“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness . . . broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” -Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad.
Our world has grown smaller and more interconnected than at any time in history. Students have more opportunity to share knowledge from across cultures and learn from different people. As educators we welcome the challenge of these new perspectives, but we also recognize that they can cause friction.
Students hear political discourse and media coverage of issues like immigration, national interests in foreign conflict, and jobs headed overseas and may have little first-hand information about the cultures and people being described.
The College of Education’s Travel Scholars program currently offers up to $5,000 a year for a bachelor’s, master’s and a doctoral student in Education to teach or conduct research overseas. Not intended for study abroad, these three Education Travel Scholars are required to submit a plan for precisely what they hope to learn and how they hope to apply that experience when they return home. All Travel Scholars are required to present a “brown bag” lunch presentation on campus to share what they have learned.
To learn about doctoral student Julia Kronholz’s experience, join us November 18th, 2016 from 12:00 to 1:00 pm in the Dunlap Success Center, room 1006, for her presentation, “Career Services in Uganda.”