A Tradition of Education and Service Abroad

Education Abroad, as a defining educational component, provides meaningful and diverse cultural lived experiences to enhance global citizenship and prepare thoughtful leaders committed to transforming the world.

The Mission of Education Abroad opportunities at The College of St. Scholastica is to deepen appreciation of the Catholic Benedictine Values through meaningful international educational and service experiences:

Community

Education Abroad builds community by providing opportunities to welcome the stranger, value the uniqueness of others, and strengthen knowledge of social responsibility and critical global issues.

Stewardship

Through a balance between study and experience, Education Abroad provides opportunities to experience the importance of a wise use of resources and the global environment.

Hospitality

By observing, listening and responding sensitively to others, Education Abroad puts hospitality into action. Participants not only share hospitality, but experience it through the lens of other cultures.

Respect

Education Abroad participants will learn to interact with cultural fluency, value the uniqueness of others, and treat all with dignity and respect.

Love of Learning

Through research and scholarship abroad, students’ curiosity will be peaked, instilling an openness to learning and an appreciation of global issues and concerns

St. Scholastica’s oldest and only semester long program, students travel with two St. Scholastica faculty to Louisburgh, Ireland, a small village on the west coast of Ireland. Students live in furnished holiday cottages on the edge of the village, a brief walk away from the center of Louisburgh and miles of beautiful beach. The program consists of four 4-credit courses; topics and faculty change yearly. Irish guest lecturers and a combination of both day trips and multiple-day trips ensure that participants visit almost all of Ireland and gain firsthand knowledge of the people, history and culture.

Learn More and Apply

This service learning, social justice based program is designed to improve students’ Spanish, challenge their worldview, immerse them in another culture and open compassion for others. Students take courses in Spanish language, history and culture of Mexico and a two week community service learning project.

Learn More and Apply

From bubbling geothermal pools and windswept salt marshes to factory assembly lines and fair trade networks, students in this course analyze models of sustainable development, renewable energy, biodiversity and conservative consumption of resources. A two-credit course in Spring is followed by two weeks of immersion abroad in Germany and Iceland. Students will visit sustainable communities, cultural landmarks, factories and geothermal energy plants, interface with students and scientists at universities and research centers, and study German biosphere reserves and retreating Icelandic glaciers.

Learn More and Apply

The biennial program will focus on theatre, literature and history in England, immersing students in the environment that inspired the plays and literature they are studying. Students choose one of the following courses: CTA 3950: London Arts and Culture (2 cr.) or ENG 3950/HON 3950: London Arts and Culture (2 cr. with a required 2 cr. course in the Spring as well for a total of 4 cr.) While abroad, students will be able to visit such historical sites as Stonehenge, the Roman Baths and Abbey, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and more!

The program includes private airport transfers and in-country transportation to itinerary items, group welcome and farewell dinners, a proper British Tea and hot breakfast every morning. Also included is shared housing in centrally located hotels throughout the program, group excursions and entrance fees, and pre-departure organizational program materials.

Learn More and Apply

This study abroad research program will look into the marketing relationship in the utilization of the applications of contemporary marketing to the basic marketing function with ultra-fragmented distribution channels in the Middle East. The program outcome is to introduce students to Arab/Islamic culture and illustrate to students how the contemporary marketing fundamental principles can apply in an environment that still, until this modern day, utilizes the trading principles of the 17th and 18th century. Yet, at the same time, this environment functions with contemporary marketing concepts that we utilize in the West.

Learn More and Apply

Students spend 10 days in Sydney exploring best practices related to management, marketing, human resources and how business professionals will help sustain key industries and businesses into the future. Students will interact with local business owners and consumers throughout Sydney and explore iconic cultural locations like the Sydney Opera House and Bondi Beach.

Learn More and Apply

This course examines the research on characteristics of well-being to include overall health and happiness. Students will review the World Happiness Rankings based on criteria set forth by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, a global initiative for the United Nations. Students in the course will have an opportunity to tour the United Nations City in Copenhagen and join in on presentations by representatives of one or more of the 11 organizations at the UN City to include WHO (the World Health Organization), UN Women, UNHCR (Refugee Agency), WFP (World Food Programme), UNICEF and more.

Learn More and Apply

Every other summer, students and faculty travel together to the St. Scholastica school, founded by St. Scholastica Alum, Sr. Gaudensia Mwanyika, to provide education in Tanzania to children with physical and developmental disabilities. The group spends a few weeks providing service to the school and visiting nearby communities. Students also travel, taking part in a safari, viewing Mt. Kilimanjaro and touring historic sites in Dar es Salaam.

