About the Program
This International Research Experience for Students (IRES) program provides undergraduate and graduate students with hands-on research experience in documentary linguistics, focusing on understudied creole languages in the Caribbean and Indian Ocean regions. Over five years (2025-2030), student fellows will conduct fieldwork in five different creole-speaking communities.
5
Countries
2025-2030
Program Duration
5
Partner Institutions
🇲🇺
Mauritius 2026 • Flic-en-Flac
Pre-Departure Training (Online) • May 15-31, 2026
Introduction to Mauritian Creole
- Basic phrases & pronunciation
- Grammar foundations
- Conversational practice
- 4 live Zoom sessions
CITI Certifications
- Conflicts of Interest
- CITI Export Controls
- GDPR & Human Subjects Research in the U.S.
- Social & Behavioral Research Investigators
- Research Security Training (Combined)
- Humanities Responsible Conduct of Research Course
- Social and Behavioral Responsible Conduct of Research Course
Mauritian Culture & Ethics
- Cultural norms & protocols
- Community engagement ethics
- Language attitudes
Le Grenadier, Flic-en-Flac
🏠 3 villas • 9 bedrooms
🏊 Pool • 7-min walk to beach
🍳 Full kitchens • ❄️ A/C • 📶 WiFi
View on Booking
Monday, June 1
Arrival Day
All day
Arrival at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Airport
Transfers to Flic-en-Flac
18:00
Welcome dinner & program overview
Oasis Restaurant
Tuesday, June 2
Orientation
09:00-10:00
Safety briefing & Orientation
10:00-11:00
Mauritian Creole
14:00-16:00
Walking tour of Flic-en-Flac
Wednesday, June 3
US Embassy Visit
Thursday, June 4
Research Ethics
09:00-12:00
Workshop: Designing a Research Protocol
14:00-16:00
Discussion of topics of Research
Friday, June 5
Heritage Sites
10:00-12:30
Aapravasi Ghat UNESCO Site
14:30-16:30
Nelson Mandela Center
Saturday, June 6
14:00-16:00
Debriefing 1st week
Monday, June 8
Research Methods
09:00-10:30
Workshop: Research Question Development
11:00-12:00
Designing Language Technology for Fieldwork
14:00-16:00
Questionnaires for data collection
Tuesday, June 9
Corpus Tools
09:00-11:00
ELAN & Corpus Tools
14:00-16:00
Corpus formatting
Wednesday, June 10
Excursion
10:00-16:30
Sugar World Museum & Pamplemousses Garden
Friday, June 12
Research Visit
Saturday, June 13
Le Sapin
09:00-20:00
Cultural Workshop
Monday, June 15
Fieldwork Begins
09:00-12:00
Community introductions & Recording Session
15:00-17:00
Debriefing & Documenting
Tuesday, June 16
Excursion
08:00-18:00
Slave Route: Le Morne Village with mountain guide & lunch
Wednesday-Friday, June 17-19
Intensive Fieldwork
09:00-15:00
Daily fieldwork sessions & recordings
16:00-17:00
Debriefing & Documenting
Saturday, June 20
Excursion
08:00-18:00
Volcano & Chamarel (Colored Earth, Rhumerie)
Monday, June 22
Data Analysiss
10:00-11:00
Automatic Speech Recognition
11:00-16:00
Transcriptions
Wednesday-Friday, June 24-26
Data Analysis
9:00-10:00
Machine Translation
11:00-17:00
Data analysis & individual consultations
Saturday, June 27
Excursion
Tuesday, June 30
Final Presentations
10:00-12:30
Student Research Presentations
19:00-22:00
Farewell Dinner
Apply for Mauritius 2026
Contact for additional information:
maurires2026@gmail.com
Deadline: March 30th, 2026
🇸🇨
Seychelles 2027 • Mahé
Documenting Seselwa (Seychellois Creole)
Status: Program development in progress
🇬🇫
French Guiana 2028 • Cayenne
Documenting Kréyòl Gwiyannen (Guianese Creole)
Status: Program development in progress
🇬🇵
Guadeloupe 2029 • Pointe-à-Pitre
Documenting Guadeloupean Creole
Status: Program in development
🇲🇶
Martinique 2030 • Fort-de-France
Documenting Martinican Creole
Status: Program in development
Important Notes
- All expenses covered: airfare, lodging, per diem
- Open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents
- Undergraduate and graduate students eligible
- Backgrounds: linguistics, cognitive science, psychology, data science and related fields