Augustana’s IPO Looks Ahead to J-Term 2022, Announces Course Offerings

By Jill Wilson | February 17, 2021

Augustana University’s International Programs Office (IPO) announced 17 AU faculty-led study away courses for January Interim 2022 (some of which were cancelled in 2021 due to challenges related to COVID-19). The four-week session in January will feature courses that travel the globe from Costa Rica, Cuba and Guatemala to Kenya, India and Ireland.

Fifteen of the study away courses offered will be Augustana faculty-led, which means students will learn from an AU faculty member who specializes in the program’s subject of study and they will study, live and travel with other AU students. Two others will be Upper Midwest Association for Intercultural Education (UMAIE) courses, taught by faculty from Augustana and with students from Elmhurst, St. Ambrose, St. Thomas, and St. Catherine's. AU students have access to a number of other courses in the UMAIE consortium taught by professors from these other universities as well.

“Our faculty are amazing. They just keep coming up with these really good ideas and they’re really not deterred. They know they have to be realistic, but they also haven’t really lost momentum of the future of study abroad," said Associate Director of International Programs Erin Kane. 

Prior to the pandemic, there was incredible interest among Augustana students and faculty in study abroad. If courses weren’t cancelled in January 2021, the university might have had around 200 students and more than 20 faculty members on almost every continent. Under normal circumstances, IPO says more than half of Augustana students study abroad by the time they graduate.

On Wednesday, February 10, more than 100 students joined a virtual study away fair to learn more about January 2022 course options. The IPO hopes to host an in-person fair in late March. 

January 2022 Augustana Study-Away Programs Include:

This course provides an introduction to the history and culture of Central and Eastern Europe: the Czech Republic. Students will study the history, culture and political development of this region through a performing arts lens and seek to uncover the ways that performing arts became a mirror to reflect human struggles and successes, political upheaval, times of transition and new beginnings.

This course’s study  of race and gender will allow students to uncover similarities and divergences between Cuba and the U.S. as countries, that up to this day, are dealing with histories fraught by slavery and racism, but also distinguished by the vibrancy of their mixed cultural heritages.

This course will explore Kenyan culture, increasing students’ knowledge base on how food security and education systems, as well as policies impact the welfare, decision making processes and resiliency of a people. Issues such as biofuels, food aid, poverty, subsidies, climate change and level of education as drivers of food insecurity will be observed, addressed and discussed to give perspective to the complex interdependencies related to global food security.

Students will examine in this course the historical, cultural, literary and social systemic forces that perpetuated 200+ years of conflict and coalesced in the late 1990s to bring an end to violence and a relative normalization of community life in Northern Ireland. Students will also explore the unsettled issues of this “dis-united kingdom” that continue to maintain fault-lines between communities in Northern Ireland.

In this course, students will learn about Juan and Eva Peron, figures who are embedded in Argentine history, politics and philosophy. “Evita” became a symbol of hope for a better life for all Argentineans, especially the poor and downtrodden. 

Students will have the opportunity in this course to apply concepts of human anatomy and physiology, biomechanics and nutrition to physical activities such as surfing, hiking, zip lining, mountain biking and rock climbing — experiencing exercise science in Costa Rica. 

This travel course experiences the incredible sights and sounds of northern India. Students will study Hinduism on the banks of the Ganges and Buddhism at Bodhgaya, experience yoga classes, an evening ceremony of lights, be introduced to Indian music, visit the Taj Mahal, and attend the Jaipur Literature Festival - the largest literary festival in the world.

Students will explore Norwegian culture and basic language skills and then transition to a teaching practicum that will complete 75 hours of active involvement with children, youth or adults with disabilities at a unique Norwegian Special Education (SPED) site.

In this course, students will be familiarized with a variety of concepts related to sustainability at three levels, including individual, organizational and societal, with a focus on business and the evolving role of business in society.

The course situates contemporary relations of race and religion within historic legacies and relations of power in London and Ireland. Three intersecting areas of race and religion are explored including everyday racism, social identification and social change. 

In Guatemala, students will live simply with host families in a small village, take excursions to forest reserves and Mayan ruins (including Tikal), and volunteer in a small health clinic. In Belize, students will stay at a field research station on a small island studying a variety of marine habitats including coral reefs, mangroves and coastal lagoons, which includes extensive snorkeling in these habitats. 

When Americans experience Greece firsthand, they often discover a history and culture that is very different than what they have come to expect. The course is intended as both an amazing cross cultural experience in a culture that is both similar and different from our own, as well as an opportunity to reflect on the historical contributions and circumstances that guide us as we construct the images of our past, present and future.

In this course, students will experience a historical study of several important unification of scientific and mathematical ideas in the United Kingdom, namely in England and Scotland.

Modeled after Public Broadcasting Services’ "This American Life," this course will teach communication skills and critical thinking through narratological concepts by employing entertaining and technologically-enhanced forms of journalism, including webcasts, blogs and podcasts. 

This course is designed to introduce students to the natural history, biology, diversity and community ecology of marine ecosystems by getting wet, muddy and experiencing them firsthand traveling by van across Florida. Special emphasis will be placed on surveying diverse marine habitats, the organisms found in each and the interactions that result in these unique communities.

This course focuses on professional role development, nursing leadership and contemporary issues in the Ecuadorian health care system and society.

This senior-level course focuses on professional role development, nursing leadership and contemporary issues in nursing from the Norwegian perspective.

For more information on study away programs, please visit augie.edu/StudyAbroad.

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