Study Abroad Boondoggles

<p>My (college age) daughter innocently showed me some Facebook photos today of a trip to Africa taken by an acquaintance of hers.</p>

<p>She thought I would be interested in the scenery, but I was disturbed to see college students staying in luxury hotels, enjoying beer at the bar, and frolicking on the beach in scanties in a country where women wear burkhas.</p>

<p>There were also a few pictures of the students interacting with some school children.</p>

<p>Some Internet sleuthing shows that these pictures were taken during a two-week course (for three credits) in Business in Africa offered by a well-respected international business program.</p>

<p>I despair that this is what passes for an international learning experience.</p>

<p>Am I being unfair?</p>

<p>

Not in my opinion. My neice spent a semester abroad in Paris. Huge boondoggle. I can’t comment on all the study abroad programs, but I know my neices was a waste of her parents money. At orientation my S’s school pushed the semester abroad, All I can say is he won’t be going it I don’t think he is going to get something out of it academically.</p>

<p>My son just did a Maymester in Greece. The group met periodically through the spring semester to prepare for the trip which was a study of Greek history and cultural life and they had to turn in assignments. They had to write a paper when they got back and received a letter grade in the class as well as credit hours.</p>

<p>Yes - there was a touristy aspect to the program and they had free time to go to the beach one afternoon, have drinks at a bar and while I don’t think they stayed in luxury hotels, they weren’t sleeping in dives either. In fact, one part of the trip was on a cruise ship exploring Greek islands. </p>

<p>I personally didn’t have a problem with it. IMHO, the purpose of study abroad is to be exposed to other cultures and they should be allowed to enjoy themselves during their downtime. It’s not a 24/7 class. Of course, the kids are going to post pictures of themselves doing fun things but how do you know there was not work also involved?</p>

<p>There are a lot of really bad study abroad programs which are little more than rich kid vacation packages.</p>

<p>We set three criteria for an acceptable program, one or more of which had to be met to justify the cost:</p>

<p>a) A completely immersive foreign language program (i.e. living and speaking the language).</p>

<p>b) A program that contributed signficantly to a major or career path.</p>

<p>c) A program that provided a truly eye-opening cultural experience (i.e. not a semester living with other college students in Western Europe).</p>

<p>I’m sure there was some work involved, but how the U.S. relates to third world economies is a thorny and difficult subject.</p>

<p>And I don’t think that living as a tourist with your peers for two weeks is the best way to begin gaining insight into the issues.</p>

<p>Perhaps but this the way I looked at it. My son took a class in Greek history and culture - a respectable class that you might find at any university. You take the class, do the assignments, get a grade and the credit hours. In this particular instance the class culminated in a tour of Greece. If the parents are willing to pay the extra money for the trip to enhance the classroom experience, what’s wrong with that? They got to see the cultural sights up close and personal versus just reading about them in a book.</p>

<p>Also huge boondoggle. Choose not to mention country or school. However, it happened because the person in charge of the program at the U.S. school was taking a semester off, and her replacement was inexperienced. No way for any parents to know.</p>

<p>Depends on the program. S did a month in a European country for a history/religion course. They had required reading before the trip and during the trip, some quizzes before and during the trip and a large term paper after they returned. </p>

<p>I was dismayed to see the itinerary, as it looked like they had 1 afternoon in the month that was “free”. Every other day was packed with visits to historic sites, lectures, etc.</p>

<p>Totally depends on the program. Son did a summer program in Geneva Switzerland. Professor had great contacts and they spent much of the time at the UN. First clue that it was going to be a good program: required reading, required papers prior to leaving the US, grade and credit given for the program.
DD just did a semester in NZ. For those semester programs our requirements were that it be through an accredited program. She went through USAC. Again, classes at a corresponding university taken, credits given, grades given.</p>

<p>frolicking on the beach in scanties in a country where women wear burkhas.</p>

<p>You do know that some women wear burkas in this country, right? (as well as hijabs & chadoors)</p>

<p>Agree that it depends on the program. My daughter lived with a host family, went to school where the classes were taught in the native language and had to do all her shopping/touring in the native language. She learned a lot about the culture, the language and herself. Not a boondoggle at all.</p>

