Several SU Abroad programs introduced in summer 2010 see success
When Erica Brenner decided to go abroad to Ghana this past summer, she never expected the flashlight on her cell phone would potentially save a woman’s life. But when a nurse was having trouble seeing, Brenner offered her phone in assistance.
‘I was standing over this woman’s arm, lighting it with a cell phone so she could insert this needle. It was a very powerful and incredible experience,’ said Brenner, a senior pre-med student.
An updated version of the Ghana program and two London programs successfully debuted in 2010 and will be offered again this summer with some alterations, along with a new program in the Caribbean. In the spring, a new SU Abroad office in Istanbul, Turkey, will bring Syracuse University’s abroad program up to eight overseas centers.
Tracy Zappola, assistant director of summer programs, said SU Abroad is always expanding and looking for new locations to send students.
‘I think that it’s always important for new programs to come aboard because they offer a variety of different curriculums for students in a variety of different locations for students to study,’ Zappola said.
Brenner was one of the 12 SU students who went on the new study abroad program, ‘Health for All: Sustainable Design for Health Delivery in Ghana.’ While there, Brenner shadowed staff at a local hospital, visited landmarks and took an SU class.
She said she decided to go to Ghana because the program combined her pre-med studies and architecture minor and would allow her to experience a different culture while learning and receiving credit.
The Ghana program will be available again in summer 2011, but has been redesigned as an internship program, offering students an opportunity to work with the International Organization for Migration on issues related to resettlement, microcredit and counter trafficking, Zappola said.
In addition to Ghana, SU offered two new summer programs in London, ‘London 2012: Global Games, Local Perspectives’ and ‘Advertising Master Class,’ that will both be offered again in summer 2011.
While ‘London 2012: Global Games, Local Perspectives’ was the most successful of the summer programs with 18 students, some of the other new programs did not fair as well, Zappola said. New programs in Columbia and Argentina were supposed to launch last summer, but because of low enrollment, they were canceled.
The SU Abroad office encourages anyone thinking about going abroad in the spring or summer to attend information sessions or to contact the office, Zappola said. A summer abroad is a little shorter than a full semester abroad, but a student can earn up to a semester’s worth of credits. The summer abroad programs range from about two to nine weeks and usually offer six credits.
Carrie Abbott, assistant director of admissions counseling and student services, said students have already shown an interest in the opening of a new abroad center in Istanbul, Turkey, this spring and have already begun to apply.
‘Istanbul is a really unique place to study because it’s a gateway between Europe and the Middle East,’ Abbott said, ‘and the culture there is a very rich fusion between the two.’
Published on September 22, 2010 at 12:00 pm