Learn More and Apply

The Philippines Capstone for senior nursing students aims to develop cultural awareness and sensitivity through experiential learning, intercultural exchange, and collaboration with professional nurses in the Philippines. Students utilize learned nursing theories and concepts in providing care and understanding of differences and similarities with other cultures. Students participate in a three-week, in-country clinical experience that provides different perspectives and enhances sensitivity to the needs of patients with different cultural beliefs and traditions. Students are credited 60 hours of the required 135 capstone clinical hours.

Learn More and Apply

Spend your break serving the San Lucas Mission in San Lucas Toliman, Guatemala.

Learn More and Apply

• Service is part of the ABE trips as students work alongside the host community to address human, social and environmental needs. Whether working with children at a low-income daycare, doing home repairs, or sifting dirt for a reforestation project, service is an opportunity to directly touch the lives of others. This service is the starting point from which we can begin to understand the needs of our brothers and sisters and the culture of the host community.
• Stewardship invites us to reconsider our habits, examine the difference between “needs” and “wants,” and consider the implications of our lifestyle choices. Through valuing simplicity in stewardship the ABE experience invites students to recognize the conveniences and luxuries that fill our lives. The ABE teams decide together how to pack only what is truly needed and how to be good stewards during the trip. At your site, your choices may be limited by geography, money, transportation and safety.

  “Live simply so that others may simply live.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

• Spirituality is part of the ABE experience as it is expressed by the ABE teams. Spirituality in the context of ABE brings together participants’ faith traditions, the Catholic Benedictine tradition of social justice and the Gospel call to service. The ABE program welcomes any student who is open to exploring and sharing issues of faith. Spirituality is how we express our own faith, beliefs and convictions, and the Benedictine tradition of St. Scholastica. Nightly reflections will give you the opportunity to share your own spirituality and learn from others in the light of the day’s experiences in the trust-filled setting of your ABE team.

  “Prayer disarms the human heart.” ~ Edward F. Gabriele

• Solidarity recognizes that we are all part of one human family despite national, racial, religious, economic, or ideological differences. Solidarity respects the value of the individual while affirming the common good. There are many communities involved in ABE trips: the ABE team, the host community, the St. Scholastica community, and beyond. Participants are not simply individuals who experience ABE trips on their own, but rather they are a community that is there to support and challenge each other throughout the experience. ABE teams reflect together in challenging support of one-another, and grow as a community through shared work. Through ABE, the ABE team and host community mutually benefit from the presence of each other.

  “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” ~ Margaret Mead

• Social Justice challenges students to recognize that it is not enough to simply do service. For example, when someone is hungry, we need to feed him/her. We also need to ask why the person is hungry and seek to change the social systems that create such issues in the first place. The dignity of the human person calls us to create social conditions that enable all people to achieve their full potential. Beyond direct service (e.g. serving a meal or roofing a house) ABE teams discover the political, economic, social, historical and religious issues which impact all of us. Through presentations, guest speakers, storytellers and educational opportunities, ABE trips seek to guide students to understand the interconnection between personal and societal responsibility.

  “If you want peace, work for justice.” ~ Pope Paul VI

The College of St. Scholastica Social Work program has a formal exchange agreement with the Alice Salomon Hochschule (ASH Berlin) in Berlin, Germany. ASH Berlin offers Social Work courses in English and German language courses for students with limited language experience. The International Office at ASH Berlin provides support for students and organizes a diverse cultural program and regular international get-togethers for exchange and international students. Students have the opportunity to come together, network and get to know Berlin.

Learn More and Apply

The National Student Exchange (NSE) provides accessible and affordable collegiate study away among member colleges and universities throughout the United States, Canada, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. NSE students exchange across state and provincial borders of North America to take advantage of diverse academic offerings, cultural opportunities and regional differences of our member colleges and universities. Options for special programs, honors and study abroad are also available. Students may exchange for a semester or academic year.

St. Scholastica partners with the Washington Semester Program at American University in Washington D.C. This program provides substantive real-world experiences through internships in Washington D.C. Students expand their networks and gain valuable skills for a competitive edge in the job market. Courses offered through the program allow students to explore headline topics from a distinctly Washington D.C. perspective. Taught by experienced AU faculty, these courses make Washington D.C. your classroom, bringing students face-to-face with local, national and global experts in the government, non-profit, media and corporate sectors.

The College of St. Scholastica is an affiliate partner with CIS Abroad. St. Scholastica students can study or intern abroad with CIS.

The College of St. Scholastica is an affiliate partner with International Studies Abroad (ISA ). St. Scholastica students can study or intern abroad with ISA.

The College of St. Scholastica is a member of ISEP. St. Scholastica students can study abroad on ISEP Direct programs at over 60 institutions in more than 35 countries. ISEP Direct programs give students access to living and learning alongside locals for a uniquely immersive experience.