Imagine spending four weeks in a foreign country and participating in a series of in-depth forums to discuss the country’s culture, all the while exploring beautiful foreign lands.
This isn’t just a figment of the imagination, it is available to any student, with any class standing in any major at Northeastern. The International Affairs Department is offering Dialogue of Civilizations, a program which embraces cultural awareness on a new, hands-on level. Applications are now available for Egypt, Turkey, South Africa, China and Spain trips.
Northeastern’s experiential motto is epitomized by the Dialogue of Civilizations program’s offerings. The program started when Dennis Sullivan, international affairs department chair, began taking students to Egypt for informal trips about 10 years ago, said Denise Horn, head advisor of international affairs.
“The idea for many different short-term, faculty-led trips under the umbrella of ‘Dialogues of Civilizations’ is something we’ve developed this year, with the cooperation of several faculty members in different departments,” Horn said.
The entire cost of the trips is covered by regular tuition, and the next trips planned for summer 2006 will be covered by summer tuition. Students can earn eight credit hours for summer semesters I and II.
The trips are led by one or two faculty members and in some cases accompanied by a graduate student, depending on the size of the group. The faculty member in charge organizes the trip and leads the activities, allowing students to benefit from the professor’s knowledge of the area and expertise on topics and themes.
“I should note that all the programs are different. For the Egypt, Spain, China and Turkey trips, students work on their own research project while also meeting a variety of scholars, students and officials in these countries,” Horn said.
Paola Mesadieu, a middler international affairs and political science double major who recently returned from Egypt, said her experience with the program was unique in her collegiate career.
“The country and the people within the country are your primary resources,” Mesadieu said. “As an international affairs major, it definitely opened my eyes more to politics in another setting.”
After his trip to China, Tanay Parekh, a middler international business major, said he would recommend the program to others who are interested in an international career.
“You will definitely learn a lot and it will open your eyes to what sort of place you’re living in, as far as the global community is concerned,” Parekh said.
The South Africa trip is a three-week intensive training program in grassroots, non-governmental organization development and networking with students from all over Africa, the United States and Japan.
The Mexico trip is an intensive training led by Professor Lori Gardinier of the Human Services program that also includes language training.
There is no set limit on how many students can go on each trip, and Horn said it varies with the professor who is organizing the trip.
“It depends on the program and the faculty member. Sullivan’s program, for instance, is well-established, so he can easily accommodate 25 students,” Horn said. “My program to South Africa is fairly new and is in partnership with several different universities, which limits the number of students we can bring [about 15 from Northeastern].”
Horn and other professors said they are optimistic the program will be a success.
“Student interest has been high so far and as we create new programs to different locations we hope it will only increase,” Horn said. “We are currently working on creating trips that would include Northeastern students and non-Northeastern students as well as alumni.”
The application deadline for this summer’s trips is Jan. 17. To pick up an application go to 270 Holmes Hall or download it on the IAF Web site, www.iaf.neu.edu.
