By: Asha Tompkins, Staff Writer
According to an update on March 23, students who planned to join the fall study abroad program were informed of the decision to pause applications in light of the COVID-19 outbreak.
“We, along with our colleagues both domestic and abroad, continue to closely monitor the situation,” said Emily Zider, the coordinator of education abroad. “…Safety of programming is our top priority.”
Zider stated that they will be ‘“pausing” on application review for the fall program, as the pandemic is unpredictable.
“We are unsure what the likelihood is of the situation clearing in time for fall departures,” said Zider. “We plan to revisit the possibility of moving forward with fall study abroad at the end of April or early May when we have a better understanding of the longer-term impacts of the situation.”
It is recommended that students who have applied for the fall study abroad program develop a “back-up plan and register for fall courses at USM, in case [they] are not able to operate study abroad programming in the fall.”
While it cannot replace the experience of studying in a different country, here are a few course options related to cultural studies:
- ANT 101 – Anthropology: The Cultural View
- Three credit course
- “A basic introductory survey of cultural anthropology.”
- ANT 105 – Society, Environmental and Change.
- Three credit course
- “Examines the complex and changing relationship between communities, cultures, and the environment over time and across multiple geographic scales.”
- GEO 101 – Human Geography
- Three credit course
- “Examines social, economic, and political processes that shape the contemporary global landscape, with particular emphasis on the relationships between developed and developing regions of the world.”
More course options can be found through the course search in the MaineStreet portal.
“Connecting students with the world is our passion, and we truly cannot wait for the day we are able to confidently send students out into the world again,” said Zider. “We will touch base as soon as we have more information to share.”