Students interested in studying abroad were able to learn more during the Study Abroad Fair held Sept. 6 in the Elliott Student Union. Representatives from different departments, programs and universities were available to field questions, give pointers and hand out materials.
Vicki Orcutt, director of academic outreach for extended studies, said that studying abroad is something every college student should consider.
“Study abroad is an opportunity to expand a student’s experience while they’re in college, where they can learn more and have more of a global perspective,” Orcutt said.
Orcutt said there are lots of benefits to studying abroad.
“It benefits students to be able to see the global culture of how things are done because it gives them a better frame of reference,” Orcutt said. “A broader frame of reference is of likes and differences that people have and to be able to, I think, become more tolerant of others learning how it feels, if you will, to go to a country where you don’t speak the language. And how you assimilate into that.”
Michael Makara, an assistant professor in political science, leads the faculty-led tour “The Middle East Beyond the Headlines.” The program allows students to see issues in the Middle East closer.
“The academic focus of this program is to really take a lot of those issues that a lot of us hear about in the news related to the Middle East and unpack them a little bit,” Makara said. “This is a region around which there is a lot of perceptions and misperceptions and stereotypes, and what we do is we are first upfront about this region and then we use the on-the-ground experience in the region to help challenge those.”
Orcutt said that this year’s Study Abroad Fair’s attendance surpassed previous ones.
“I believe it went very well,” Orcutt said. “I heard from at least a couple of folks that there were more attendance than there had been the last year. And that it was very well received by people that were there.”