The World Calls (and Dickinson Answers)
Dickinson again deemed a top school for studying abroad by the Institute of International Education
by Tony Moore
The Institute of International Education (IIE) ranked Dickinson No. 5 for yearlong study abroad and No. 11 for semesterlong study abroad in the baccalaureate category of its most recent Open Doors report (for the 2013-14 academic year). Based on the number of students in study-abroad programs, the rankings highlight the college's commitment to immersive global education, with 325 students studying abroad last year (275 in semesterlong programs and 50 in yearlong programs) and just over 68 percent of Dickinson students studying abroad before they graduate.
If these numbers are a little dry, a little quantitative, let’s move on to something a little more qualitative, something that might go a long way toward explaining how Dickinson's distinctive approach makes our programs so popular.
“Students don’t merely visit or travel abroad,” says Samantha Brandauer ’95, director of education abroad with the Center for Global Study & Engagement. “Our network of programs and partnerships throughout the world gives students from all disciplines the opportunity to engage with local people and to become members of the communities in which they live and learn.”
On that note, Dickinson offers programs at the college’s 15 international centers in places such as Moscow, Bologna, Mendoza and Yaoundé. The college also has 23 partner programs that complement and enhance its curricular and geographic reach, such as those with Akita University, Ben-Gurion University, the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome and the School for Field Studies in Turks and Caicos.
On top of that, Dickinson offers summer and other short-term programs through which students work on language proficiency or get hands-on research experience (or both) in programs like the Field School in Classical Archaeology in Mycenae (Greece), “London: The Political Arts” and a Malaga summer immersion program. Adding to an already full slate, interdisciplinary global Mosaics as well as other globally integrated courses and Dickinson’s Global Scholars program all keep students active at the far reaches of the Earth.
“Dickinson continues to distinguish itself in the areas that really make us a leader—semester and, even more important, academic-year study-abroad,” says Brandauer. “This shows our commitment to sustained, meaningful global experiences that shape students’ academic and career trajectories once they are back at Dickinson and beyond.”
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Published January 8, 2016