January 12, 2006
Students prepare for semester in Europe
SEARCY - Nick Milner of Searcy took his French class at Harding University seriously last fall, knowing that this semester he will be touring castles in the Loire valley, ambling through the halls of Paris' Louvre, and sampling French cuisine in Brittany.Milner, a sophomore French and international business major, is one of 100 students who will study at Harding's international programs this spring. As a participant in the France and Switzerland program, he will focus on language and culture studies, experiencing French civilization from the caves at Lascaux to the Airbus factory in Toulouse.
The France and Switzerland program is the newest of Harding's six international programs, and Milner said he had planned to go to the Florence program before he heard about the opportunity to study in French-speaking Europe and chose it instead. After taking one year of beginning French classes, he traveled in French-speaking Europe for six weeks with a campaign last summer. He said the experience challenged him and helped him practice his language skills.
"At first, it was horrible," he said. "I hated it because I didn't feel like I could communicate at all. After a few days, I found a way to communicate. That's one of the best ways to learn a language, is being forced to use it."
Dr. Robert McCready, director of the France and Switzerland semester, said the program, which is scheduled to run again in spring 2008, has a limited enrollment of 25 to accommodate the demands of a language-based program, which relies on the development of relationships with local French-speakers. Greece and Italy, the other two campuses active in the spring, typically host about 40 students a semester. Harding also maintains international programs in Australia, Chile and England.
Dr. Jeffrey T. Hopper, dean of International Programs, says exposing students to foreign cultures is a high priority at Harding.
"One of the important aspects of the University mission is developing a global perspective," he says. Thirty percent of each graduating class at Harding has participated in an international program.
Cindy Howe, a sophomore communication management major from Searcy, heard about the international programs from friends who had gone. She will spend the spring semester in Florence, Italy.
"I've just heard really positive things — that they really loved it and wished that they could go back."
As the fall semester winded down, students were looking ahead to their semester overseas. Milner has been saving up money from his job at Hastings for the trip, jogging to get in shape for the kinesiology class he will take, and making mental notes of the things he will need to pack. He said it will be a challenge to pack everything he will need for a semester in the limited space of what he can take with him on a plane, especially since he has to prepare for a variety of climates.
"It's going to range from skiing in the Swiss Alps to swimming off the island of Corsica," he said.
Professors traveling for the overseas programs have to anticipate more than just the weather. Dr. Monte Cox, associate dean of the College of Bible and Religion, will teach in Greece and has had to prepare all the resources and visual aids he will need for each class period.
"It's mainly the forethought that goes into class preparation, anticipating everything you're going to need, and paring all that down to what you can carry in a suitcase."
Having taken on new administrative duties last fall, Cox said he will continue working through e-mail correspondences this spring. He will make one trip back to Searcy during the semester. Cox's wife, Beth, arranged to take a leave of absence from her teaching job for the semester.
McCready and his wife, Silva, will travel to France and Switzerland with their three children. McCready said they had to meet with teachers and administrators at three different Searcy schools to prepare for the children's absence, but the schools have been very accommodating. The children were born in France and have returned with Harding groups for the past six years, so they are not anxious about living in another country, he says.
"For us, it's just that we're going a little bit longer."
