Summer Newsletter 2011: Off-Campus Study
One hundred and fifty-three Bates students have left or will soon leave to study abroad for the fall or year. This includes 25 students who will study in France with professors Joseph Hall, history, and Kirk Read, French.
As in the past, Bates students on the Junior Year Abroad and Junior Semester Abroad programs will cover the globe, visiting Europe from Italy to Sweden, Africa from South Africa to Uganda, Latin America from Argentina to Nicaragua, Asia in China and Japan, and in Australia and New Zealand. Many students studying in the Southern Hemisphere have already departed since the “spring” semester at universities there began in mid-July.
In the fall, we’ll welcome back 153 students who studied off-campus last semester or for the full 2010-11 academic. We look forward to the wisdom and insight they bring back to the campus. A “Welcome Back” reception is scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 8, in New Commons. We encourage these students (and other seniors, as well) to investigate the fellowship opportunities for additional international study and travel through the Dean of the Faculty’s office. (Please note that 153 students leaving and 153 students returning is not a typo, but success in balancing participation between the two semesters.)
Information sessions about off-campus study opportunities and procedures are planned for 7 and 9 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29, in Chase Lounge. This is followed by a “Study Abroad Fair” on Wednesday, Oct. 5, featuring representatives from programs and universities abroad, and also including information on the Bates Fall Semester Program in Spain planned for the fall of 2012.
The SAFE program — “Study Abroad for Everyone” — continues this year. SAFE facilitates study abroad by students with limited family resources and no prior international travel experience. It consists of three efforts: outreach to ensure that all Bates students recognize this part of the curriculum is available for them; special efforts to identify lower-cost programs and special federal and program grants; and, for some students, extra financial support from the Barlow Endowment for Study Abroad.
Our summer has included some “travel” of our own — a move of the Off-Campus Study Office to the first floor of the new addition to Roger Williams Hall. Our suite of offices is lovely, spacious and in a great location on campus. Please come check it out when you return to campus.
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