StudyAbroad.com’s The Globe

In her well written article in the Pine Log, Heather Freeman, gives a good synopsis of the options students have at her college.  These options translate to other colleges so this article is a good resource. Additionally, the doubling of students going abroad is cause for applause for the team at Stephen A. Austin.

Read the article here: http://media.www.thepinelog.com/media/storage/paper954/news/2008/09/29/News/Study.Abroad.Programs.Sending.More.Students.Across.The.Globe-3456685.shtml

Nils de Jong - Taipei, Taiwan

Nils is a 20-year-old college Junior originally from the Netherlands and currently studying in Taipei, Taiwan. His bachelors degree focus is on management, but also includes finance and economics courses, and he will be taking a Chinese Language Course two hours a day, five times a week, in an attempt to learn Mandarin, which is the most spoken language in the world. He is a huge soccer and tennis fan (particularly of Roger Federer), and also enjoys Roman history, finance issues such as stocks, reading and playing poker. His goal for studying abroad is, above all, to “have a good time and learn as much as possible.”

Jack Krupey - Seoul, South Korea

Jack is teaching English for a year at the YBM school in downtown Seoul, the largest city in South Korea. A 29-year-old Information Technology graduate from Rochester Institute of Technology, Jack has worked in both the IT industry and as full-time real estate investor, flipping properties and managing rentals, and as a licensed real estate broker. He says he is using this opportunity to “experience a different culture and travel the world and escape the corporate rat race for a little while.” Follow along with Jack as he changes his life and the lives of those he teaches.

Sarah Dickerson - Paris, France

Twenty-year-old Wellesley College junior Sarah Dickerson is passionate about modern art and loves French culture. Perfectly then, as if she had planned it that way (imagine that), she is studying abroad in Paris, France. This fan of traveling, photography and modern art, who also loves playing music, singing, writing, dancing ballet, fighting for human rights, drinking tea and red wine (not necessarily together) and visiting museums, is excited to become fluent in the French language and to have no more problems writing compositions in French. Of her semester, she said before departing, “I just hope to get the most out of every day that I’m abroad, regardless of my experiences.”

While the information in The Smith College Sophian is somewhat contrary to the information we have been hearing anecdotally it is definitly worth monitoring.  Has anyone else seen similar trends?

Studying abroad is considered one of the highlights of an undergraduate education: the opportunity to study for a year, a semester, a summer or even a January-term in a foreign country, learning a different language or experiencing another culture. However, because of increasing exchange rates and a falling economy, studying abroad has become increasingly expensive for students, coinciding with recent lower enrollment rates for study abroad programs. The drop in study abroad participation has also had a wide-reaching effect at Smith, as more students decided to live on campus this year instead of studying abroad, creating a fall housing shortage.

Read the rest of this interesting article writen by Anna Newman: 

A Message about Study Abroad to the Next President

The Association of International Educators, NAFSA, has some advice for the next President of the United States, whomever that may be, when it comes to the important national goal of sending more American students to study abroad each year. Since the presidency is directly involved with public diplomacy, NAFSA has put some of the responsibility of increasing study abroad in the hands of the commander in chief.

NAFSA’s view of “public diplomacy” has to do with study abroad as a conduit to a better international understanding not only for American students, but of other countries’ understanding of what America “is.” This makes sense when you think about the fact that the way other cultures get to know one another has much to do with how much interaction they share. Study abroad is an excellent way for cultures to become acquainted, and is doubly important because the students who study abroad each year are the ones who will someday lead this world.

This idea of studying abroad for the public and national good is nothing new, but the fact that NAFSA is already beginning to put pressure on the future leader of the “free world” is something rather groundbreaking. While the presidential candidates argue about energy, abortion issues, taxes, national security and the war in Iraq, there are essential issues in higher education that are being placed on the backburner. In order to have a skilled workforce that can create new energy policies and solutions, keep the nation secure and come up with resolutions for international conflict, the country needs more citizens with experience outside of their own American culture. Really, the issue of study abroad is essential to all the main issues facing the presidential candidates.

In NAFSA’s recommendations, which they released in the form of a report, entitled International Education: The Neglected Dimension of Public Diplomacy, the Association calls for three things:

· “Internationalizing” American higher education by including study abroad as an essential element of any undergraduate program;

· Attracting more international students to study abroad in the States, so that the country can lure the best and brightest from other nations as well and;

· Creating and improving more international exchange and volunteer programs between countries.

None of these goals seem too lofty, but one of the real questions is where the money to fund these study abroad experiences will come from. Obviously, NAFSA would like the federal government to help foot the bill, but it will take more than that to make these study abroad initiatives a reality. More students need to demand better and more study abroad program choices, and more colleges and universities need to find out how to make that happen for their students. Perhaps corporations and businesses can be enticed by the benefits of study abroad, enough to sponsor new ways to get American students studying on foreign soil. All of this remains to be seen, but to Obama and McCain: we hope you got NAFSA’s message!

Pacadena City College is setting historic firsts as their study abroad program heads to Guadalajara.  The Chicano Studies program will have two new study abroad classes in Guadalajara, Mexico and is set for the 2009 Winter Intersession.

