When comparing our school to other four-year universities, it is evident that one of the most striking components of the “Lawrence Difference” is the abundance of off-campus study programs. Students in good standing are given the opportunity to select between a large variety of off-campus programs to attend, both within the United States and abroad. And let’s face it – as wonderful as living in Appleton for four straight years may be, the thought leaves some students with an itch to break loose and experience a different culture.
Fortunately, Lawrence encourages this kind of thought, and therefore provides off-campus study programs for students concentrating in an assortment of academic areas. For example, have you always dreamed of scuba diving off the Cayman Islands and observing the coral reef environment? Lawrence provides students with this opportunity with its marine biology program in the British West Indies.
Or perhaps you’ve considered how beneficial and personally rewarding it might be to study in a developing nation while simultaneously working to modernize it. Lawrence offers this opportunity through its program in Tanzania.
Or maybe the sophisticated life of London is more up your alley. Through its collaboration with IES Abroad, Lawrence caters to students’ personal interests through study-abroad programs.
For example, sophomore Emily Palmer plans to participate in the study-abroad program offered in Santiago, Chile during fall term next year. A fluent Spanish speaker, Palmer will be focusing her studies on the culture of Santiago while simultaneously taking an upper-level Spanish class. She also plans to either take a psychology or sociology class at the University of Chile. She chose the Santiago program over the program offered in Mexico because she felt it would provide her with a more diverse experience.
And sophomore Monica Felix plans to spend both the winter and spring terms abroad next year in Berlin, studying the German language and linguistics. She intends to execute a linguistic analysis between the differences of the Old High German and Middle High German forms of the language. In addition, she is interested in observing the perspective that Germans take regarding specific historical events, especially compared to the American way of thinking.
For these students and others like them, the off-campus study programs offered provide not only the ability to immerse oneself within an entirely new culture, but also a chance to pursue at a greater length one’s personal interests and passions. Congratulations and good luck to all those students selected to study off campus next year -make the most of this wonderful opportunity!