Each year, the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh offers more than 80 programs for students to study abroad for a year, semester, interim or even a week-long course.
Students can learn about opportunities from faculty, staff and past study abroad participants during the Office of International Education Fall 2014 Study Abroad Fair in the Reeve Union ballroom on Wednesday, Sept. 10 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
UW Oshkosh offers three types of study abroad programs: faculty-led programs, direct enroll programs and student exchange programs.
Geology Professor Eric Hiatt taught a faculty-led program for a group of 14 students Aug. 18–25 for the Geology 360 course, Coral Reefs, Oceanography and Geology of Bermuda.
“It is relatively short, but very intense,” Hiatt said. “We leave Oshkosh at 2 a.m., and I have the students in the ocean later the same day in Bermuda.”
In Hiatt’s Geology course, students are completely immersed in oceanography, geology, biology and environmental science for one week.
“People learn best through experience, and I am always amazed at how much students learn over a short time,” Hiatt said. “They meet Bermudian people and scientists from around the world who are doing research and teaching at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) which is our home and base in Bermuda.”
Since 1998, Hiatt has been teaching a field course in Bermuda, which Hiatt’s students say is one of the most important educational experiences of their lives.
“Some of my students have decided to go to graduate school and pursue careers in oceanography and geology based on the experience,” Hiatt said. “Studying abroad involves committing time and money, but all of my students over the last two decades have always stated that the experience is worth every penny!”
Studying abroad allows students to experience other cultures and other worlds firsthand.
“Some of the students who take my Bermuda course have never seen the ocean, and I put them the middle of the Atlantic!”
By studying abroad, students gain a global perspective, become a participant in a new culture and add unique skills and experiences to their resume by studying abroad.
“All of the field trips and courses within the U.S., international education opportunities, as well as opportunities to do research and internships offered here are some of the advantages that sets UW Oshkosh part from other schools,” Hiatt said. “And, you can’t swim in the ocean in an online course!”
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