Fairleigh Dickinson University has expanded its study-abroad programs with diverse travel options and a Global Study Certificate.

“The Study-abroad Office has been researching and implementing a wider variety of programs in varying lengths and locations,” says Brian Swanzey, director of Wroxton College and study abroad.

“Study abroad is an important part of a global education,” says Rick Isquith, executive director for global partnerships. “Traveling abroad will change somebody forever. Through Wroxton College and our many international partnerships and programs, students have a wide variety of opportunities to expand their horizons and explore different cultures.”

The Global Study Certificate, which was first introduced by New College for General and Continuing Studies in 2002, is an independent-study course that enables students to travel and study in an area of interest and gain three undergraduate credits. In coordination with an FDU professor, students conduct research, interview experts and officials and write two papers on their findings. Students and professors will correspond via the Internet.

The independent study is open to all majors, and students may enroll at any point throughout the year. Research projects can vary widely and can be customized to a student’s particular field of interest. Topics in political science, business, economics, psychology, communication, history, fine arts and others may be considered.

For more information about the certificate program, call Swanzey, 973-443-8086, or follow the link to the Global Study Certificate on the new study-abroad Web page, http://www.fdu.edu/studyabroad/.

Faculty also are designing study-abroad courses. Among the travel courses planned for the winter break are Spanish for Hospitality Managers and Club Management — both offered by the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management — and Global Research and Analysis (part of the Global Scholars program), all to be taught in the Dominican Republic. Fall courses in 2004 include Ecological Principles (for nonscience majors) and Environmental Field Studies (a laboratory course for MAS students), both to be taught in Costa Rica, and Mathematics of the Renaissance, to be taught in Florence, Italy.

The Study-abroad Office is particularly encouraging faculty-led programs, “If a faculty member has an idea for a course and he or she would like to take a group of students abroad, the Study-abroad Office will work to put together the travel component, leaving the faculty member to create the academic portion,” Swanzey says. There is a guide for faculty on the Web site at http://inside.fdu.edu/studyabroad/guide_for_faculty.html.

There are many other study-abroad opportunities for FDU students, starting, of course, with the numerous offerings at the University’s Wroxton College in England, to which students have traveled since 1965.

Students also can study at the University’s partner institutions abroad including Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel; Galen University, Belize; Intercollege, Cyprus; International University of Monaco; International University Study Center, Barcelona, Spain; Izmir Advanced Education Institute, Turkey; and Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra, Dominican Republic.

In addition, Lexia, an educational company working with FDU, provides individualized cultural studies at locations around the world and will tailor a program to an individual’s desires.

November 2003

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Flor =
College at Florham, Madison, N.J.

Metro =
Metropolitan Campus, Teaneck, N.J.

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