According to both professors who are part of the program, English professor Silvia Toscano Villanueva and Anthropology professor Enrique Cardoza Orozco, this will be the first trip for PCC’s Chicano Studies students.

“This is the only program of its type in all of California,” said Orozco, who also helps with coordinating the Chicano Studies program.

Classes will take place at the University of Guadalajara - which will be another first for any community college.

“This is the first for a community college, to be affiliated with the university,” said Villanueva excitedly.

To read the rest of this story please go here;

http://media.www.pcccourier.com/media/storage/paper1346

Most students feel that their study abroad experience changes their lives and perspectives.  Here is a story about one of them.  Shanon Ludden a student at the Illinois Institute of Technology writes about his time in France and the Engineering classes that he took.

http://technews.iit.edu/index.php?id=1157

This is a great story that dispels some myths about the barriers to studying abroad.

Yes - Engineer majors can study abroad for a semester.

Yes - you can study abroad if you are not fluent in a foreign language.

Yes - you will have to adjust to a new academic way of life and you will still have time to explore.

To check out the Illinios Institute of Technology study abroad website please go here;

http://studyabroad.iit.edu/All.php

Twelve million people around the world speak the Czech language. Pretty impressive, right? As the Czech Republic, and its capital city of Prague, gain more prominence in today’s world, the language is becoming an increasingly important one to know, which is why StudyAbroad.com has chosen it as its latest Language of the Month.

Learning this language is one of the most common reasons students study abroad in the Czech Republic, which is a glorious mix of ancient and modern that captivates the imaginations of thousands of international students each year. From the street-side cafes and vibrant nightlife of Prague, to the ancient castles and ruins that dot the landscape, studying Czech in the Czech Republic has something for every student.

Wondering how you can see for yourself? Check out the Czech Republic study abroad options at Studyabroad.com—Czech just happens to be the site’s Language of the Month.

Czech is All Over the Place

You may be surprised to know that about 1.4 million people in the United States speak the Czech language and about 28,000 Canadians speak the language. If you plan to be a big-wig in the European Union or in NATO one day in the future, you’ll want to be able to converse with your Czech colleagues.

The Czech language can also be found in some of the world’s greatest literature. Most of us had to read the Czech Republic’s own Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis in high school. The novel was confusing enough to begin with, but now consider that you were actually reading it in translation. Study Czech abroad in the Czech Republic and see the work of Kafka and other Czech writers, such as Milan Kundera and Nobel Prize-winning poet Jaroslav Seifert, through completely new eyes.

A Czech study abroad program will satisfy language students, of course, but there is so much more to studying in the Czech Republic than that! Those interested in architecture will be in awe of the layout—a building to represent nearly every architectural period. An adventurer will love studying Czech in the Czech Republic, as the country is covered in mountains with medieval castles along the winding roads. And again, there is Prague, which is a city that continues to inspire people from all over the world to begin with a visit and never leave.

Learn some of the details of the Czech language, such as alphabet and pronunciations, as well as more reasons why it’s an important language to study. Or go straight to the source and check out the numerous available study abroad programs in the Czech Republic.

The Institute of International Education published the following ten countries as the leading study abroad destinations for U.S. students in the 2007 OpenDoors report.

1. United Kingdom
2. Italy
3. Spain
4. France
5. Australia
6. Mexico
7. China
8. Germany
9. Costa Rica
10. Ireland

Making the transition of wanting to study abroad to actually getting yourself in a program out of the country can test your resolve.  Planning and preparation will not only help you accomplish your goal of studying abroad but they will give you the “I can do this” attitude that you will need to take with you out of the country.

To read some points that a UT student made along the way please go here;

http://tnjn.com/2008/sep/07/preparation-provides-smooth-tr/

To browse through a study abroad handbook online please go here;

http://www.studyabroad.com/guides/handbook/

What’s the newest place to shoot a Hollywood movie? Prague. What’s the newest hotspot for study abroad students looking for a mix of fun and academics? Prague. What’s StudyAbroad.com’s latest Destination of the Month article? Prague.

This medieval European country with a modern twist is quickly becoming the place to study abroad. In fact, nearly 3,000 international students from the United States alone participated in Czech study abroad programs last year. And those numbers are on the rise. According to OpenDoors, the number of U.S. students studying abroad in the Czech Republic increased 14 percent between 2004 and 2006.

As is mentioned in the Destination of the Month article, English is widely spoken, and more than 10 million people live in the country. More than 1 million of those people live in the capital city of Prague.

Known as the “City of 100 Spires” due to its wealth of Baroque castles, Prague is a dream study abroad destination for students interested in a variety of academic fields. The world famous castles and other architectural gems are enough in themselves to draw students who want to study architecture abroad.

But students of all interests flock to Prague in droves, finding that the city has much to offer in terms of history, culture, entertainment and recreation. Having the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of legends such as author Franz Kafka, composer Ludwig van Beethoven and “Madam Secretary” Madeline Albright isn’t too shabby; nor is the chance to mingle with students from around the world who are trying to live it up in Central Europe (and learn, of course!).

To find out more about this spectacular country and all the opportunities it offers students, read this month’s featured StudyAbroad.com destination Study in Czech Republic.