Expo invites students to learn and explore.
The University of Indianapolis hosted a Study Abroad Expo Oct. 4 in the Schwitzer Student Center. This addition to the Homecoming Week schedule enticed students to explore the options available not only for Spring Term but also for long-term study abroad. With various displays around the room, students could gather information about the different programs, including opportunities in Belize, Athens, Croatia and France.
Program leaders and former participants stood at their booths and waited to pitch their locations. Associate Professor and Associate Provost for Academic Systems Mary Beth Bagg and her husband, Faculty Adjunct for the School for Adult Learning Fred Bagg were especially enthusiastic about the Spring Term trip to Germany.
“Germany is awesome. It is beautiful, and we are fun,” the Baggs said, nearly in unison.
All of the programs had their selling points, and many of the leaders and former participants spoke about the beautiful locations.
Dean of Ecumenical and Interfaith Programs and Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religion Michael Cartwright said that some students of this trip encounter up to 15,000-30,000 other youths also going on the pilgrimage.
“I believe students are enticed to our program for a pilgrimage and for spiritual exploration,” Cartwright said.
Pilgrimages are just one of the things that bring students into these types of programs study abroad. School and Field Liaison and Instructor of Teacher Education Katrina Reinhardt was a co-leader of last year’s Spring Term trip to Belize. According to Reinhardt, students also take Spring Term trips to volunteer.
“The great part about the Belize program is that it’s a service trip,” Reinhardt said. “We either go to a women’s shelter, high school or middle school to volunteer.”
Belize is a popular program, but Study Abroad Advisor Breezy Wente said that the newest program to Croatia is garnering attention as well.
“I’m really interested in the Croatia program. I love new things,” Wente said.
The Croatia program explores various cities, including Dubrovnik and Zagreb, and also Ljubljana, Slovenia, and Venice, Italy. According to program leaders, Croatia has much history that gets overlooked.
Spring term is not the only type of study abroad program that UIndy students consider.
“There are Spring Term programs, which last 1-3 weeks, then summer programs—one month to the entire summer—and semester-year scholastic programs,” Wente said.
Many of the study abroad programs, not to be confused with the Spring Term trips, are offered through College Consortium for International Studies. Various universities and colleges organize their programs and make them available for students of participating universities and colleges.
Wente emphasized that the programs must be approved if students wants to transfer their credits back to UIndy.
“All of the trips and programs,” Wente said, “are great opportunities for students to discover themselves and the world.”
