I want to get away, I want to fly away

Feeling the urge to get out of town? Want to go a little further than, say, home? More than a… Feeling the urge to get out of town? Want to go a little further than, say, home? More than a few classes scheduled for the spring semester include time abroad. Whether students want to travel to Northern Ireland or Estonia, Finland or Ecuador, classes that either offer or require a trip abroad make learning about other cultures a hands-on experience – as well as a chance to get out of town. Although schedules may already be made, add/drop ends Jan. 17, giving students plenty of time to fit these courses in.

Course: Literature in the Contemporary Instructor: Christopher Boettcher

Time it meets: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4 to 5:15 p.m.

The Thursday before Thanksgiving, Christopher Boettcher, a visiting lecturer at Pitt, spoke to students about a traveling to Ireland this semester though the Amizade Global Service Learning Center, formerly the Global Service Center.

Boettcher lead a GSC program to Brazil in 2000, and is planning to lead the upcoming trip to Ireland during spring break. The group will visit Ballycastle and Belfast in Northern Ireland. An introductory literature course, “Literature in the Contemporary,” will be the basis of the trip. The course will meet during the spring semester, travel abroad during spring break and then continue coursework during the first summer session. It is worth six credits.

Boettcher encourages any student with an interest in history, politics, Irish culture, peace resolution issues and international and foreign studies to apply.

“Basically any student should look into this program. Any student can thrive [in this course] if they have an interest in the topics,” he said.

While in Ireland, Boettcher says that students will have the opportunity to evaluate the course materials while reconstructing houses that have been damaged by conflict and promote peace resolution results. Although the abroad time is short – nine days – Boettcher insists that the schedule will be full and that the nine days will be sufficient to discover this specific area in Ireland while relating coursework to the onsite experience.

The local service back in Pittsburgh during the summer semester is a peace mediation/conflict resolution volunteer project. The students enrolled in the Literature in the Contemporary course will return to Pittsburgh to work with high school students in a local Irish community to see what can be done to establish peace in Ireland.

Course: Problems in Public Management

Instructor: B. Guy Peters

Time it meets: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1 to 2:15 p.m.

Students interested in the politics of Finland and Estonia will have the opportunity to study these countries and then visit them when they sign up for Political Process and Management, taught by professor B. Guy Peters. The program is sponsored through cooperation with the University Center of International Studies program.

The spring session of the course will continue into the first summer session with coursework with a travel component. It is worth six credits.

The travel, according to Peters, “fits right in with the course. The course focuses on reform within the public secretary, privatization, deregulation and administrative reform.”

Peters said Finland is the leading nation in reform and that being able to study their public management system as well as Estonia’s, a prospective European Union candidate, will allow students to connect classroom and coursework experience to interaction with the nation and political figures.

Peters has worked closely with both nations as an instructor at the Finnish University in Helsinki and as a Maurice Faulk Professor of American Government. He has set up interviews and talks with politicians for students to participate in during their time abroad.

Any student may enroll in the course. Students do not have to travel abroad, but are encouraged to do so. A final paper on travels and experience abroad will be a component of the abroad component.

Course: Cross-Cultural Issues in Family and Child Development

Instructor: Sekai Turner

Time it meets: Wednesdays, 5:15 to 7:55 p.m.

Cross-Cultural Issues in Family and Child Development will begin in January and travel in May to Quito, Ecuador, through the Amizade Global Service Learning Center.

The instructor, Sekai Turner, will lead the course, which satisfies degree requirements and electives in developmental and educational psychology, child development, childcare and other School of Education academic programs. The coursework is at the graduate level but undergraduates are also eligible to apply. Three credits will be awarded during the spring semester and three credits will be awarded while traveling to Quito during the summer session.

During the spring semester, Turner will enrich the classroom atmosphere with her knowledge on the development of children and families within diverse cultural settings; social, cultural and educational issues associated with Ecuadorian life and traditions; and the role of service in community development and professional practice.

Cultural immersion abroad will begin May 8 and last through June 5, 2003. In serving abroad, students will collaborate with community residents and educators at local schools and the Universidad de San Francisco to provide learning opportunities for children and explore issues of environmental change, cultural resilience and community health and well-being.

According to Turner, students who are committed and have an interest in class and gender issues, child and family development issues, and integrated community service with incorporated coursework material should apply.

“Students who are open to applying classroom knowledge to on-site community based work and who have a committed interest to understanding different cultures should apply,” she said.

Upon return from Quito, participants will have time to reflect and finish coursework for the remainder of the first summer session with approximately 15 hours of meeting time in Pittsburgh.