Last summer, Francesca Hemsey (MSB ’11) awoke every morning excited for another day in L’Aquila, Italy. Touring the piazzas, eating fabulous food, conversing with Italians from all over and people-watching at cafés were just some of the non-academic aspects of her summer study abroad experience. Led by Program Director Laura Benedetti, associate professor in the department of Italian, Hemsey was exposed to Italian culture through cooking lessons with Benedetti’s family and friends as well as guitar sing-alongs, which were often accompanied by the sounds of a soccer game in the background.

“We were exposed to another culture in a way that one can only achieve by an immersion,” she said. “Professor Benedetti, a native to L’Aquila, shared her birthplace with the students in an all-encompassing fashion.”

As a result of these opportunities, this program, like other Georgetown summer abroad programs, enables students to meld the cultural aspects of a country like Italy with their academics.

“We took three hours of language lessons Monday through Thursday, and the remaining time was ours to explore and enrich,” Hemsey said. “Fridays and weekends were filled with trips to other Coast and Rome.” Educational tours proved truly enriching as we learned intimately of the lessons and history we were taught during class time.”

The Georgetown Difference

The 23 summer study abroad programs that the Office of International Programs offers to both Georgetown and non-Georgetown students, according to OIP’s Web site. were According to Graham Hettlinger, associate director of summer programs, these programs were designed by Georgetown faculty. One Gfaculty member directs each program and offers support to students. Two models are used for summer abroad programs, according to Hettlinger.

“In the first, a Georgetown faculty member teaches one course while also overseeing the program. This tends to be the model for smaller programs,” he said. “Once we have more than a small group of students – or plan to offer credit for more than one course – it becomes very challenging for a director to both teach and run the program. Therefore, on many summer programs the GU faculty member works with faculty at an overseas host university to develop courses that are then taught by the local faculty in consultation with the GU director.”

According to Hettlinger, the typical program is like L’Aquila, Italy, which is led by Professor Benedetti.

“[She] takes the students, teaches the classes in L’Aquila, does excursions,” Hettlinger said. “She both teaches and administers [the program] when it is small enough. . She deals with teaching as well as cultural activities and any issues that come up.”

Since Georgetown summer programs have a Georgetown faculty member involved both in the creation of the program and in the maintenance of it while abroad, professors Stephen King, associate professor of the government department, and Cristina Sanz, associate professor of the department of Spanish and Portuguese, said that they believe that Georgetown summer study abroad programs are usually much stronger academically than those offered by third-party organizations and non-Georgetown faculty. King and Sanz said they feel that they are able to combine their personal knowledge of the location with the academic quality that Georgetown demands to create an enriching summer abroad experience for Georgetown students.

“As a Georgetown University professor I act to maintain Georgetown’s high standards in teaching,” said King, director of summer study abroad at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco. “As the director of the program I can bring to bear my previous experience of living in Morocco for several years on the quality of the program.”

Sanz, who evaluated a program led by the Council on International Educational Exchange in Chile and helped develop and currently leads the Georgetown program in Barcelona, said she feels there are multiple advantages to having Georgetown faculty develop and direct the summer abroad programs.

“You are looking at [two] different variables: One is presence [or] absence of faculty, another is courses for [Georgetown] students or courses for everyone that [Georgetown] can take advantage of,” she said in an e-mail. “[The advantages of having Georgetown faculty present is that the program is] safer. . We have closer contact with students before and during, and are trained to detect health and behavioral changes and act swiftly. [Academic] quality is [also] much higher: Standards are maintained – standards of behavior, of coursework [and] of instructors’ preparation.” Sanz added that the Georgetown faculty is in charge of hiring for programs abroad. For her program in particular in Barcelona, she chooses to hire only those with PhDs and an active research agenda.

In her experience, Sanz said that Georgetown faculty hold students to a higher standard than professors working for third-party organizations like CIEE, especially in language programs.

“Three weeks into their summer course, CIEE students in Barcelona studying Spanish were ordering `a latte and a plain croissant’ in plain English to the Spanish waiter,” Sanz said. “This is unthinkable of [Georgetown] students in Barcelona. . That lack of interest in . the language and a focus on having fun is a much, much bigger problem in third-party programs than [Georgetown] programs. Third-party programs are more interested in the bottom line, which has consequences for maintaining standards and for combining students of different abilities into one section to make the course viable.”

Sanz added that summer programs are highly selective, students are aware that their grades will directly affect their GPA and attendance is required, which all create a stronger academic atmosphere.

Charles Wilson (SFS ’11) attended the summer abroad program in Beijing last summer, which is led by CIEE. His experience supports Sanz’s opinion of CIEE-led summer programs.

“I wasn’t especially impressed by the quality of the CIEE program, but unlike most of the other Georgetown students on the program with me, I had known the program wasn’t truly top-notch when I had applied to it. The program wasn’t perfect, but it still delivered on the goals that I had, namely improving my Chinese grammar and vocabulary. . Still, the quality of the professors wasn’t great – who were all Chinese, and didn’t really understand how Chinese is taught in America – and the textbooks were not amazing either,” Wilson said. “When I applied to the program, throughout the program and by the time I got back to Georgetown, I thought of the program as a supplement to my Chinese, rather than a substitute for the Chinese I learn at Georgetown. . The program isn’t especially strict, the professors are not the best, the textbooks leave something to be desired and there is absolutely no language pledge.”

Academics and Excursions

Sanz, who leads the five-week summer program in Barcelona, teaches three days each week and then brings students to relevant Spanish sites the other two days.

“Students take class Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. with some breaks. On Tuesday and Thursday we do our field work. Tuesdays we stay in the city, and Thursdays we go to other cities near Barcelona,” she said.

