Issue: 09/08/04

When students study abroad, the world is their classroom

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09/08/04

Sabryna Cornish

If Osama Aduib had to write an essay, “What I did on my summer vacation,” it would read something like this: went to London, Paris, Florence, Rome and Venice, met diplomats, learned Italian and translated for a BBC-TV documentary.

Stephanie Thoma, on the other hand, would write about taking classes and sightseeing in Havana, Cuba.

“I wouldn’t trade my Cuban experience for anything,” she said.

The two are among the several hundred UIC students who took advantage of study abroad last year — a number new director Chris Deegan hopes to increase.

Deegan, a world traveler himself, was director for Asian-Pacific studies at the School for International Training, headquartered in Vermont.

Attracting more students to study abroad programs is a challenge he’s willing to meet.

“We’re an urban campus with a diverse undergraduate student body,” he said. “Less than 1 percent of UIC students study abroad.”

One of the obstacles for UIC students, who are often working to put themselves through college, is cost. Deegan emphasizes that financial aid is available to cover living expenses and lost income.

“Make it so that you have a chance to do it,” Aduib urged. “It was worth every penny.”

Deegan pushes study abroad as an experience that, if done well, is like no other.

“As an educator, it is important how you integrate it into the curriculum,” he said. “We need to see how we can streamline study abroad as an assumed part of the undergraduate curriculum, rather than an add-on.”

In some programs, students study with a UIC faculty member in places such as Dublin, London, France, Italy or China. Other programs allow the student to study at a university in another country.

Deegan works closely with other established programs, but he would like UIC to eventually set up its own.

“We could create them around the curricular needs of our students,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity to explore the classroom as being elsewhere.”

The deadline for study abroad in spring is Oct. 1. For full-year, fall and summer programs, the deadline is March 1.

Aduib, who is majoring in biology, speaks French, but decided to go to Italy after it piqued his interest.

He studied at the Centers for Academic Programs Abroad which provides the academic support for the Florence program, taking classes Monday through Thursday from noon to 2:30 p.m. and 4 to 7 p.m.

This schedule allowed him to experience the culture and travel to nearby spots like Naples, Rome, Sienna, Milan and Venice.

“You had a lot of free time to learn about the people and immerse yourself in that culture,” he said.

Aduib lived an apartment in a residential neighborhood with four other students.

Their landlords, “the coolest people I’ve met in a long time,” were a former United Nations and European Union diplomat and a former reporter for La Repubblica, one of two national daily newspapers in Italy.

Through them, he met VIPS and helped with Arabic and English translations for a BBC documentary.

Thoma, who is majoring in history, studied in Havana through a joint program between UIC and UIUC.

“I love experiencing new places, people and culture,” she said. “So I figured study abroad would be perfect.”

When asked, “Why Cuba?” Thoma simply replied, “Why not?”

“I’ve always wanted to go to Cuba. When I was a little kid, just hearing the name struck my interest,” she said.

Thoma said from what she had learned about in school — Communism, the Cuban Missile Crisis and dictator Fidel Castro – “it’s like Cuba is this scary, backward place,” she said.

Deegan said an important aspect of study abroad is exposing students to “a cultural landscape” and shifting their point of reference.

Thoma’s studies were conducted at the Jose Marti Center, where participants met students from the University of Havana as part of the program.

Classes were held three hours a day, taught by professors from the center and the University of Havana. All lectures were in Spanish.

Health, safety and risk management are crucial concerns to those who run the study abroad programs, which abide by U.S. Department of State advisories and avoid nations at risk for U.S. citizens.

When the students are abroad, they have access to a 24-hour hotline and other support networks.

Although technology makes it easy to communicate with friends and family back home, Deegan discourages too much contact.

“For most students, it’s the only opportunity to experience a different culture,” he said.

“It is really something that is uniquely yours – don’t distill it by being distracted.”

When students return to Chicago, the experience sticks with them.

Aduib, for example, is taking classes at the Italian Cultural Center. When he graduates in December, he plans to return to Florence to live.

Thoma finished her history degree at the end of summer with the three credits she earned through her study abroad.

On her last night in Cuba, Thoma visited the historic National Hotel.

“I was smoking a Cohiba cigar and enjoying a mojito,” she said.

“Now if that isn’t a way to go out of college, then I don’t know what is!”

For more information about UIC's Study Abroad program, visit the Web site.

Below: Chris Deegan, study abroad director, thinks every college student should study outside the U.S.

Photo: Troy Heinzeroth