Point: Counterpoint

What’s New in Study Abroad

New Directions in Education Abroad Programming

By Bill Hoffa

Despite the numerous calls for internationalizing the campus and curriculum of U.S. colleges and universities, real change lags far behind lofty rhetoric.

As Philip Altbach points out in the journal International Higher Education (Spring 1995): “While the rest of the world’s universities are becoming more international, the United States shows signs of de-emphasizing internationalism in its higher education system. . . . International programs are under attack in Washington, while America’s major competitors—the nations of Western Europe and Japan—are rapidly expanding their international efforts, devoting money and energy in a wide range of initiatives.”

Given what Altbach fears is an alarming abdication of world leadership in international education, of special note is the recent call to action of the American Council on Education in “Educating Americans for a World in Flux”(1995). This hortatory report is particularly important because the ACE Commission on International Education was made up of 45 college and university presidents who represent the full institutional spectrum of U.S. higher education.

Changing Traditional Structures

The ACE report is also significant in its suggestion that many of the traditional structures and values of American education may have to be supplemented, altered, or abandoned if the goals of globalization are to be met. It declares that “professional or disciplinary skills alone are no longer sufficient.” Instead, it stresses the need to develop “problem-focused programs of study that are more practical than theoretical.”

The report concludes that “international programs need to be expanded across not only the disciplines but across the full economic and social spectrum of all U.S. students and institutions.

To find out to what extent the priorities the ACE agenda are reflected in the programs now available to U.S students, Transitions Abroad asked a group of campus advisers and program administrators for their views on the “best” that’s happening in new programming. We also asked them to comment on what new programs or program emphasis they would like to see.

Problem-Focused Programs

A clear trend is toward programs which are not limited in focus or to a single country, to a dominant academic discipline, or to the traditional emphasis on “language and culture” (usually meaning the past). The most recent IIE survey, for instance, reports an astonishing 92 percent increase in multiple-country programs over the previous two years. And programs offering a trans-disciplinary curriculum are also on the rise. Indeed, “problem-focused” programs seem to be what many students and institutions are seeking. As Sarah Stevenson of the Univ. of Saint Thomas, puts it: “What I am finding most interesting and exciting are the programs in Peace Studies, Environmental Studies, and Gender Studies. These topics are of real interest to our students and fit well with recent developments in our curriculum.”

Peace Studies: Stevenson recommends the Beaver College program with the European Peace Univ., in Austria. Ruth Sylte, at the Univ. of California-Irvine, also praises the Beaver programs: “UCI has a unique interdisciplinary minor in Global Peace and Conflict Studies. Our faculty will accept all courses taken through Beaver’s Center to count toward the GPACS minor.” Cindy Chalou of Michigan State Univ. calls attention to the Caux Scholars Program in peace-making, mediation, and conflict resolution located in Switzerland.

Gender Studies: Several respondents discussed new programs which look at the situation of women. Augsburg College’s programs were mentioned as good examples. Also mentioned were programs sponsored by Antioch (Germany), Friends World (Costa Rica, India, Israel), Syracuse (Zimbabwe), the School for International Training (Greece, Jamaica), and various university-based programs in the U.K. and Australia.

Environmental Studies: This was seen by respondents as by far the most popular new program area. Obviously, many students realize that solutions to environmental problems require the broadest and most searching kind of study and social and ethical commitment.

Over a hundred programs, most of which are recent in origin or emphasis, are listed in this year’s Peterson’s Guide. Leading program sponsors include School for Field Studies, School for International Training, Minnesota Studies in International Development, Antioch, and many U.K., Australian, and New Zealand universities.

Health Care: A number of new programs are also emerging for students concerned about health care as something more than medical research and application. Kirstin Moritz of Brown Univ. praises two new opportunities designed for Pre-Med and Health and Society majors: “The Committee on Institutional Cooperation program in the Dominican Republic, on Health, Nutrition, and Environmental Issues" fits their needs exactly; this program teaches advanced Spanish and gives instruction in Community Medicine, as well as an independent study choice. Since many of those going into the health field know that they need Spanish to work here in the U.S., this combines their needs nicely.” She also mentions the Pitzer College Program in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Bea Szekely of Cornell Univ. praises the King’s College, Univ. of London pre-med program for “providing upper level science courses, a seminar on the British health care delivery system, and a clinical rotation observing primary care delivery in a National Health hospital and elsewhere.”

