Record numbers of Elon students are studying around the world in January

Nearly 1,000 Elon students, faculty and staff will gain a global academic experience during Winter Term 2015. Their numbers are part of the university's record-setting year for international study.

<p>Elon students participating&nbsp;in a study abroad course in Peru in 2011.</p>
<p>Elon students participating&nbsp;in a study abroad course in Peru in 2011.</p>
[/caption]During January 2015, Elon is operating 36 international study programs along with five Study USA courses. The busy Winter Term follows a fall semester during which the Isabella Cannon Global Education Center coordinated semester abroad experiences for more than 400 Elon students, double the number from five years ago. Elon is consistently ranked the nation’s #1 master’s-level university for international study.

Winter Term 2015 courses and their departure dates are as follows:

January 1

  • Holocaust Journey

January 2

  • Guatemala
  • China: The Flying Dragon
  • Italy: Fine Arts
  • India’s Identities
  • Ireland: An Introduction to its Literature, Culture & History
  • India: Public Health Practicum
  • Critically Engaged Eco-tourism in New Zealand
  • Australia: Eco-tourism
  • India: Education & Development
  • EUROMED: Turkey/Dubai, Where East Meets West

January 3

  • Malawi: The Warm Heart of Africa
  • Costa Rica Jungle: Community, Conservation, Service
  • Business in the Pacific Rim
  • South Africa: The Call of South Africa
  • Multicultural London
  • Great Structures of Europe: Technology and History

January 4

  • Ethiopia and Tanzania
  • Italian Comedy
  • Barbados: Culture, Sport & Media
  • Austria: Sex and Violins: The Lives of the Great Composers
  • Australia: Indigenous Studies

January 5

  • Business & Culture of Vietnam
  • Costa Rica: Language, Culture & Ecotourism
  • Eat, Pray, Love: Sacred Space and the Place of Religion in 21 Century France
  • Peru: The Living Heritage of the Andes: Language, Society & Environment
  • Classics in Context: Ancient Greece
  • World War II in Europe: Life in a Time of War
  • Germany/Gutenberg         

January 6

  • Baseball and Tourism in the Dominican Republic
  • Plants and Culture of Samoa

January 7

  • Turkey: Inquiry in Istanbul

January 15

  • Business Fellows in Abu Dhabi

January 17

  • Peru Microfinance and Agriculture

In addition, Elon students and faculty are taking part in five Study USA courses, including the following:

  • Hawaii
  • Sundance (Utah) Film Festival
  • Discovering Dixie
  • Teaching Fellows traveling the East Coast
  • Elon College Fellows traveling the East Coast

Elon graduate students and faculty are taking part in international study courses as follows:

  • Joint MBA/JD program in Vietnam and Singapore
  • MA in interactive media in Central America

The growing interest in semester abroad programs is due in part to new financial aid opportunities. Starting in 2012, Elon began building a Global Education Center Access Scholarship fund to help “close the gap” between the cost of an international experience, and a student’s demonstrated financial need. The scholarships make overseas travel possible for students who are limited because of financial considerations.

Unique to Elon is the preparation students receive for their Winter Term programs. Those enrolled to travel abroad each January take a one-credit course in the preceding fall semester, meeting with their faculty members and classmates as they learn in advance about the nations 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 a new culture.