Sunny 80-degree weather and an oceanfront condominium resort in the Jamaican town of Ocho Rio is how a group of Jacksonville State University and University of Southern Mississippi (USM) students are planning to spend their holiday vacation from Dec. 29-Jan. 13. The students, however, will not be on a school hiatus – they will be studying courses with a Caribbean focus for college credit.
USM has headed a study abroad consortium for 22 years, sending students to study in more than 30 countries such as Jamaica, Australia, Spain and the Galapagos Islands.
JSU has participated in this program for a couple of years, offering our students the opportunity to broaden their horizons and outlooks on life.
While living abroad, students study schoolwork and learn a new way of life.
“Our students need to experience a global economy and a global job market,” says Dr. Joe Delap, associate vice president for academic affairs. He says with the always-evolving economy, students need to be aware of where a career can take them after graduating.
Dr. Douglas O’Keefe, assistant professor in the Department of English at JSU, met with USM faculty last week to plan offering summer courses in London to students at JSU. O’Keefe has concentrated scholarly interests in eighteenth-century British literature and is currently preparing a work on the London theatre during the 1730s.
A 2005 Open Doors report on international educational exchange states that even though there has been a 250 percent increase in American students studying abroad over the last decade, there are more than five times as many international students enrolled in U.S. universities and colleges.
With the successful program of the International House on JSU’s campus for more than 60 years, we have established and maintained several superior relationships with international universities. JSU currently has the ability to offer study abroad opportunities to students to travel and attend universities in China, Morocco, France and Pakistan.
“We think there’s a future base for a study abroad program at JSU,” says Dr. Delap. “We are getting our feet wet and seeing how a successful program runs by looking at USM as a model.”
For the winter study abroad courses taught in Jamaica there is a lower turnout than expected but Dr. Delap suggests it is a lack of financial resources and not a lack of desire to travel abroad and study. “The economy is not in our favor this year,” Dr. Delap says. “It’s harder than ever for students to travel abroad.”
Faculty at JSU also have the opportunity to experience a different culture abroad by applying to teach one of the courses. In some instances, a teacher exchange may be possible; for instance, an English faculty member from JSU could apply to teach at a university in France and, in exchange, a teacher from that university could come and teach French classes at JSU for a certain period of time.
In order to gain as much as life has to offer, it is important to be global-minded; filled with the skills and experience to affect change in whichever community you may live.
For more information, call Dr. Joe Delap at 256-782-8186.
Erin Chupp, a graduate assistant in the Office of Marketing and Communications, contributed to this article.
