The University of Indianapolis recently announced its 2024-25 faculty-led study abroad programs that are available to students for the spring and summer.
According to the study abroad webpage, studying abroad allows students not only to continue their education but also earn credits and help out other communities. UIndy offers faculty-led study abroad opportunities across six continents and will take place at various times in the semester, with most occurring in mid-May and some taking place over spring break in March.
There are financial aid opportunities available to students going or interested in going on one of these trips. According to its website, the Office of Financial Aid and the Center for Global Engagement will work together to determine eligibility. There are also various grants students can apply for, including the Greyhound Adventure Grant, which closes its applications Nov. 21. For more information on any of the trips, students should reach out to the trip’s advisor. Various call-out meetings take place throughout the semester where students can learn more information.
Assistant Professor of Sociology Elizabeth Ziff and Associate Professor of Spanish Ana Maria Ferreira are leading a trip to Mexico City in the spring semester. According to the trip’s description, students will learn things about the past and present culture and explore different parts of their society.
Ziff said depending on the trip, there is the option for study abroad trips to count towards students’ credits depending on the discipline; for example the Mexico City trip can count towards Spanish minors and majors electives. Studying abroad offers a unique experience, Ziff said, that goes beyond what students can get from the classroom.
“It’s just such an amazing learning experience,” Ziff said. “It’s one thing to sit in a classroom and read about a different culture or even watch a film about a different culture, but you learn so much about the world but also about yourself when you travel. So I strongly encourage students to take advantage of the opportunities that we have here.”
The goal of this trip, Ziff said, is to broaden people’s understanding of Mexican culture. There will be a combination of activities including readings and visiting historical and cultural landmarks. Depending on the trip, there can be more of a service learning component involved. Ziff said that for her trip, they are doing a day of service learning, but there are others that do it throughout the whole trip.
“I think that’s one of the, at least for me, most enjoyable things about traveling with a group is that I’m going to focus on certain parts of the trip, but the person next to me is going to totally see something else,” Ziff said. “I think the ability to do this in a group and have faculty who can facilitate the conversation and stuff, it gives you that opportunity to also debrief and think through things.”
Faculty-led study abroad trips stem from a professor feeling inspired and getting the approval of the school to go ahead and plan the trip. Associate Dean and Director of the R.B. Annis School of Engineering Kenneth Reid is leading a trip to Cuba over spring break. He said this trip is open to any students, staff, alum or even family members.
Along with learning, Reid said there will be dancing and cooking classes as well as other activities. Since this trip is for anyone, Reid said the focus is education and a specific objective for the trip is to be able to relate what everyone learns back to their majors or interests.
“I talked to a lot of students who say, ‘I’m going to wait till I graduate and then I’ll have the money to do it’ and to that I say, you won’t have the time…” Reid said. “This is your opportunity to go. You don’t have to plan anything. Everything’s taken care of for you, you’re going to meet new friends. I guarantee. It happens every trip. Everybody forms a really tight community, it really gets along great, and that’s our goal. It really is a once in lifetime chance.”
A full list of the study abroad options for the 2024-25 year can be found on UIndy’s website or students can directly reach out to the trip’s leader with interest for more information. Interest meetings and scholarship deadlines will be occurring throughout the year.