Area Studies Programs: Another trend is the emergence of programs which offer undergraduates the chance to live and learn in indigenous cultures and regions far beyond Western Europe.

What is new about such programs is their inclusive and holistic emphasis on serious language training and on as much cultural immersion as possible. Connie Perdreau of Ohio Univ. finds students much more geographically sophisticated: “At times, students have floored me by their requests. Coming in for the first time, a student might say, ‘I want to go to Madagascar’ or ‘How can I study in Palau?’ just as I used to hear, ‘What are my options in France?’”

Among programs praised by our respondents were the following: Kirstin Moritz notes that the SIT Vietnam program“opens up an area where few programs exist and one which appeals to roots seekers and development studies students.” Indeed, many respondents said that SIT is clearly the leader in opening programs where they have not previously existed, using a program model which encourages cross-cultural learning and independent field research. Bea Szekely calls the new Cornell program in Nepal great for students looking for an introductory experience studying in a developing country: “Courses are taught by Nepalese faculty, Nepalese students are roommates; faculty workshops bring Nepalese faculty from Tribhuvan Univ. here in the summer to develop the courses; plus lots more.”

Bill Thomas of Union College points to the new InterStudy-arranged enrollments in various South Africa universities as offering both an eye-opening cultural immersion experience and traditional courses needed by his students. Thomas also gives high marks to the American Univ. in Bulgaria program, which he says “Prepares Bulgarian and other Eastern European students to carry on business, politics, whatever with the West and allows Union students a way to see a very different culture. . . . It’s never too early to start networking.” Several of the new LEXIA programs in Eastern Europe (Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary), plus others in Hong Kong and Argentina are praised by Ruth Sylte for their “integrated curriculum, intensive language at any level, and an independent research project.”

Experiential Programs

Another trend spotted by our respondents was a new interest among students in overseas educational experiences which are not academic in structure or approach, but rather experiential. It is almost as if these students are saying that meeting the academic requirements of American institutions works against the experience of cultural immersion they are seeking. Some say they value this “purer” experience for its own sake and seek to live exclusively on the linguistic and social terms of another culture, apart from other Americans or classrooms.

For some students the motivation is to volunteer their service to others, to give something in return for what they gain. Connie Perdreau: “More students are asking about opportunities for extended sojourns to work or intern in the host country. Service-learning programs are definitely on the upswing, and there is a need to have more such opportunities for our students.” Cas Sowa of Lehigh Univ. is one of many who are intrigued by such programs as Partnership for Service Learning: “I really don’t know much about their programs, but I like what I see. They have programs in nontraditional (as well as traditional) areas, all which seem to have good support on site. The experiential part of the program is very attractive.”

Others students, especially those seeking formal internships or work abroad, are looking for pragmatic experience of the sort which will look good on a resume, or they just want to practice their language and get in under the skin of a culture, in a workplace setting. Clearly programs which have been offering strong internship components for some time are doing well, and the number of programs which have recently added internships to their classroom studies is quite large.

Many students seek international experience such as those described above because they cannot afford the costs (in money or time) of a for-credit study program. Others, however, sense that an academic program will simply be a foreign-venue version of home campus studies, enclosing them in a group of other Americans and preventing them from living within and learning from the different terms of a foreign culture. Ample evidence exists, moreover, that the experience gained by learning to function in a foreign work environment leads to the development of considerably stronger and more marketable cross-cultural coping skills—something global job-market employers know and the American academic world is having a hard time accepting.

What Is Lacking

Our respondents identified three kinds of program opportunities as currently missing: programs serving the needs of students in particular academic disciplines; mid-level intensive language programs; and pre-major programs for post-secondary, and first- and second-year college students.

Next time I will be joined by a group of international studies professionals who will assist me in further defining what is presently lacking in international studies programming and identifying those programs which best meet students’ needs.

BILL HOFFA is an independent consultant in education abroad.