A world of experience, rigorous study await MU students in January
Whether it’s exploring countries like India, France, Romania, Austria, Hungary or Ireland, studying in states like Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee or Virginia, or on the North Manchester campus, Manchester University students will be deeply engaged in a rigorous three-week study session this January.
Approximately 1,170 students are enrolled for the 2017 January session, and 134 of these have signed up for travel courses: 109 will be studying abroad while 25 are set to take on travel courses within the U.S.
“The January session at Manchester started in 1970,” said Assistant Professor Thelma Rohrer, director of international studies and academic enrichment at Manchester. “One of the motivations was to make sure students had an opportunity to do something different than the standard classroom, either as a studio class on campus, an intensive lab or especially to study abroad … a short-term experience, an immersion experience.”
Rohrer said studying abroad gives students a chance to learn about the location and the culture firsthand. Students have the opportunity to gain international experience and learn the ways of a different place, and it also enables them to “learn, at an immersive level, with a faculty mentor.”
“Study abroad is important because of what it does for the individual,” she said. “To stretch oneself outside the classroom, off campus, internationally and quite frequently outside one’s comfort zone is such a positive opportunity for growth within a supportive structure.”
Timothy Pariseau, now a senior biology-chemistry major from Fostoria, Ohio, had a transformative experience when he took Development of Modern Scientific Thought in London last January. He visited a number of cultural, historical and scientific sites.
“I am a scientist,” he said. “I have (spent a considerable amount of time) reading about these scientists and what they did, and then I was actually there, where it all happened! I saw the machines and the tools and the instruments that they used to create, for example, the first benzene, the first DNA molecule, the laboratory where they discovered the proton, the neutron … I was at the hub of science’s origin … it felt indescribable.”
On-campus courses being offered during the session cover a wide range, including art, biology, accounting, business, economics, music and communication.
Students are scheduled to post photos from their adventures near and far at
http://www.manchester.edu/hub/social-media after the session begins Jan. 4.
With 1,600 students at its campuses in North Manchester and Fort Wayne, Manchester University respects the infinite worth of every individual, promotes responsible citizenship and puts high value on service. It calls on the diverse faiths of its community members to make the world a kinder and better place, establish justice and build peace amid strife. Learn more about the private, northern Indiana school at www.manchester.edu.
Prepared by Karen Kanyike, Strategic Communications student worker at Manchester University.
December 2016