Students in the China Business Program will visit historic and cultural — such as the Great Wall of China.
New options for short-term education abroad programs abound with St. Cloud State University adding six additional programs for the 2016-2017 school year with options for credit in business, political science, geography and Spanish. Instruction for all the programs is provided in English.
The new programs join a total of 23 short-term programs and 26 semester-long programs offered by St. Cloud State in 2016-17.
Business
Led by Dennis Bristow and Rajesh Gulati the Cuba spring break marketing program will introduce students to the historical, cultural and business-oriented parts of Cuba.
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Students will visit Little Havana in Miami before traveling to Havana, Cuba. The program offers students the opportunity to learn about the industry, culture and history of Cuba, while staying in hostels and hotels. The program is open to all majors.
“It’s an exciting time to visit Cuba, now that travel restrictions have been lifted,” said Peggy Johnson, Education Abroad associate director. “This program will provide St. Cloud State students with an amazing opportunity to learn about Cuba, which is rich in history, music and physical beauty.”
Two other business programs — in China and the United Arab Emirates — will offer students the opportunity to learn about business practices within a global economy.
The China Business Program will be during the summer term in a program led by Gerui “Grace” Kang and William Hudson.
“We live in a global business world. Ninety-five percent of today’s consumers are not in the United States,” Kang said. “China has the biggest commercial market and is the second biggest economy in the world. St. Cloud State business graduates will be in constant contact with individuals from other countries including China. The need for global experiences and cross cultural understanding is an essential skill set for our majors.”
Students will explore the differences in business practices, economic systems and environments as they travel between Beijing, Xi’an and Shanghai. Stops in all three will include educational and cultural experiences.
Students will develop a deeper understanding of the differences between United States and Chinese economic systems, managerial approaches, operating practices and accounting systems and standards.
The China program option comes at a time when the Herberger Business School will be welcoming more than 50 Chinese students from Binhai College, which will give students who study abroad in China an opportunity to better understand their culture, Kang said.
This program is open all majors and students of freshman status.
Students on the Dubai Business Program will visit the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during spring break to learn about the business climate of UAE through business presentations, tours of Dubai and a consulting project.
Led by Mark Schmidt and Whitney Johnson, the program will encourage students to compare and contrast city lifestyles in Dubai with cultural components of UAE’s capital city — Abu Dhubi.
The program is open to business majors who have completed their business core courses.
Political science
Middle Eastern politics, history and culture will be the focus of the faculty-led program to Cyprus and Jordan during summer session.
Directed by Aref Hassan, this trip will first take students to the island of Cyprus, which is divided among ethnic lines, with Greek ethnicity in the south and Turkish in the north. Students will have the chance to study the ethnic conflict between the groups by visiting the divided capital Nicosia and meeting with international relations and conflict resolution experts in the country.
The visit to Cyprus will be followed by a one-week visit to the Western-friendly Arab state of Jordan where students will be fully-immersed into Arab and Middle Eastern culture, history, hospitality and tradition. The program is open to all majors and is open to students of freshman status or above.
Students in the British Isles Program will visit historic, cultural and geographic sites in the United Kingdom and Ireland — such as the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland.
Spanish
Students looking to develop Spanish language skills can sign up for the Spain-Language & Cultures program, which is open to all majors of any Spanish proficiency.
Led by Elena Kurinski and located in Salmanca, Spain, students on this trip will take classes at the Mester Language School according to their proficiency level and also take a Spanish culture course taught in English.
While on the trip, students will live with host families or in small residence halls and take excursions to visit Spanish cities, museums and social events. The program is open to all majors and students of freshman status or above.
Geography
The British Isles Program will take students on a journey led by Gareth John to visit the castles, museums, cliffs, beaches and mountains of the British Isles.
“On this program, students will get to see interesting heritage sites, explore beautiful rural settings and visit a variety of vibrant cities in the British Isles,” Johnson said.
Students will lodge in European-style hostels, while earning credits that count as regional electives in geography, travel and tourism and social studies majors or the British Studies minor.
The program is open to all majors and students of freshman status or above.
The programs
Spring
Summer
