Faculty-led study-abroad programs are indeed booming! While a great option for cash- and time-strapped students, these study abroad programs are not without their challenges. Preparing academics to manage the logistics of foreign travel as well as ensuring that the programs fit into the overall academic plan can be daunting, at first, but far from impossible with a carefully…
Developing Globally Engaged Faculty Through Recognition or Reward?
by Wendy Williamson, Director of Study Abroad, Eastern Illinois University Next week, I will be presenting with three other colleagues at the AIEA Conference, in Washington DC. The title of our presentation is Internationalize your Institution through Faculty (currently scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 16 at 5:00pm). Three colleagues and I, representing four different institutions, will be sharing a collection of…
How Can We Help Study Abroad Students Better Prepare For Experiences Evoking Strong Emotions?
by Aisling Meade, Programme Manager, EIL Intercultural Learning Every year we coordinate a field trip to Belfast for American students in a study abroad program. We arrange for them to meet with various politicians, community workers, and organizations to provide a basic overview of the current situation in Northern Ireland and its culture. We often arrange for…
Study Abroad Research – Brazil
At the end of last year, I conducted a survey on Latin America Study Abroad. It wasn’t until later that I realized the survey questions were slanted towards Spanish language and culture and inadvertently omitted Portuguese language and culture. My apologies. To remove the big question mark that remained after analyzing the results, and to…
The God Business (a study abroad story)
by Wendy Williamson, Director of Study Abroad, Eastern Illinois University One of the reasons why I like working in the field of study abroad is that study abroad changes lives! It changes minds, but it also changes hearts, as people learn more about themselves and better understand each other. Sure, there are some students who…
Internationalizing Higher Education: Capitalizing on Leadership, Citizenship, and Scholarship
by Wendy Williamson, Director of Study Abroad, Eastern Illinois University As I was going through my files over the weekend, I found this great paper I wrote about 10 years ago. It won the American College Personnel Association (ACPA) Roberta Christie Research and Writing Award in the year 2000. Surprisingly, it’s still apropos, so I…