Every year, Hamline University sends students abroad through faculty-led programs and outside organizations, as well as accepting international students. This encouragement of seeing other parts of the world supports Hamline’s goal of creating more globalized students.
Hamline’s Global Engagement Center (GEC) states on their website that it “aims to foster global thinkers and global citizens among our international and study abroad students and scholars.”
However, in recent years, there has been a decrease in the availability of resources. The GEC has shrunk from five staff members to one since 2017. Professor of Global Studies Dr. Leila DeVriese works as Director of the GEC and sole employee of this program. The smaller staff has forced the GEC to limit the breadth of what they can support. DeVriese sent out an email to faculty addressing the changes and questions arising about the GEC’s role on campus and acknowledged that it is difficult to sustain wide-spread support with a singular employee.
“Colleagues who have worked closely with the GEC in the past will notice how truncated the attached list (of the GEC’s scope) is in comparison to what had previously been covered by the GEC/[Office of International & Off-Campus Programs]. The document only lists items I've been able to cover on my own (without support staff),” DeVriese said.
Study abroad provides students unique opportunities to expand their world view and provide experiences outside the confines of a classroom. Senior Luke Snow studied in both Thailand and Egypt and felt that going abroad can help dismantle stereotypes built by media outlets.
“I think it is important to experience a little bit of everything so that you are just more educated. Living [in the United States] is kind of like you are in a bubble and getting out of that bubble is really freeing … You might see misconceptions in some media, but then if you actually go yourself to that place you will be like, ‘oh wait, all this media is not true these people are amazing,’” Snow said.
However, if study abroad is not possible for a student due to the limitations on the GEC at Hamline or finances, students can expand their perspective within Minnesota. Communication Studies Professor Suda Ishida encourages students to take advantage of the diversity in Minnesota if study abroad is not possible.
“These days there is a lot of information on YouTube and social media that you can compare and then practice. That is why in my intercultural communications class, when we can’t fly overseas, my assignment is, for example, if you grew up as a Christian and your parents or your religion allows you to, go to a Buddhist temple and then practice meditation, participate in different cultural activities,” Ishida said.
Ishida has led several study abroad trips to her hometown in Bangkok, Thailand and to Cairo, Egypt. She believes that these opportunities can be eye-opening for students and hopes we could see a shift in the prioritization of study abroad and globalizing Hamline’s campus with the new incoming university administration.
“It is kind of exciting. We have a new president and a new provost who are coming, and then you know they could help support as well, we just have to see,” Ishida said.
