The WTAMU Study Abroad program announced its new programs for the 2013-14 academic year at the Study Abroad Fair taking place in the JBK last week. Students had the opportunity to meet with faculty members involved in each program to find out more about what the programs had to offer.
Students wishing to study abroad will learn in faculty led classes to earn course credit while being able to experience cultures in a different country.
“The advantage of studying abroad is to experience the culture and not just read about it,” Dr. Trudy Hanson, Department of Communication Chair, said. “It causes us to get outside of our comfort zone. When we get outside of our culture, it helps us understand our world better.”
Different departments on campus offer different places for students to travel. Both the Communication Department and Spanish Department will be taking students to Peru. The Department of Art, Theatre and Dance will be taking students to Turkey. The College of Business will travel to Austria, Germany and Switzerland. The Department of Psychology, Sociology and Social Work will go to Costa Rica. The College of Education plans a trip to Spain and Morocco.
A student wishing to participate in any of these study abroad trips can travel to any of these places without being directly involved in that department and receive an elective credit.
Third party program providers such as Academic Programs International and Eastern European Study Abroad have partnered with WT to offer students even more study abroad opportunities in places not directly offered through the campus departments. Students interested in these providers can study in countries with students from other study abroad programs rather than just those of WT.
Readership WT, a program for freshmen, also met with students at the Study Abroad Fair. Senior Social Work major Ceci Hernandez traveled to Cambodia as part of this program.
“As a freshman, you learn to have an open mind and be accepting of other cultures,” Hernandez said. “My trip to Cambodia made me confident in wanting to travel to other places and see more of the world. It was easier for me to come back to campus and be a leader. Traveling abroad gave me a different mindset.”
The new Director of Study Abroad, Carolina Galloway, said she was pleased with the students’ response to this year’s Study Abroad Fair. Galloway said her goals are to not only increase the number of students participating in the available programs but to expand on the destinations that study abroad has to offer and also involve more faculty members.
“Studying abroad will help students take their classroom knowledge to a new level,” Galloway said. “Students get to experience a different culture for a few weeks and carry their experiences with them for a lifetime.”