In Barcelona, students take three courses, choosing from Art History, History of Politics and Identity, Introduction to Spanish Linguistics, a writing course and one literature survey course, which is required for a Spanish major and minor.

“For week one, students learn about Greece, Rome and early medieval times in Barcelona and [the surrounding] region. So, in art history, [students would] study early medieval architecture,” Sanz said. “In history, students study the birth of a nation . [so they] must look at medieval times to see why Cataluna is a nation.”

Excursions are then centered on these courses.

“Then we go and see one Greek colony and the Museum of Civilization of Barcelona, [which have] underground rooms with Roman ruins and [you travel] to different levels until you reach 14th century architectures. [Students both] see and touch the growth of city,” said Benedetti.

Kristyn Calabrese (MSB ’10), who attended the program in Barcelona last summer, said the excursions enhanced her learning experience.

“I liked the set-up of the program. We earned a lot of credits but didn’t have to spend too much time in the classroom,” she said. “We toured most of Barcelona and Cataluna, which really added to the experience, especially due to the great tour guides, who were so knowledgeable of the history.”

Other summer programs choose excursions depending upon the academics as well, in an effort to expand student cultural knowledge.

“[The students’ learning is] theoretical . and [then there is] direct experience with [the] subject they are studying at [a] practical level,” said Professor Veronica Salles-Reese, associate professor of the department of Spanish and Portuguese and director of the summer program in Quito, Ecuador.

According to Salles-Reese, the Quito program offers language courses ranging from intermediate Spanish to Spanish literature as well as three different course tracks – nature and culture, food and culture, as well as gender, ethnicity and race – from which students choose one to fulfill their third course requirement.

Students attending the summer program in Quito spend the first five weeks in the classroom, while the last two weeks are spent exploring Ecuador.

The areas where students travel these last two weeks depend on which track they choose for their third course. Nature and culture students explore the Amazon rainforest and the Galapagos Islands to understand how nature and society interact, while students in the food and culture track learn about cooking techniques from Ecuador, Argentina, Peru, Mexico and Spain. Students studying race, gender and ethnicity travel to the highlands and visit jungle tribes to see how race, gender and ethnicity have affected the lives of the indigenous people.

In Morocco, according to King, fieldwork is also an important aspect of a student’s experience.

“[This program] aims to effectively combine academic work in the classroom with academic work in the field. The excursions . are designed to ensure classroom rigor while also taking advantage of studying the topics in an Arab-Islamic setting,” he said. “Students engage in fieldwork and academic tours that include specific requirements that blend work in the field with work in the classroom.”

King described several excursions taken during this program, including a visit to Rabat, the capital of Morocco, where the students visit Parliament and meet with Moroccan leaders. There are two other trips taken during this program: the Sahara desert, where the students meet with descendants from the prophet Muhammad, and Marrakesh, one of Morocco’s most famous imperial cities.

Living Arrangements

Although academic goals are similar among programs, the living arrangements vary. Host families offer housing to students in Quito, while students in Barcelona live in dorms that include a personal kitchen and bathroom. Students in L’Aquila live in a 14th-century convent, and students in Morocco live in on-campus housing at Al Akhawayn University, which also includes three restaurants, a swimming pool, tennis courts and a gym.

Apart from extensive travel opportunities, community-based learning is also an option for some summer abroad programs, Hettlinger said.

“In Santiago, Chile, there is a community-based learning program, [which] involves working with low-income people in Santiago. Students work in community centers with kids and single mothers. And in Trier, Germany, [students] work with local Catholic charities [as part of a] community-based learning,” he said. “Other [programs] have volunteer components built in but are not designated community-based learning. In Tanzania, [for example, we] try and do placement into the community where students [can] do volunteer work.”

Costs

Depending upon program length and location, costs for these different programs vary as well, according to Hettlinger.

“[The cost depends on the] length of the program. The shorter programs . are around $5,000 and the longer programs are around $8,000. [The cost] has to do with what we are charged by host universities, what things – like housing, tuition and excursions – cost on the ground. [The cost also includes the] salary for faculty as well,” he said. Hettlinger says he realizes these programs are expensive, but financial aid opportunities are available to students from several different institutions.

“I know that [for people who] want to go on summer programs, finding money is difficult,” he said. “[There] are a few sources of financial aid. We do give out small financial aid awards through OIP, and I do tell students to apply and see what happens. . Resources are limited, but we are trying to find ways to find more financial aid.”

Hettlinger added that for those on financial aid during the school year, they may talk to the financial aid office because sometimes funds are available. He also added that this was difficult.

Specific programs also give out fellowships themselves, according to Hettlinger. The Morocco program has funding through the Moroccan-American Cultural center while the African Studies Program has some fellowships for the Tanzania program and the German department has fellowships for study abroad in Trier. Finally, the French department gives fellowships for a summer in Tours and the Oxford Undergrad Program also has some fellowship money. Hettlinger said that other than these programs, it is much more difficult to find funding.

Although the costs of summer programs can deter some from studying abroad, those like Hemsey that do take advantage of these opportunities walk away with lasting memories.

“The experience I was granted through Georgetown study abroad was unforgettable, and I owe that to the teaching staff and foreign counterparts who embraced us with open arms. I could not speak any more highly of them,” Hemsey said. “As proof of my irreplaceable memories, I continue to make pasta carbonara as the professor taught us, I speak Italian more confidently, continue to chat with my new-found friends – both Italian and those from Georgetown – and always think fondly of the opportunity I was granted.”

See more OIP Features: Global Assistance, A World of Options; As Global Costs Vary, Study Abroad Tuition Stays the Same.

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