UD students travel the world during Winter Session

12:05 p.m., Oct. 7, 2005--Home of the original study abroad initiative launched more than 80 years ago and still one of the most active such programs in the nation, the University of Delaware anticipates sending approximately 1,250 students to study internationally at sites on all seven continents during UD’s upcoming Winter Session.

The number of participating students has more than doubled since 1998, according to Lesa Griffiths, director of UD’s Center for International Studies. Griffiths said the students are being led by 75 faculty members, who are offering about 150 courses in 32 different locations.

About 75 percent of UD students who opt to study abroad do so during the five-week Winter Session.

UD is the institution at which study abroad began, with a young professor, Raymond Kirkbride, having fathered the Delaware Foreign Study Program that took its first trip to France in 1923. Prof. Kirkbride believed that such an experience would broaden the knowledge of American students and build international goodwill, and he received the support of then-UD President Walter Hullihen and benefactor Pierre S. du Pont.

UD remains committed to study abroad and in November 2004 gained special recognition from the NAFSA: Association of International Educators for its outstanding achievement in international education. The University was among 13 institutions selected for in-depth profiles in the organization’s special report Internationalizing the Campus 2004: Profiles of Success at Colleges and Universities.

Members of UD’s--and America’s--first Foreign Study Group (1923-24) include (from left) Herbert Lank, Austin Cooley, Frances Cummings, T. Russell Turner, Prof. Raymond Kirkbride, J. Cedric Snyder,William Mendenhall, John Walker and David Dougherty. Photo courtesy of University Archives

“The first students from any institution to study abroad were Delaware students who were accompanied by faculty members on a visit to France more than 80 years ago,” UD President David P. Roselle said. “The reasons for having initiated the program in 1923 remain in effect today and, when combined with globalization and other facts of today's world, study abroad can only be seen to be an increasingly important component of undergraduate education.”

Roselle added, “We are happy to have been able to assist many undergraduates to study abroad, and we hope that many more will seek such opportunities.’

UD Provost Dan Rich said study abroad represents “one of the most important learning opportunities for our students. Students who participate in study abroad broaden their horizons and deepen their knowledge and respect for other cultures and institutions.”

Rich added, “Working with UD faculty in programs on all seven continents, students who study abroad develop a greater appreciation for the diversity of people and values, and thereby a better sense of their own identity and values. Expanding opportunities for discovery-based learning is a University priority, and study abroad is one of the most valuable forms of discovery-based learning.”

Rich said UD is proud to be a national leader in the participation of students in study abroad, noting that the high rate of student and faculty participation in study abroad programs “enriches the learning environment of the entire campus and connects the educational process at UD with the transformations under way across the world.”

Laura Devenney, CHS ‘05, won the Center for International Study’s 2004-05 photo contest for this photo of UD students on a mountain in New Zealand.

“Clearly,” Rich said, “students who graduate with that expanded educational experience are better prepared to assume their responsibilities as citizen-scholars in a global community.”

Griffiths credits the enthusiasm of the UD administration and faculty with providing a unique and vibrant study abroad program for students.

“Members of the faculty have been incredibly creative in the design of study abroad programs,” she said. “Each program is unique. I believe it is the combination of enthusiastic faculty, administrative support and the Winter Session opportunity that has led to the continuing increases in student participation in study abroad.”

Lisa Chieffo, associate director of student programs in the Center for International Studies, noted that UD's study abroad programs are more geographically and academically diverse than ever before. “Our students are studying everything from fluid mechanics in Tasmania to the history of slavery in Barbados to Portuguese language in Brazil,” she said. “And, I believe we're the only institution in the United States that can boast a program in Antarctica.”

Service learning abroad programs, a growing component of study abroad, will celebrate their 11th anniversary this year. Service learning began in 1994 when James Davis, then an assistant professor, led nine education majors to South Africa, where they worked in educational institutions in a black township.

Tanzania, photo by Jonathan Cox

Most students experience service learning abroad as life changing, Sue Serra, assistant coordinator in the UD Office of Service Learning, said, adding that many return to Delaware and continue their commitment to their service placements through fund raising for the communities in which they served. Faculty who have led these programs indicate that students’ reactions are immediate and profound, she said.

Participants, through their academic courses and faculty-directed reflection, begin to recognize their role as a member of a complex global community, Serra said.

Griffiths said many students find themselves changed by study abroad. “We asked students how they thought they were changed by their study abroad experience and they spoke of changes in personal growth and development, such as flexibility, patience, responsibility and respect for others,” she said. “Students told us they were more conscious of similarities between their culture and their host culture and that they developed greater communications and language skills.”

Article by Neil Thomas

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