Borders
University of Oregon
2005-2006
Pm the oUem
RAPID GROWTH AND CHANGES IN UO STUDY ABROAD
The past year has seen tremendous
changes in UO Overseas Study Programs.
First, the number of UO students who chose
to study or intern in an overseas location again
grew by leaps and bounds, continuing a
decade-long trend of rapid increase. Although
final numbers for 2004-05 are still out, it is
clear that more than 900 UO students elected
to study or intern abroad in the past academic
year, marking at least 9% growth over the
2003-04 total of 825.
Second, overseas study and internship
options open to UO students have continued
to expand at an almost astonishing rate.
2005-06 introduces a range of new
opportunities, including new programs at
existing study sites, new internship openings,
and entirely new program sites.
Certain programs, such as Denmark's
International Studies Program (DIS), have
added a range of novel alternatives, like a
summer pre-med program on HIV and AIDS in
Western Europe, a glass design program and
a program in molecular biology. Likewise, the
program at the University of Hong Kong,
offered every spring semester, has grown from
strictly an architecture program to one with
opportunities in many fields.
Internships are also expanding. In Africa,
the always popular Tostan, a non-profit
organization aiding community development
projects in Senegal, has added work sites in
Guinea. In Iceland, a new relationship with
the national organization that promotes study
of Iceland worldwide has led to a summer
internship in promotions and marketing.
And, for the first time ever, internships in a wide
range of fields are now available in and
around Florence, Italy.
Plus, there are several completely new study
programs making their debut this academic
year, including such diverse picks as:
sustainable community planning on the island
of Kefalonia, Greece; summer courses in
literature and medieval studies at Cambridge,
England; and new exchange programs with
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universities in South Korea, Singapore, Japan
and Taiwan.
Most significant among the changes in the
office itself is the arrival of Overseas Program
Coordinator Jamie Hoag Barnett, who comes
to the UO after working with high school
exchanges, serving in the Peace Corps in
Ukraine, and earning a master's degree in
international education from the School for
International Training. Jamie replaces
Surendra Subramani, who now teaches full
time in the College of Education. Jamie will
work with programs located throughout the
world, including Spanish-speaking countries,
Africa, former Soviet states (including Russia),
Oceania, Mongolia, and the Indian
Subcontinent.
Finally, this year the staff of Overseas Study
Programs will debut a Blackboard pre
departure orientation to reduce the amount of
time spent in live sessions, a vastly expanded
and more user-friendly website, and a range of
new ways to learn about study abroad
opportunities on campus.
We hope you will seize the wonderful
opportunity your college (or grad school)
years provide to explore and experience the
world beyond your borders. ■
FOR AN
EXHAUSTIVE
LOOK AT NEW
OPTIONS,
SEE THE CHART
ON PAGE 3.
photo_Kathryn Ortland
♦ KATHRYN ORTLAND
oWakina IQeace with rC'okp0:
SMALL WONDERS
IN A CITY OF CHANGE
Editor's Note: The following first prize essay was submitted by journalism ma/or Kathryn Ortland as part of an entry
for the OIP Photo & Essay Contest Kathryn studied in the Waseda University program in the 2003-04 academic year
I woke up Saturday morning to the immense
pounding of construction equipment.
No matter that I slept with earplugs to block
out the noise of motorcyclists rewing their
engines in the dead of night; every morning at
8:00 a.m. sharp I was quite literally shaken
awake by the heavy machinery ten feet from
my bedroom window.
They were tearing down the ramen shop in
front of my house to widen the street. Thus is
the direction of progress. Yet, when they broke
a new foundation, they blessed the soil in the
Shinto tradition and, mercifully, ceased work
for several weeks.
Tokyo. A city of longstanding tradition and
immense change. A sea of contradictions.
During the time I spent studying abroad at
Waseda University, I lived in a small, dusty
house on the outskirts of Shinjuku, one of
Tokyo's major metropolitan districts. Many of
my classmates lived in suburban or rural areas,
with a long commute to our downtown
university by train. I took a bus for fifteen
Japan continued on page 2
INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS
University of Oregon
330 Oregon Hall« http://studyabroad.uoregon.edu
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