The study abroad programs of the Center for Global Engagement at California Lutheran University have recently expanded to offer a wide range of locations, academic tracks, and faculty-led travel seminars for students to participate in.
Matthew Yates, director of the Office of Education Abroad, spoke about the new program expansions available to students and how CGE is adapting to meet the needs of its students.
“We now have 51 semester programmes in 49 different locations starting in spring 2024,” Yates said. “The academic and geographic options are now much more diverse.”
Yates said the semester-based study abroad programme is expanding to include all seven continents, including an upcoming programme that will start in Argentina and move to Antarctica. In addition, Yates said students can apply to participate in a series of faculty-led travel seminars offered in the spring.
Over the past year, Yates said he has made a conscious effort to provide more opportunities for students of all disciplines, while being mindful of the financial responsibility that comes with studying abroad.
“Part of what I’ve done in the last year has been to do a lot of research to revamp our portfolio of approved options that are more affordable so that more students can go abroad,” Yates said. “Cal Lutheran has a financial model that allows all students who do a semester abroad programme to use their full financial aid package. As a result, students can study abroad for about the same price as staying on campus.”
While the new faculty-led programs won’t take place until the spring, Yates said he’s already seen an increase in the number of students interested in a semester abroad program.
“In the autumn of 2021, we had our first students go abroad; we had 11,” Yates said. “Last year we had 23, and we’re projecting for the spring that we’ll have about 35 to 40. This last academic year, so that would include the faculty-led programmes as well as the summer, we had 137 students.”
Yates said there is no question why CGE is seeing an influx of students interested in studying abroad. Yates also said that universal curiosity is a driving factor in why students choose such programmes.
“They are all very different students. They’re all very interesting and have different perspectives, but if I had to say there’s one common thread, it’s curiosity,” Yates said. “Something I’ve really tried to encourage when I talk to prospective students about education abroad, whether it’s at Cal Lutheran or anywhere else, is to try to light that fire of curiosity in them so that they want to have a challenging experience.
Senior Kailee Ortega participated in a semester abroad in Seoul, South Korea, last autumn.
“It was probably the best experience I will ever have in my life, to be honest,” Ortega said.
Ortega said her study abroad experience was filled with moments of personal growth, both as a student and as a traveller. Ortega said that discomfort can sometimes be our greatest motivator when it comes to personal growth and is crucial to the study abroad experience.
“Be okay with stepping out of your comfort zone,” Ortega said. “You have to be okay with being uncomfortable, and that goes for language, talking to people, food, etc. You won’t have the opportunities you have here.”
Brian Collins, associate professor and chair of the philosophy department, said faculty-led travel seminars are a great way to experience this level of immersion and may be a more attractive option for some.
Collins led a faculty-led travel seminar to Athens, Greece, last year for his Ancient Greek Philosophy course.
“Travelling internationally and getting to know people and cultures and societies in a much more immersive way helps us to be more knowledgeable and also more humble citizens of the world,” Collins said.
According to Cal Lutheran’s website, the faculty-led programmes offered by CGE give students the opportunity to apply what they have learned immediately after their semester course, as the week- to month-long trip takes place immediately after the course is completed.
Collins said that this applied knowledge helps to create an even more enriching experience for students who apply for faculty-led study abroad programmes.
“Standing in Athens, standing in front of the Acropolis, looking up at the same buildings that these figures and philosophers stood in and looked up at, does something to how our minds grasp and organise and solidify our thoughts and ideas,” Collins said.
Collins said he noticed that student engagement in his travel seminar course was extremely high from the beginning of the semester. When Rafaela Fiore Urizar, professor of Latin American studies and chair of the Department of Languages and Cultures, led a travel seminar to Cartagena, she said she noticed the same change in student engagement from the beginning of the on-campus course.
“There is a cost-benefit that the students understand. They know that in a few months they will be putting into practice what they have learned,” said Fiore Urizar. “There is almost a sense of urgency to learn the material, to understand the material really well, and even to go deeper and broader than what we expect in the classroom.”
Fiore Urizar said it is critical that student learning outcomes reflect the need to foster a global perspective. In spring 2024, Fiore Urizar and Ryan Medders, professor of communication, will lead a travel seminar to Argentina that will focus on understanding Spanish media in Latin America.
“To really improve awareness and understanding of Latin American culture, it was a great idea to create a travel seminar where other departments could use their knowledge and combine it with Latin American issues,” said Fiore Urizar. “Sometimes the problem in other departments is that they want to think globally, and they want to understand some of their own course content in other countries, but they lack the cultural knowledge that languages and cultures can provide.”
Ortega also said that her experience abroad has continued to shape her perspective in terms of her postgraduate plans.
“I want to teach kindergarten through second grade,” Ortega said. “Diversity in the classroom is such a big thing, and a lot of us grew up without it. We didn’t always have teachers who looked like us. Even though I am not Korean, I can relate to a child’s culture.
Fiore Urizar said that empathy and respect for other cultures is key to creating a more inclusive society, both at home and abroad.
“When you travel, you immerse yourself in another culture,” Fiore Urizar said. “It creates a sense of humility, because you are the guest.”
