UC Overseas: Opportunities Abound for Education Abroad Date: June 30, 2000 By: Marianne Kunnen-Jones Phone: (513) 556-1826 Archive: Campus News Eating pseudo-live fish, sunsets at 4:45 p.m., smokers in the office and power toilets are just a few of the things about everyday life in Japan that remind Benjamin Lang, a 20-something UC alumnus working abroad, that he's not living in the States anymore. Lang has deferred his entrance into University of Chicago's law school until fall 2000 in order to extend the international experience he first gained as an engineering co-op student at UC. Lang currently works as a coordinator of international relations for the City of Iwamizawa in Japan, but his first experience working abroad came on his International Co-op Program assignment at Toyobo Co. Ltd. from mid-April to mid-September 1998. He worked as a researcher in the polymer division at the company's General Research Center in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. Like Lang, hundreds of other UC students take advantage of the travel abroad opportunities available at UC and extend their college lives to destinations that are thousands of miles beyond the campus in Cincinnati. Even freshman year is not too early to begin planning for one or even two education abroad experiences before you graduate, says Arthur Neisberg, UC's Education Abroad program coordinator. At UC, education abroad opportunities range from study programs led by UC faculty and formal exchanges with partner universities, to cooperative education jobs at companies in Germany, Japan and Latin America and service learning such as dental hygiene education missions to Celestun, Mexico. Students may study abroad during any academic term for time intervals ranging from just a few weeks to an academic year. Travel venues range from the Amazon rain forests in Brazil to the rice mills of Thailand; the newest office and retail buildings in Berlin, Germany; and performance stages of Lucca, Italy. In 1999-2000, more than 400 UC students studied abroad and each year the number grows. Perhaps you, too, will be among the university's future travelers. Here's how to find out more about your study abroad options: Check the Education Abroad web site. Stop by the Education Abroad office (part of the Institute for Global Studies and Affairs) at Room 608, Swift Hall, to discuss goals with a trained counselor. Or for an appointment, call the office at 556-4402. Some academic programs, including the College of Business Administration's Honors-PLUS program and the new Honors Global Studies Certificate include education abroad in the curriculum. For information about the Honors Global Studies Certificate, call Way at 556-6252 or IGSA Director Riall Nolan at 556-4402. Ask the Institute for Global Studies and Affairs about its scholarships of up to $500, awarded on a competitive basis, offered in four rounds annually. Call 556-4402. For International Coop Program opportunities and requirements, contact Gayle Elliott at 556-5433. The program is predominantly engineering majors, but has recently expanded to include business and DAAP majors. College of Business Administration students may contact Susan Sadlier in the dean's office in Lindner Hall for information about opportunities available only to CBA students. Sadlier can be reached at 556-0407. Check with Student Financial Aid because student financial aid packages can often be applied to the cost of education abroad. For international experience without the expense of travel, watch for courses that involve interaction with other cultures via the Web or distance learning technology.