Augustana College

Four Augustana students were recently awarded an Augustana Transformative Learning And Service (A.T.L.A.S.) Grant which may be used to assist them in participation in a variety of service learning opportunities on the African continent.

This July, 32 Augustana College students traveled to Nicaragua for two weeks. Students in pre-health fields worked with a combination of physicians from the United States and Nicaragua to provide services in areas of Nicaragua that did not have permanent medical facilities.

This summer, 22 students from Augustana College were in Ecuador for an immersion program studying Spanish and experiencing Latin American culture. The program included formal classroom instruction, the opportunity to live with and learn from an Ecuadorian family, and visits to sites of cultural, geographical and historical interest in Ecuador.

This summer, 18 students from Augustana College were in London for a month studying and participating in an internship program in a variety of different fields.

This June, nine Augustana students are in Paris for a five-week program pairing a course in music, from medieval to the birth of modernism, with a literature course on expatriate American writers in Paris. Students are connecting classroom experiences with visits to the cathedrals, cafes, bookstores and salons that inspired artists from the Gothic period to the 20th Century.

From 140 entries in this year's Augie Abroad photo contest at Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill., winners were chosen in five categories, and a grand prize was awarded. For the contest, students submitted photos by category - architecture, Augie students abroad, culture and celebration, daily life, and nature - and three judges reviewed the submissions. This year's submissions were from international travel between May 2013 and March 2014.

Six Augustana College students currently are in Kobe, Japan, studying at Kobe City University. The students arrived in Japan in April and will return at the end of July. During this program, students can participate in an intensive Japanese language immersion program. These students replaced the spring term at Augustana with a spring semester in Kobe, taking nine credits in Japanese. Students currently in Kobe, Japan include:

For the first time, Augustana College is giving eight IOP (International and Off-Campus) Passport Grants to support current students preparing to study abroad. The new grants distribute unused funds budgeted for study abroad and puts the funds directly into the hands of students.

After spring classes concluded, 34 Augustana College students traveled to Rome for 11 days. This trip is part of a Christian Traditions and Faiths in Dialogue class the students took during their spring term. The program focuses on Rome and the Roman Catholic Church, examining various perspectives on issues such as the doctrine of justification, war and peace, social and economic justice, and technological intervention in human procreation. Students also are given the option of completing service learning in the Quad-City community as well as in Rome, at the Nafuma Refugee Center. Students who traveled to Rome include:

During spring break, 23 Augustana College students traveled to Norway to study the country's education and health care systems. During winter term, the students took a class titled Healthcare and Education in Norway's Welfare State. While in Norway, the students visited schools, hospitals, clinics and other sites related to a different model of social well-being. Students who traveled to Norway include:

During winter recess, 19 Augustana College students traveled to Jamaica to complete service learning. The students had the opportunity to learn and teach alongside young Jamaicans at the Alpha Schools of central Kingston. Students who traveled to Jamaica include:

Thirty-six Augustana College students studied abroad in Ireland for 11 weeks. The students arrived in March and returned home at the end of May. The eleven weeks were divided between Galway (in the West) and Dublin (in the East). Places visited included Saint Patrick's Purgatory, the Dingle Peninsula, O'Brien's Tower on the Cliffs of Moher, The National Museum and Dublin Castle. Students who studied in Ireland include:

Twenty-two Augustana College students studied abroad in Accra, Ghana, for six weeks during January and February. During their time in Ghana, students engaged in service-learning internships throughout the city and lived with Ghanaian families in Accra. Students who traveled to Ghana include:

Thirty Augustana College students spent five weeks in Cambodia this past January and February. While in Cambodia, the students visited the temples of Angkor Wat and the cities of Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. The students also taught English at a school. Students who traveled to Cambodia include:

Fifty Augustana College students completed full-time internships in Sydney, Australia, for the first two months of 2013. The international study program known as "Augustana in Australia" places students in career-relevant positions in Sydney and immerses them in Australian culture. Over 250 students have participated in the program in the last seven years. From your area:

Twelve Augustana College students are currently in Paris for five weeks and will return in early July. While in France, the Augustana students will take classes in 20th Century literature and music. The program focuses on the first three decades of the 20th Century, when Paris was the hub of artists, musicians and literary figures. The students from your area who are currently in Paris include:

Sixteen Augustana College students are currently in Cuenca, Ecuador, for 10 weeks and will return in mid-August. The students from your area who are currently in Ecuador include:

Two Augustana College students are currently in Cuenca, Ecuador, for five weeks and will return in early July. The students from your area who are currently in Ecuador include:

Thirty-four Augustana College students will travel to Nicaragua for two weeks in July. Students in pre-health fields will work with a combination of physicians from the United States and Nicaragua to provide services in areas of the country which do not have permanent medical facilities. The students from your area that will be going on this trip include:

Ten Augustana College students are currently studying abroad in Berlin. The students from your area that will be going on this trip include:

