Students
travel the world through program
Francesca van der Feltz
Contributing Writer
MCC students are going global.
The study-abroad programs offered by MCC for the spring and summer
of 2004 take students to China, Ireland, Italy, Mexico and Spain.
“You can study from a very, very different aspect,”
said Ida Mansourian, coordinator of International Education and
Study Abroad at MCC.
Courses offered through the study-abroad programs are regular MCC
courses with transferable credits in a wide range of disciplines,
but the classes are enriched by the experience of being in another
location, Mansourian said.
Unlike most universities that have full-time staff developing study-abroad
programs, faculty members from many departments create MCC’s
programs, according to Barry Vaughan, MCC philosophy instructor
and director of the study-abroad program to Ireland.
“We have a faculty-driven approach, and we believe that that’s
actually the better approach so that the programs that are developed
are going to have an academic emphasis and they’re going to
be a learning experience for students,” Vaughan said.
“The academic program is designed so that what you’re
studying is in the context of where you are,” he added.
MCC is partnered with at least one school in every host country,
making the study-abroad programs possible, Mansourian said.
MCC’s international education office allocated scholarship
money according to the cost of the program and the number of participants
of each of the seven current study-abroad programs, Mansour-ian
said.
The scholarships were awarded to students based on financial need
and personal and academic merit, Mansourian added.
The trip to Italy was during spring break. The trips to China, Ireland,
Rocky Point, Mexico and Xalapa, Mexico will coincide with MCC’s
first summer session while the trips to Spain and Guanajuato, Mexico
are slotted for the second summer session.
Each program is unique in its focus and layout.
The programs for Ireland and Guanajuato have an interdisciplinary
focus within the context of the location. The trip to Rocky Point
is based on a marine biology course. The trip to Xalapa is focused
on education and social work and includes housing with Mexican families
while in Mexico. The programs in Spain and Italy were created for
students who wanted to learn about the culture and language of those
countries.
The annual trip to China focuses on global awareness, writing and
service learning, said Steve Bass, who helped build the program.
“What students are doing is learning about China before they
go and recording their observations while they are there in fairly
extensive journals,” Bass said, explaining that the month
long trip follows and adds to courses taken during the spring semester.
One of the features of the study-abroad programs to China and Xalapa
is the opportunity for service learning, Mansourian said
Students train at MCC, then teach English and participate in the
educational processes of schools in other countries, he said
“There’s a tremendous desire in China and elsewhere
in the world for young people to learn English. They recognize that’s
their social mobility,” Bass said.
“This is an opportunity for our students to learn about Chinese
culture, (and) for the Chinese students to practice their English,”
he added.
Bass said MCC students work with foreign language majors from China’s
Wuyi University as a main focus of the study-abroad program.
“Increasingly, universities and employers are looking for
individuals who have experience with service learning or volunteerism,”
he added.
Information meetings and thorough orientations covering the academic,
logistic and cultural aspects of the programs prepare students for
the trips, Mansourian said.
Recruitment for the programs usually begins in the fall semester
preceding the trips, Bass said.
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