Sandra Steele, Educational Consultant

Pacific Lutheran University Sets Record for Students Studying Abroad
Pacific Lutheran Unviersity, Study Away

For the first time undergraduates from one university will simultaneously study-away on all seven continents.

The campus of Pacific Lutheran University spans the globe in January with classes convening in Windhoek, Beijing, Melbourne, Milan, Lima, Neah Bay and the Antarctic Peninsula.

“In 2006, the U.S. Senate-designated Year of Study Abroad, it is fitting and trailblazing for Pacific Lutheran University to be offering January term programming on all seven continents,” said Mary M. Dwyer, president of the Institute for the International Education of Students and commissioner of the Abraham Lincoln Congressional Commission on Study Abroad.

“This is a first in the field of education abroad and bodes well for PLU reaching its target of 50 percent of its graduating seniors studying abroad by 2010. PLU’s commitment to education abroad puts PLU in the forefront of undergraduate education where education abroad is no longer a frill but rather central to a high quality college education,” she said.

“PLU’s continued support of semester and full year programming is also laudable, since the January term programming will undoubtedly provide a taste of global knowledge that longer duration of study can build upon to produce inter-culturally competent graduates,” Dwyer said.

During January, more than 350 PLU students will be on 25 study-away programs coordinated by the Wang Center. This journal chronicles the experiences of seven of the groups, one studying on each of the seven continents.

AFRICA: Human Rights and Development in Namibia
ASIA: Business Art and Urban Culture in China
AUSTRALIA: International Media
EUROPE: Economic and Environmental Change in Italy
SOUTH AMERICA: Cultural and Environmental History of the Andes
NORTH AMERICA: Makah Culture, Past and Present
ANTARCTICA: Journey to the End of the Earth
Use the navigation in the upper left corner of this site to read more about the courses and to follow the blog entries and photography of the students and faculty who are studying away.

For more information contact Neal Sobania, executive director of the Wang Center for International Programs at 253-535-7281 or sobaniaw@plu.edu.