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Beyond Textbooks: A Learning Experience
This summer UGA is launching two new Study Abroad Programs. With those two impressive additions, the Department of Romance Languages is now associated with four Study Abroad opportunities: Avignon, San José de Costa Rica, Valencia, and Cádiz.
Students and instructors who have participated in programs in Avignon and Costa Rica are enthusiastic about their experience abroad. All the participants interviewed for this report agreed in pointing out the following among the highlights of their experience: smaller groups allow more enriching interaction and socialization between students and faculty inside and outside class; all day exposure to language and culture makes the learning experience more intense; courses go beyond textbooks; daily life experience becomes also part of the learning experience.
Jonathan Krell, Associate Professor of French, who has spent two summers teaching at Avignon, mentioned that part of his teaching materials in his Business French course includes telephone bills. The students learn how to read them and how to pay them. In his culture and literature classes he has been able to make the texts come alive by visiting the sites where the action described occurs. Katie Dowis, a student who spent Summer 1999 in Avignon, adds: "The most invaluable part of this experience is having the material you are studying all around you. Students taking the drama class read a play by Sartre and then saw the play performed in French shortly after in a local, intimate theater. In French history we learned about the Palais des Papes in Avignon and then went on a tour. In my French culture and language class we were able to go to cafés, stores, etc. and observe French culture in action. The hands on experience is amazing and challenging. I felt very independent having learned to live in another culture, even if I did have the support of UGA students and faculty."
José Manuel Batista, a graduate student in the Department of Romance Languages, spent last Summer teaching Spanish language and composition classes in Costa Rica. He told us that he was very active looking for local events in which his class could participate, such as poetry readings, performances, visits to bookstores, etc. Patricia Del Rey, director of the program in Costa Rica, introduced her students to Costa Rican politicians and internationally known academic personalities. Being in the program was also a learning experience for José Manuel Batista. Not only did he increase his knowledge of Costa Rica's history, culture and environment; but his experience with teaching very motivated students eager to share their ideas helped him to develop new teaching strategies that he is now using with his classes in Athens.
The Study Abroad Program in Costa Rica is co-sponsored by the Department of Romance Languages and the Women's Studies Program. It is a ten-week program designed especially for juniors and seniors majoring, minoring, or pursuing a certificate in Spanish or Women's Studies. Students live with local families and are required to enroll in at least one Spanish course. The Women's Studies courses place special emphasis on environmental issues. Costa Rica has not only a lengthy history of political stability but has one of the world's best conservation records. For more information check their web site: www.uga.edu/wsp/costarica.html.
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