Winter Term Global Engagement programs send Elon students, faculty and staff throughout the world

Nearly 1,000 students, faculty and staff are participating this month in 37 programs on six continents.

Winter Term at Elon is now underway, which means nearly 1,000 students, faculty and staff are traveling to locations on six continents to participate in unique programs that cater to a variety of interests across multiple disciplines. 

Elon University is renowned for its emphasis on global engagement, and Winter Term is the busiest time of the year for this critical element of an Elon education. During this year's Winter Term, which spans the month of January, more than 900 undergraduate and graduate students will participate in intensive programs through Elon's Study Abroad and Study USA programs, cohort travel and course-embedded travel. 

To support students on these programs, Elon has awarded more than $90,000 through the GEC Access Scholarship and endowed gifts. Through these initiatives established to support the university’s unprecedented university commitment to diversity and global engagement, Elon is able to offer financial aid for global engagement to every student with documented financial need.   

Unique to Elon is the preparation students receive for their Winter Term programs. Most Study Abroad and Study USA courses require a one-credit course in the preceding fall semester, where students meet with their faculty members and classmates as they learn in advance about the locations and cultures they plan to visit. The classes allow professors to forge strong relationships with their students and give students an avenue to learn about each other prior to their immersion in new and dynamic places.

In addition to the nearly 30 programs managed by staff in the Isabella Cannon Global Education Center, each of the cohorts and courses listed below has students that will also be involved in a study away program this Winter Term:

  • Business Fellows 
  • Communications Fellows 
  • Elon College Fellows
  • Honors Fellows 
  • Leadership Fellows
  • Teaching Fellows
  • Periclean Scholars
  • iMedia Fly-Ins
  • MBA and Elon Law study abroad

Elon also offers two short-term faculty-led programs during the summer: Alaska: Call of the Wild – Nature and Imagination, and Japan and Hong Kong: Exploring Business and Culture. The Global Education Center also offers semester-long travel-embedded courses. In Fall 2017, students enrolled in the course Peru: Wilderness and Adventure Therapy studied on location during Thanksgiving Break.

The Global Education Center will announce all 2018-19 short-term programs at the end of February and will kick off the application period for Winter Term 2019 Study Abroad and Study USA programs in March.

These programs, in addition to a wide offering of Elon Centers Abroad, affiliate and exchange programs, and Study USA Centers contribute toward Elon’s goal of achieving 100 percent access to global engagement. As a result, Elon is consistently ranked the nation's #1 master's-level university for international study by the Institute of International Education, and 83 percent of the class of 2017 participated in Study Abroad or Study USA while at Elon.

To stay abreast of Elon Study Abroad and Study USA travel this month and always, follow @ElonGlobal on FacebookInstagram, and Twitter, and join the conversation at #ElonGlobal.

Winter Term Global Engagement programs include:

Shanna Van Beek, assistant director of study abroad, contributed to this report.