Wednesday, February 11, 1998
Study abroad promises rich experience
ACADEMICS: Major calls for time in Europe, true understanding of
culture
By Teresa Jun
Daily Bruin Contributor
When John Rethans returned to the United States after five
months in Amsterdam, you’d think he might be homesick. Nope.
This fourth-year European studies/history student is already
making plans to study abroad in Indonesia next fall.
Rethans is not vacationing. He is actually getting credit for
the UCLA European studies program created only three years ago.
The UCLA European studies program enables students to take a
closer look at an aspect of Europe during this critical point in
its history by combining curricular flexibility and a study-abroad
component
"I had a really, really good academic experience as well as
obviously the social aspects," Rethans remembers.
This interdepartmental program offers courses from 14 different
fields. "Here (at UCLA), we’ve got a rich menu of art history,
language, literature, social science classes to choose from," said
Geoffrey Symcox, chair of the European studies program.
"If you pull all these various areas together, you’re not just
limited to one focus. You can dip into each rich area however you
like," Symcox said.
"(The European studies program) is great because it’s really
flexible," Rethans agreed.
"If you have just a general interest in Europe, you can take
various classes from different fields. Or if you don’t like history
that much, you can study European film, art, or literature instead.
The wide selection also makes it very easy to double-major
with."
In addition to the self-designed courses and a few mandatory
core courses, the program also requires students to study in a
European country for at least one quarter.
When learning about Europe, students should "not just read about
it in books at UCLA," Symcox insisted. "They should go there, sit
there, and realize that the coffee tastes different in
England."
Studying abroad helps the student "understand the culture much
more profoundly," the chair of the program added. "It offers you a
year’s immersion in a foreign culture in a way you wouldn’t get
from being a tourist."
In order to make the education abroad experience as rich as
possible, the program strongly encourages students to study abroad
for a full year instead of just the obligatory single quarter. To
further enhance the foreign experience, students are also required
to study two years of a European language before going abroad.
When a student travels abroad under the European studies
program, the student typically does not take American courses at
English-speaking universities.
"You go to a university in that country and act like a student
from that country," Symcox said. "You learn in their language and
study their courses."
"At first, it’s hard to keep up," noted Sylvia Dillon, counselor
for the European studies program. "But our students always do
well."
Though studying abroad is an essential part of the European
studies program, coordinators realize that individual students may
have difficulty fulfilling this requirement for various
reasons.
"In those rare cases when a student just can’t go abroad,
typically because of financial reasons or other problems, we will
of course make allowances," Dillon said.
"We’re tailoring the program to students’ specific goals, so
it’s very flexible."
With post-Communist Europe still struggling to redefine itself
politically, the continent has amassed a great deal of interest
among Americans as well as Europeans in recent years, Symcox
said.
The program has nearly tripled to about 60 participating
students within three years.
At such a crucial point in history, the European studies program
may be just what some students are looking for.
"We get the idea that many undergraduates just aren’t aware of
(the program), but many of them may certainly be very interested,"
Dillon said.
For Rethans, the European studies program did more than just
offer him an interesting double major at UCLA.
"Before, I was just a typical student," he said. "I felt like I
was on a treadmill to get a degree, get a job, get married, have
kids and eventually die. But now, my experience with the program
adds more excitement to the world.
"European studies changed my entire outlook on academics. It
changed my life," he said.
For more information about the European studies program, contact
Sylvia Dillon at (310) 825-6387 or by e-mail:
sdillon@isop.ucla.edu.