Parents & Families

Are you the parent of a student who wishes to study abroad? If you have a son or daughter attending college, you probably are! Nearly three-quarters of incoming first-year students say they hope to study abroad during their college experience.

At Susquehanna University, we believe that study abroad and other cross-cultural experiences are so essential to the liberal arts education we offer that we have made it a part of our central curriculum. All students entering SU in Fall 2009 will undertake at least one such experience during their four years with us. It may be far away, or it may be in the U.S. It might be for two weeks with an SU faculty member or it might be for an entire semester fully integrated into a university in another country. It might not even be for credit. Some students may fulfill this requirement on a service trip with their church or synagogue. Others may design their own cross-cultural experience.

Whatever route a student may chose, these are the learning goals that SU faculty have adopted for this part of the curriculum:

Students complete a cross cultural experience that contains preparatory, experiential, and reflective components that enables them to

  1. demonstrate a complex understanding of culture including the ability to
    1. develop a working definition of culture.
    2. articulate awareness of differences and similarities between their culture of origin and the one in which they are immersed.
    3. define and recognize ethnocentrism and ethnocentric assumptions.
    4. demonstrate critical awareness of their own cultural values and identity.
  2. recognize how their attitudes, behaviors, and choices affect the quality of their cross cultural experiences.
  3. reflect on their personal growth, social responsibility, and the value of active participation in human society.

 

 

 

Susquehanna University Last reviewed
Scott Manning, Study Abroad Program.
Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, PA 17870.