizen

MISTI wants to ensure that you have the biggest impact you can when you travel abroad for your internship, research position, teaching placement, and study abroad. That’s why we have designed country-specific Prep & Training sessions, which are required to help you engage with an international team, immerse yourself into your new surroundings, and embrace new perspectives while creating groundbreaking innovations.

The cultural preparation MISTI provides is your first step toward acquiring the tools and knowledge you need to provide technology leadership in any part of the world—qualities that every MIT graduate should have.

 

How does MISTI Prep & Training work?

Before your MISTI experience abroad, you are required to attend a series of training modules developed by MISTI staff. These country-specific sessions cover topics such as:

  • Travel and logistics
  • Intercultural communication
  • Workplace expectations
  • Values, norms, and behaviors
  • History, geopolitics, and religion
  • Health and safety

Some of these training sessions are also open to the larger MIT community. 

Explore the preparation and training for specific programs by country to learn more about these sessions, as well as other country-specific resources, such as suggested readings and links to videos and other online materials.

 

Preparation for MISTI study abroad placements

Preparing to study abroad
MIT student at computer

If you’re participating in a MISTI study abroad program, be sure to check out our step-by-step checklists to help you prepare before your trip—and to wrap things up afterward.

Check out specific MISTI Prep and Training requirements for each program by country.

View over the city of Yerevan, capital of Armenia, with the two peaks of the Mount Ararat in the background, at the sunrise.

MISTI Armenia Program

Teach in Armenia through Global Teaching Labs

Intern in Armenia

  • Armenia
  • Global Teaching Labs
  • Internships
Astana, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. Center of the city, skyscraper, view on Baiterek

MISTI Kazakhstan Program

Teach in Kazakhstan through Global Teaching Labs

Intern in Kazakhstan

  • Armenia
  • Global Teaching Labs
  • Internships
Ushguli village at the foot of Mt. Shkhara,Upper Svaneti, Georgia

MISTI Georgia Program

Teach in Georgia through Global Teaching Labs

Intern in Georgia

  • Global Teaching Labs
  • Internships
Systems Thinking for Innovation in Angola

Systems Thinking for Innovation in Angola

Join Angolan university students for this course in systems engineering in Luanda!


 

  • Africa
  • Global Classroom
Race Place Modernity in the Americas GC 2

Race, Place, and Modernity in the Americas

Race, Place, and Modernity in the Americas is an interdisciplinary course that immerses students in the history, culture, and arts of Sao Paulo through a comparative lens.


 

  • Brazil
  • Global Classroom
IAP Chinese Abroad 2027 - Shanghai 2

IAP Chinese Abroad

MIT Global Languages offers 21G.S04 and 21G.S05 Special Subject: IAP Chinese Abroad in Shanghai in January 2027, hosted in collaboration with East China Normal University.


 

  • China
  • Global Classroom
Literary London

Literary London

Literary London will explore the locations, history, literature and artistic institutions that have made London a world cultural hub.


 

  • United Kingdom
  • Global Classroom
Berlin: Cultures and Countercultures

Berlin: Cultures and Countercultures

A two-week course in the capital of Germany, Berlin: Cultures and Countercultures (21G.S02) will introduce and immerse students in the history, art, politics, and revolutions of this magnificent city.


 


 

  • Germany
  • Global Classroom
MIT in Greece

MIT in Greece

MIT undergrads will have the opportunity to travel to Greece in IAP 2027 to study and analyze history, art, and philosophy.


 


 

  • Global Classroom

Stay healthy

Health & Safety
Students in Australia jumping for photo

MISTI is here to help you take precautions to stay healthy and safe while you’re abroad.

Events

GlobeSmart Guides and Profiles

GlobeSmart
Students on a rock in India

Supplement MISTI Prep & Training with online tools to enhance your cross-cultural skills.