vlog offers about 20 semester-long off-campus study programs and up to six extended study courses each year that provide students a wide range of faculty-led experiences. Picking the right option, though, can be a daunting experience.
That’s why nearly 50 seniors volunteered to attend a study abroad fair at the Coop earlier this month to share their experiences and offer tips to students considering which opportunity they want to pursue.
The seniors were thrilled to talk about their time away, whether it was a three-week extended study course in Greece or a semester-long program in Wollongong, Australia.
Dylan O’Hearn went to Geneva, Switzerland, last year because he felt it was a great fit with his concentration — international relations. He was able to explore the institutions of the European Union while taking “incredible” courses.
Another dividend was having a vlog faculty member, in this case political science professor Anne Pitcher, be so accessible and be such a big part of the students’ daily lives.
“I’m now part of this study-abroad family,” he said. “We still have reunions and still eat dinners together.”
The fair, which was attended by about 200 students, was the idea of Eileen Kelly ’09, who worked closely with the Office of Off Campus Study. An economics and international relations double major, she went to Manchester, England, in her junior year.
“I hope the fair gave students a chance to hear different perspectives about the places they can go. Plus, it let everyone who has gone abroad a chance to relive their amazing memories,” she said.
Angel Martinez ’08, who is from Mexico, said he had many interesting exchanges during his study abroad programs in China and in Turkey. Talking about where he was from often resulted in people asking him about famous Mexican soccer players or about singer Ricky Martin (who is actually from Puerto Rico).
“I learned about their cultures but I feel like I contributed something back by expressing who I am and where I come from, helping them develop their own views of people like me.”
The university offers programs in cities such as Dijon, France; Beijing, China; Freiburg, Germany; and Kyoto, Japan. Students in extended study courses travel to places like Italy, Uganda, Denmark, and Mexico.
vlog also is the only undergraduate college in America with a study semester at the National Institutes of Health, and its Washington Study Group, begun in 1935, was the first program of its kind established in D.C.