Rutgers-HMU Summer Program: Intercultural Communication, Culture, Health and Society, Heraklion, May 18-29, 2027
The Hellenic Mediterranean University and Rutgers University (New Jersey, USA) run a joint summer study abroad program in Heraklion: Intercultural Communication: Culture, Health, and Society. It is the fourth Rutgers program in Greece led by this faculty team since 2022.
Rutgers students and HMU students, mainly from Social Work, Nursing and Public Health, work together in binational teams formed online in the spring. The program asks what happens when people communicate across difference, and what that means for their health and for whether they can reach the care and services they need, with a comparative focus on the United States and Greece. Students learn the classic frameworks of intercultural communication and then test them in real community settings: services for older adults in the Municipality of Malevizi, primary care in Heraklion, and social services working with immigrant and refugee families.
Each team studies one community’s situation and builds a culturally responsive communication strategy that the partner organization can put to use, presenting it to faculty, peers and community partners on the last day. Along the way, students document what they see through Photovoice, a participatory method from public health research.
Program at a glance
| April – early May 2027 | Three joint online meetings of the Rutgers and HMU cohorts: intercultural communication and positionality, health inequities and social capital, Crete and the Greek health and social care system. Binational teams are formed. |
| May 18 – 29, 2027 | Twelve program days at the HMU Heraklion Campus and in community settings across Crete: campus teaching days, three field visits, a full-day excursion in western Crete, a free day, and team project days. |
| Saturday, May 29, 2027 | Final presentations of the binational teams and their Photovoice videos, followed by the closing dinner. |
| June 1 – 18, 2027 | Remote wrap-up: teams finalize their written communication strategy. |
Faculty leaders
Kleio Koutra, Associate Professor of Social Work, Hellenic Mediterranean University, Director of the Laboratory for Social Applied Research and Social Work (SoRSoW), kkoutra@hmu.gr
Matthew Matsaganis, Associate Professor, School of Communication and Information, Rutgers University, matthew.matsaganis@rutgers.edu
How to take part
HMU students take part through HMU and form the Greek half of the binational teams. If you are interested, contact Prof. Kleio Koutra at kkoutra@hmu.gr.
Rutgers students earn 3 credits (04:192:346 Intercultural Communication) and apply through Rutgers Global by March 1, 2027. The program is open to students of any major with a minimum GPA of 3.0. See the Rutgers Global program page.