London, Paris, Beijing and Edinburgh. Those are the kinds of places students can experience in rich array of study abroad programs at Eastern Michigan University

Annual Study Abroad Fair highlights exciting academic options students can choose from to deepen understanding of the World or help set you on a fulfilling career path

EMU's Study Abroad Fair at the Student Center Oct. 1, 2019.
Students learn more about overseas study programs at EMU's Study Abroad Fair as professor Zuzana Tomas (red jacket) helps answer questions. (Photo by Geoff Larcom)

YPSILANTI – Teaching English in Slovakia. International Fashion Markets and Innovation in London and Edinburgh. Management in China. Hospitality Management in Paris and London. Sociology in Greece.

Those are just some of the options students could check out at the annual Eastern Michigan University Study Abroad Fair, held in the Student Center Ballroom on Oct. 1.

In the late morning and most of the afternoon, the ballroom felt like a tour de force of exciting destinations, travel times and study topics. The fair featured 25 faculty-led programs for students to choose from, with sessions to occur either during the February winter break, winter intersession at the end of April, in summer, or during the school year. Possible topics touched on a wide variety of academic disciplines, including business, health, journalism, social work, languages, technology, culture and the humanities.

The selection included professor Grigoris Argeros, who will teach a program on Sociology in Greece during April. “Students will develop a deeper understanding of what it is like to live in another society, where much of their taken-for-granted assumptions about social life are challenged on a fundamental level,” read a portion of the course description.

Other programs at the fair included:

• Global Hospitality Management, in Paris and London over winter break, with Nicole Huzel, a lecturer in the Hotel and Restaurant Management Program. Huzel noted the obvious: Where better to study hospitality and great food than in two of the World’s great cities and tourist spots? The program was based in Florence and Rome last year, Huzel said.

• Management in China, next summer, with retired management professor Jean Bush-Bacelis. Students will spend several days exploring Beijing before traveling to Tianjin University, one of Eastern’s global academic partners, and spending two weeks there examining the world of business in China along with tours of local businesses and shopping districts. “I love seeing the light go on in their eyes,” Bush-Bacelis said of students in the program. “China is so different. Yet the people there are so happy to help us.”

• International Fashion Markets and Innovation, next summer, with professor Julie Becker and instructor Holly Mosher. Students will get an introduction in London and Edinburgh to the global context of fashion markets, including world famous department stores. Students will compare merchandising, customer relations and product presentations. The group went to Paris and Amsterdam last summer. “It’s a really great networking experience,” Mosher said. “It’s a way to get your foot in the door (in a variety of these companies).”

• Teaching English in Slovakia, next summer, with Zuzana Tomas, a professor of World Languages. Tomas will oversee a group studying in Slovakia after two summer stints working with students in Montenegro. Tomas says the experience is all about “moving students out of their comfort zone, learning what it’s like to be in the minority and learning how to communicate with those far outside of your normal circle.”

Kristen Krug-Shaffer, manager of academic programs abroad at Eastern, said college is the perfect time for such a singular experience, to really explore the World before the realities of the day-to-day work world encroach. Such an adventure helps student understand that, “The World is small and big at the same time,” Krug-Shaffer said.

To find out more about the variety of opportunities at Eastern, see the Academic Programs Abroad website.

About Eastern Michigan University

Founded in 1849, Eastern is the second oldest public university in Michigan. It currently serves nearly 18,000 students pursuing undergraduate, graduate, specialist, doctoral and certificate degrees in the arts, sciences and professions. In all, more than 300 majors, minors and concentrations are delivered through the University's Colleges of Arts and Sciences; Business; Education; Engineering and Technology; Health and Human Services; and, its graduate school. EMU is regularly recognized by national publications for its excellence, diversity, and commitment to applied education. For more information about Eastern Michigan University, visit the University's website.

October 09, 2019

Written by:
Geoff Larcom

Media Contact:
Geoff Larcom
glarcom@emich.edu
734-487-4400