Students from the IFSA: Merida Universities Program float in a cenote. Photo courtesy of Cassidy Washburn.
This spring 59 Whitties are studying off-campus in 20 countries. To get a taste of some of their Off Campus Studies (OCS) experiences this semester, head to the OCS blog: Student Voices from around the World.
Cassidy Washburn, a junior sociology major studying on the IFSA: Merida Universities Program, has written about los camiones (the buses she takes all over Merida, Mexico), her otherworldly experience exploring the cenotes (craters in the earth’s surface filled with groundwater), and the powerful way women in Mexico honor International Women’s Day. Washburn says an important part of her academic experience (taking five classes at three different universities) has been learning “to be a little more chill and okay with taking everything in stride.”
Meanwhile in Denmark, Isabella Buchter, a junior BBMB major studying through DIS Copenhagen, has recently blogged about the study tours that are part of her program, describing the “whirlwind of traveling” she did in March. Buchter and her Human Health and Disease Core Course traveled to Berlin to meet with physicians and other medical professionals there and learn about how the health care system there compares to Denmark and the United States.
Nate Vigdor, a junior biology major on the SFS Tanzania Wildlife Management Studies program, has started the fieldwork portion of his directed research project investigating species diversity in small mammals. Vigdor writes, “Our [research] saw us traveling across a very diverse slice of African landscapes.” Vigor’s research settings have included conservancy areas, a coffee plantation and near small towns, where he had the opportunity to meet villagers and school children.
May 9 is the deadline for current sophomores wanting to study away during Spring 2023. Current first-year students will begin the OCS advising process in Fall 2022.
