Media Alert
STUDY ABROAD PROGRAM TO ESTABLISH NEW PARTNERSHIPS IN CHINA, BRAZIL AND TURKEY
ATLANTA (Sept. 15, 2009) Spelman students will soon have more options for study abroad in China, Brazil, and Turkey thanks to a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State. The Study Abroad and International Exchange program at Spelman College has been awarded more than $151,000 to create new summer programs to increase the capacity of international institutions to host American students while also increasing the number of Spelman students who study abroad.
“With this grant, we will be able to form new partnerships in countries where Spelman students have increasingly shown interest,” said Margery A. Ganz, Ph.D., director of Study Abroad and International Exchange. “The three new programs that will be established will enable us to begin offering expanded global experiences to our students. We are very excited about continuing our relationship with the Turkish Coalition of America which provided support during our application process as well as building new partnerships with Chinese, Brazilian and Turkish universities.”
From September 2009 to August 2010, Spelman faculty will visit universities in each country to establish mutually beneficial, academically rigorous summer study abroad programs to begin in 2011. Planned to be semester-long, once established, the programs will be available to more than 2,000 Spelman students, with the summer programs available to an additional 10,000 students in the Atlanta University Center.
“Global engagement, which means ensuring that every Spelman student has one meaningful international travel experience before she graduates, is one of the primary goals in our strategic plan,” said Johnnella Butler, Ph.D., provost and vice president of Academic Affairs. “When it comes to educating the millennial student, establishing international partnerships contribute significantly to a well-rounded educational experience.”
Spelman has several programs in place to highlight its growing emphasis on international educational experiences. Last year, the College added Chinese language courses while continuing Spanish, French and Japanese. The International Studies major, which requires a semester abroad as part of its curriculum, as well as the minor, are becoming increasingly popular with Spelman students. In addition, Spelman received $17 million from an anonymous donor to infuse the curriculum, campus environment, and extracurricular offerings with an international component.
Spelman actively encourages students to enrich their educational experience by studying abroad in their junior year or during the summer. Currently, study abroad opportunities are offered in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe and Latin America. More than 150 Spelman women studied overseas during the last academic year in locations as varied as Turkey, Vietnam, Botswana, France, England, Tunisia, Ghana, China, and Japan.
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Spelman College:
Founded in 1881, Spelman College is a prestigious, highly selective, liberal arts college that prepares women to change the world. Located in Atlanta, Ga., this historically black college boasts a 79 percent graduation rate, and outstanding alumnae such as Children's Defense Fund Founder Marian Wright Edelman; former U.S. Foreign Service Director General Ruth Davis, authors Tina McElroy Ansa and Pearl Cleage; and actress LaTanya Richardson. More than 83 percent of the full-time faculty members have Ph.D.s or other terminal degrees, and the average faculty to student ratio is 12:1. More than 2,100 students attend Spelman. For more
information, visit: www.spelman.edu.
