New perspectives can often lead to meaningful changes in a person’s life.
Every year, the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh sends hundreds of its students to a variety of countries around the world to examine different ideas and meet new people.
This year is no different. In fact, during the spring interim and summer semester, more than 250 students traveled or will travel to different places across the globe in pursuit of unique, rewarding experiences. The countries in UW Oshkosh’s study abroad program span more than four different continents and include: U.K., France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Peru, China and Australia.
For her English 294 class, Literary Landscapes, UWO professor Marguerite Helmers tailored a general education course for a University Studies Program Quest III experience and took her 21 students to various locations around Ireland.
Launched in 2013, the UW Oshkosh University Studies Program is designed to ignite intellectual curiosity and introduce students to opportunities of university life through general education classes. The University Studies Program is designed around signature questions and Quest courses. Quest III gives students the opportunity to engage in a rich community experience.
“I wanted UW Oshkosh students to critically examine the impact of tourism in a highly-visited area of Ireland,” Helmers said. “I had a pre-existing relationship with the BurrenBeo Trust in County Galway, Ireland, which is a nonprofit agency that is devoted to preserving the unique landscape of the Burren and to educating the public about the need for balance between economic growth, environmental preservation, and human development and potential.”
Helmers’ students spent time participating in several different activities from the lively streets of Dublin to the historic Burren landscape.
On one occasion, while the group was visiting a cemetery in Kilconieran County, they were approached by a local farmer and his children.
“He walked us over to his family’s plot and began to tell us how many generations had lived on this very land,” Helmers said. “It was living history. The students learned that sustainability could mean that families could tend the land for hundreds of years and that their economic and social survival depended on respectful use of resources.”
Freshman Emily Reise said she will remember the experience UW Oshkosh afforded her for the rest of her life.
“I left the country not completely whole, I left a part of me there that was so infatuated with the culture and the people I had met,” Reise said. “I not only toured the country, I became part of the country through my adventures there. Studying abroad is an investment, traveling is the only thing that you can spend money on and come out of richer.”
Reise also said that the Helmers; partnership with the BurrenBeo Trust allowed the class to obtain an experience that is unavailable to the average tourist.
“We went into the field and even learned how to score that specific plot of land and determine how much money they would be given for being sustainable,” Reise said. “Seeing what sustainability looks like in a hands on learning environment is so much more impactful and insightful than what you could ever get within a classroom.”
UW Oshkosh University Studies Program Civic Engagement Coordinator Mike Lueder said community engagement–especially abroad–adds considerable value to the student experience.
“By being engaged in the community life in Ireland the students learned a great deal more than they would by traveling alone or even on a classroom based trip,” Lueder said. “The UWO students also were forced to learn a great deal about themselves and how to interact and engage in a new environment. Many of them gained a great deal of confidence by managing issues on their own outside of their typical comfort zone.”
The prospect of studying abroad may seem out of reach and even frightening to some students, UWO leaders said, but with a little research and commitment, it is an experience that is available to nearly any budget or schedule.
For more information about studying abroad through UWO, students should visit the Office of International Education located in Dempsey Hall, Room 202 where they will be able to speak with advisers about the various international programs the university offers and take the first step toward a richer college experience.
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