Twenty-one Augustana College students traveled to Greece for two weeks at the end of May and beginning of June, following a spring term course on ancient Greek culture. While in Greece the students visited Athens, Mykonos, Mycenae, Olympia, Delphi and Corinth. The students from your area that went on this trip include:

Forty-seven Augustana College students studied and worked in Sydney, Australia, for the first two months of 2012. The international study program known as "Augustana in Australia" places students in career-relevant positions in Sydney and immerses them in Australian culture. From your area:

Forty-five Augustana College students are studying contemporary and historic Britain and Europe from the heart of one of the world's greatest cities, London. The Fall Term in London program offers students a chance to explore the area while studying with Augustana and British faculty. From your area this includes:

Augustana College professors and a group of advanced German students are spending 12 weeks in Wittenberg, Germany, in a language immersion program this fall. This is the fifth year Augustana students have participated in the program. From your area this inlcudes:

Sixty-eight Augustana students will study and work in Sydney, Australia, for the first two months of 2011. The international study program known as "Augustana in Australia" places students in career-relevant positions in Sydney and immerses them in Australian culture. The students complete a five-week on-campus internship seminar and a class in intercultural communication before leaving for Australia on January 2. In Australia, students will intern four days a week for seven weeks and use their remaining time to experience Australia. The program exposes students to a new culture, which is very marketable to employers. "Employers are seeking entry-level employees with knowledge and experience of the world's diversity and cross-cultural understanding," said Karen Petersen, Augustana's director of business internships and program director. The students are looking forward to exploring their career interests. Erin Christian, a senior music and mathematics double major from Aurora, Ill., will intern at ii-A, a finance and insurance firm in downtown Sydney. "This internship is exactly what I need to move forward from Augustana," Christian said. "I hope to find a job as an actuary or in the finance/insurance field so being an intern at a company of this caliber will prepare me for obstacles I might face in the work world." The students travel together with no faculty from Augustana, which gives them a lot of independence. "Students in the program demonstrate maturity and the ability to depend upon themselves and their peer group to deal with problems and issues as they arise," said Petersen. Students do receive on-site supervision by their organizational sponsor and their internship coordinator, the Centers for Academic Programs Abroad (www.capa.org), and Augustana faculty or staff conducts site-visits about halfway through the internship. Students will stay at a five-star serviced apartment complex in Sydney, along with Australian and other international students. During their trip, they will visit the ANZ Stadium where the 2000 Olympics were held, the Sydney Opera House and the Blue Mountains just outside of Sydney. They also may travel to New Zealand or areas of Australia including Melbourne, Darwin and Cairns, where they can snorkel or dive the Great Barrier Reef. Students return to Rock Island on March 4. You can read about students' experiences in Australia by visiting Augustana's Globablog at www.augustana.edu/blogs/international/. Participating students from your area include:

Five Augustana faculty and 80 students will spend the fall term of 2010 living and learning in East Asia. The term is one of the longest running international programs at the college; nearly 1,000 students have participated in the 12-week program since it began in 1974. The faculty-led term includes traveling to the culturally diverse countries of Japan, Taiwan and China (including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region) and concluding in Hawaii. From your area this includes:

Thirty-three Augustana students will spend 11 days this summer in Rome, Italy, studying and visiting a variety of sites including St. Peter's Basilica, the Pantheon and Jewish Quarter. The group will also visit The Vatican and attend an audience or formal meeting with Pope Benedict XVI. The trip to Rome is the final requirement for a class called Faiths in Dialogue, which focuses on both historical and ethical issues within Christianity. The program started in 2006 as an opportunity for students to participate in an international experience outside of their normal coursework schedule and is open to students of all majors. Every two years, students can sign up for the upper-level religion course during the spring term and then culminate their class work with a trip to Rome.

Ten Augustana students, including several students from the local area, will immerse themselves in the Spanish language and culture as they participate in a month-long international study opportunity in Salamanca, Spain this July. Salamanca is a historical university town located 130 miles west of Madrid, which is nicknamed the "Golden City" for the unique golden color of its stone buildings. The students will have the opportunity to attend a class at one of Salamanca's universities and experience the living history of its streets, museums and plazas. Students from the local area who are participating in the international study program in Salamanca include:

Seven Augustana students will spend 10 weeks this summer living and studying in Cuenca, Ecuador. They will live with host families and attend classes at the Center for Inter-American Studies and participate in several multi-day excursions, including a 10-day trip to Peru. This summer will mark the 25th year that Augustana has offered this program. Augustana's Summer Spanish Program in the Andes is designed to help students to improve their Spanish skills. Students earn nine Spanish credits and can take classes at any level from entry-level courses to 400-level culture and literature classes. The program is open to students of any major, so participants are not required to have any experience speaking Spanish. From your area this includes:

Ireland is the destination for a group of Augustana professors and students in early March. The 10-week experience will focus on looking at the European island from the historical, scientific and cultural perspectives, working as volunteers and visiting many of the well-known sites that shape the country. Students studying in Ireland for spring term from your area include: