BY ANTHONY DASILVA, STAFF WRITER
St. Bonaventure is offering study abroad programs across six foreign countries and three continents. The programs are Sorrento, Italy; Perugia, Italy; Spain, Japan, China, Oxford, and an all-new trip to Belize in January of 2023.
Two of the programs are on hold or cancelled this year. The study abroad program that goes to Spain is cancelled and the study abroad program in Japan is on hold, but the four other programs are still set to take place.
Dr. Alva Cellini is the chair for the department of modern languages at St. Bonaventure University and the director of the Spain study abroad program. She described the circumstances that led to her program’s cancellation.
“The Spanish study abroad program is not taking place because Spain has a lot of tight COVID restrictions,” said Cellini.
The Sorrento, Italy program is still on track to happen. Sorrento, one of the newest programs, was founded in 2018 and took their first and only trip in summer 2019. Students can earn six academic credits through the program. The two courses students can take are Strategic Writing and Professional Writing, taught by university lecturer and Sorrento program director Anna Bulszewicz. The other course students will take is Global Business: Italy and Tourism, taught by Dr. Davide De Gennaro, a professor at the Sant’Anna Institute in Sorrento, Italy.
“Students will engage in a mobile learning experience,” said Bulszewicz, “[They will] learn how local and global economies work … [and will be] taught at the same time through excursions”.
The Sorrento program is five weeks long, running from July 3 to August 6. The program will take around 12-15 students and the cost is $7,000. Two $1,000 scholarships are available to accepted applicants who show some financial need. Other components of the program are an exclusive visit from the U.S Consulate and a virtual lecture with a BBC Journalist. Students will also receive mobile lectures and guided tours to Pompeii and Rome – including the Vatican – along with a tour of a generations old Amalfi Coast coffee roasting factory. The theme of this year’s trip is “Your Grand Tour Awaits.”
“Sorrento is life changing and it is a magical experience,” said Bulszewicz.
The other Italy program, which goes to Perugia, is still on track to happen as well. The two classes that will be taught there are Stars and Stellar Systems, along with a lab credit. The other class is Christian Marriage.
“Christian Marriage is a very popular course,” said Bob Donius, a Theology and Franciscan Studies lecturer and the director of the study abroad trip to Perugia. Donius will be teaching Chrisitan Marriage during the abroad session.
The cost of the trip is $6,500 and there are no financial aid or scholarships available. This trip takes place from May 19 to June 26, 10 to 20 students are allowed to come. Students will take trips to popular cities such as Rome, Florence, Spello, Bagnoregio, Orvieto, La Verna, Gubbio and Assisi.
“Students get to experience Italian culture firsthand. All funds will be returned if the trip is cancelled,” said Donius.
The study abroad program in China is a two-week program that costs $5,795. The class that students can take is International Business: China Studies. Students will spend four days in Shanghai, and then two days in Xi’an, the home of the 2,300-year-old Terra-Cotta warriors. Then students will spend eight days at the Friendship hotel, and will learn about Chinese culture, language, history, business operations, and Business operations. The program takes 15 to 20 students.
Carl Case is a professor of marketing and the director of the China studies program at St. Bonaventure. He described some of the irreplaceable experience that students attain through the program.
“Students are much more confident when they come back. China is safe, modern and students see technology that doesn’t exist in the United States,” said Case.
The Oxford study abroad program lasts six weeks and runs from July 1 to Aug. 12. The program will accept between 35 and 40 students. The cost is $7,000 but there are more scholarships available this year than ever before because of a new donor. One of the classes students can take is Study of Infectious Diseases. This class is taught by Adam Ritchie, a senior project manager in the development of vaccines. The other class students can take is Age of Shakespeare, in which students can learn more about the history and factors that influenced the poet and playwright.
Mike Jones-Kelly, a lecturer for the Jandoli School of Communications, is the director of the Francis E. Kelley Oxford Program. While he will not be teaching the Age of Shakespeare class – that class will be taught by Clemena Antonova – he emphasized the value of the course.
“Students in the Age of Shakespeare class will learn about art, architecture, music, religion and even politics from when Shakespeare was alive,” said Kelly.
During the program students can visit Stonehenge and visit the studio where Harry Potter was made.
There is also a new study abroad program going to Belize. This is scheduled for January 2023 and Dr. Steve Pitt, an assistant professor in the University’s history department, will be leading that program.
dasilvaf21@bonaventure.edu