<p>Totally depends on the kid and background as well. My D just did one of those ‘fun’ semesters abroad in western Europe, one of the better ones run by a large organization. Homestay, worthwhile coursework in the target language, lots of travel and fun with the other participants. As the veteran of two Rotary exchanges, did she ‘need’ this to learn about the world beyond our borders? Not at all, but as a future language teacher, yes, she needed to spend some time living in France and experiencing life there. As she is spending the summer working on organic farms in rural France, I think she is getting a better feeling for the language and culture now that the program has ended. </p>

<p>Everyone living or traveling abroad is faced with the dilemma, as to whether to bond with fellow foreigners, or work (and it is hard work) to find friends and ties to the local culture. </p>

<p>But, what I was trying to say was that the ones who may have most directly benefited from the program are the kids whose parents have never been abroad and were scared for them to cross the Atlantic. Those kids learned, in a safe (to their parents) environment, what a corner of the world is like outside our borders, and take that knowledge back to their communities, where international travel is not such an ordinary thing. A little less xenophobia is good for all of us. </p>

<p>The situation described the by OP is a travesty in the lack of sensitivity. And for those of us whose children are exposed to international travel and a more global perspective, those semesters abroad are sometimes not as well spent as one at their home institution doing meaningful work. </p>

<p>One question, as for LAC students, the cost is essentially the same as the cost of a semester on campus. Is the semester abroad a cost savings for the institution?</p>

<p>D is fluent in two languages besides English and semi-fluent in a third, since dyslexics pick up spoken languages incredibly fast. I didn’t care WHERE she did her study abroad as long as she did it and did it through a University in another country, grades given.</p>

<p>they speak a version of english where she is going. Fine with me.</p>

<p>Husband, who was a STEM major in undergrad did a summer abroad in Europe which was heavily humanities based. He still talks about what a great experience it was for him to see shakespeare in England and to go to all of the museums all over Europe, a completely different type of education than he was getting in classes at school.</p>

<p>I went to Asia before people went to asia all the time and it completely changed my life, and not because of the classroom but because of the temple at Kyoto.</p>

<p>You just never know what’s going to matter. College is about who you are going to become as much as it is about demonstable work load, imho.</p>

<p>I was a biology major as an undergrad so spent the majority of my academic life in college studying science (my passion). </p>

<p>I chose to study abroad in Florence to learn about Italian Renaissance art and art history. Was it touristy? A little, yes. But we were going to see all those famous sites, museums, cities, etc in order to learn about the art there. It was an incredible trip that didn’t feel overdone or ostentatious at all. Plus, I loved having an opportunity to explore something totally new–Renaissance art–without the pressure of having multiple challenging science classes weighing me down.</p>

<p>I took an Italian Renaissance art history class the following semester, and learning something from a book or a powerpoint just isn’t the same as actually seeing the original piece.</p>

<p>I’m headed off to medical school in a few weeks. I interviewed at 4 different schools. Guess which topic came up at each of them? My time in Italy!</p>

<p>If you can find a way to use your time wisely, I think studying abroad is a fabulous opportunity–and one I fondly remember!</p>

<p>It might be a boondoogle, or also, it might just reflect the kid taking and posting the photos. Their view of what is worth taking photos of and putting on FB, so to speak.</p>

<p>It reminds me of when my FIL got all upset that we college kids had ONLY photos of our partying and friends! Where were the photos of the studying that should be going on!? He really said this.</p>

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<p>Yes, lord helps us all if we were to judge our kids college experience solely on what they choose to post on FB. I think we could all quickly jump to to the conclusion that college itself was a boondoggle.</p>

<p>Obviously I am not saying that all study abroad programs are boondoggles.</p>

<p>MomLive gives the example of visiting Greece to see the antiquities, which ties in to the reading the students have been doing. There’s time off at the beach. Sounds good to me.</p>

<p>Of course I realize that women may wear burkas and hijab in this country. However, it will not raise any eyebrows if a woman does not. </p>

<p>What I saw of this trip makes it seem almost anti-educational to me. If you are studying international business, it is probably a good idea to learn how to build relationships by respecting the country’s mores. Remember, the students were only in the country for two weeks.</p>

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<p>I’m guessing Scotland.</p>

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<p>Kinkaku-ji or Ryoan-ji?</p>

<p>You can walk between these two, in fact. It’s a little bit of a walk, but not overly long. Both are really amazing, imho.</p>