This summer Syracuse University Abroad will offer eight new summer programs, including its first summer programs in Columbia and Argentina in South America and Ghana in Africa.

For students unsure of their summer plans, traveling to a foreign country and earning credit for school remains an option until March 1.

SU Abroad offers 35 summer programs. The new programs this summer include the South America and Africa programs, three new programs in London and two programs that travel to multiple countries.

During the past 10 years, about 2,000 students have participated in SU Abroad each year, and about 400 of those do so during the summer. The past two years have seen a slight rise in summer enrollment, and SU Abroad expects that trend to continue this year, said Suzanne Shane, program director for SU Abroad.

The summer programs are different than the semester-long ones because they vary in length, type of facility and living conditions, Shane said.

None of the summer programs are full yet, but students are better off applying sooner rather than later because each program differs in capacity and can fill up before the application deadline, said Tracy Zappola, interim assistant director of summer programs for SU Abroad.

The summer programs range from two to nine weeks and generally offer six credits, compared to the fall and spring programs, which offer a full semester’s worth of 12 to 15 credits, Shane said.

Two of the new programs travel to several countries. ‘Islam in Three Nations’ takes students to London, Spain and Morocco to study the lives and experiences of Muslims, while ‘A Mediterranean Odyssey’ brings students to Greece, Sicily and Rome to study ancient civilizations, according to the SU Abroad Web site.

A new program this year, ‘Advertising Master Class,’ in London, is an example of an internship program, Shane said. Internship programs differ from the norm because they offer fewer credits, usually ranging from two to three.

SU faculty members primarily teach summer abroad programs and travel abroad with the students. This differs from some full-semester programs in which professors from schools in the host country teach classes as well. Regardless, all summer abroad courses are taught in English, Zappola said.

Most of SU’s summer abroad programs are designed and developed by SU faculty members. They submit the programs to SU Abroad for approval each year, and if they meet all financial, academic and viability criteria, they are made available to students, Zappola said.

Kyle Fahey, a junior biology major and pre-med student, applied to a program in Ghana called ‘Health for All: Sustainable Design for Health Delivery in Ghana.’ Fahey wanted to get the experience of living in Africa while receiving credit toward his major.

‘It’s completely a culture-shock experience,’ he said.

Any student can apply for a summer abroad program, although preference is sometimes given to upperclassmen. The application can be found online, Zappola said.

Many students go abroad during the summer because while they are unable to leave their regular studies for a whole semester, they still want to have the abroad experience.

‘For a lot of majors, summer is their only opportunity to go abroad,’ Shane said.

New programs for summer 2011 will be announced this coming summer.

jdgenco@syr.edu

Published on February 15, 2010 at 12:00 pm