CU Study Abroad: learning outside of the classroom

Abroad

Tyler Boydston

Staff Writer

Cameron students and faculty are getting ready to pack their bags and fly across the pond for this year’s study abroad trips, one going through London, and the other going through the UK, France and the Czech Republic.

Both trips will take place March 13 – 22 during spring break.

The first trip, titled “Experiencing London Through the Enlightenment,” will take students through London while discussing the writers and thinkers of the Enlightenment and exploring Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s Cathedral among other landmarks.

The students will even go out to the countryside to visit Stonehenge.

According to Academic Services Coordinator Lani Malcolm, who oversees the study abroad program at Cameron, the London Enlightenment trip will give students the chance to see the history of London.

“They’re going to get a full London experience ranging from Roman beginnings to present-day theater,” Malcolm said.

The second trip for this year’s study abroad program will take students through London, Paris and Prague for a chance to look at different areas responsible for advancements in the area of biological science.

“The trip will be focusing on the development of science as a way of knowing, going through the period of time of the 16, 17 and 1800s, visiting the home of Charles Darwin, some of the areas there in France that were very important to the biological sciences including the oldest zoo in the world,” Malcolm said.

The biological sciences trip will also visit the British Museum of Natural History as well as the Abbey of St. Thomas, where scientist Gregor Mendel worked on the basics of classical genetics.

Students wishing to be a part of a study abroad trip at Cameron University have to go through an application process, and they must meet certain criteria in order to qualify.

“We have two contracts that students have to agree to,” Malcolm said. “One is a code of conduct and that includes their GPA requirements, being a full-time student and in good standing here at the university and being committed to the academic experience as well. It’s an upper-division 4000 level class. It comes with a lot of responsibility, but it’s a totally different, experiential learning environment.”

The locations for the study abroad trips are taken each year by faculty-submitted proposals, including proposals from years past, and each location has to meet a certain criteria as chosen by Cameron faculty.

“Each fall we review the proposals that have come in that year and also ones that have come in the previous years,” Malcolm said. “We sit down and take into consideration things like the location, safety, what kind of background we as a staff have with those countries, what kind of contacts we have and then we try to make a decision. We have in place a rotating calendar that we’re trying to establish right now in terms of keeping them all in a two to three year basis and working in new ones as we have them.”

Previous study abroad trips taken by Cameron student faculty include Puerto Rico in October 2012 and South Africa and Italy during spring break of 2013.

Students wishing for more information on upcoming study abroad trips can contact the Office of Academic Enrichment at 580-581-6775.

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