The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

Joplin Metro

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November 14, 2007

Southern’s Study Abroad Fair highlights trips around world

By Joe Hadsall

jhadsall@joplinglobe.com

Amber Hoffman, of Joplin, has globe-trotting on the brain.

The sophomore at Missouri Southern State University browsed several opportunities to travel and get college credit for the trip during the university’s eighth annual Study Abroad Fair on Wednesday.

“I’ve always wanted to travel,” Hoffman said. “That’s what brought me here. I’m in education, and maybe there’s something with international education I could do.”

Freshman Nathan Hicks, of Joplin, also is interested in travel. He got information about a trip to Oxford, England.

“I’m not sure how it would affect my major,” said Hicks, who is majoring in political science. “But I’d like to see different cultures. I’ve lived in Joplin my entire life, and I want to see more.”

The fair gives faculty members a chance to tell students about the international trips that are available. The trips span the globe and cover a wide variety of issues.

“The trips range from 10 days to four weeks,” said Chad Stebbins, director of the Institute of International Studies. “This year we have an exciting array of travel opportunities.”

Students will study ancient Roman culture in Italy, international business in China, community nursing in the British Virgin Islands and Hispanic culture in Mexico.

Students taking a trip to England will visit the “cradle of science” and study the life of Charles Darwin, the originator of evolutionary theory.

In Paris, media students will meet with international journalists in print, radio and television.

A trip to Vietnam will immerse students in a historical, on-site study of American-Vietnamese relations and how the country has fared since the Vietnam War.

“What’s interesting is that they call it the American War in Vietnam,” Stebbins said.

The trips range in cost from $2,300 to $4,000. Full-time students who take one of the trips and maintain a 2.5 grade-point average are eligible to receive a $1,000 grant toward the trip. The grants are part of the university’s international mission, Stebbins said.

Kyle Kastler said the trips are invaluable for a student’s career.

The senior from Caney, Kan., has spent six months in Santiago, Chile, and also traveled to Buenos Aries, Argentina. His travels led him to pursue a career in international diplomacy.

“The experience put my foreign studies in perspective,” Kastler said. “It gave me an understanding of the culture, and the subcultures within the culture.”

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