While most Boston University students may be looking forward to relaxing on beaches this summer, officials in the BU International Programs office are giving students a few more options.
BU International Programs is offering three new programs for the coming summer in Paris, Moscow and Dublin.
Approximately 300 students travel abroad during the summer months, according to Christopher Russell, associate director of marketing and recruitment for the International Programs office. He expects that number to ‘absolutely increase because the [new] programs offer internships,’ he said.
The Paris program is an eight-week language program with a separate track offering 300 possible student internship options, Russell said. Students are placed in internships according to their grasp of the language as well as their concentration, Russell said.
The Moscow program also allows students to learn Russian in the country. The website also boasts ‘some weekend trips to nearby destinations’ as part of the curriculum as a way to see Russia’s splendor.
Russell said he is certain the new programs will be a success.
‘The programs are great for students at the beginning levels of languages,’ he said. Summer abroad is so popular because it allows students a chance to experience learning they may not have time for during the school year, he added.
The College of Communication is also offering a new program in Dublin, allowing students to study the conflict in Northern Ireland.
Several students expressed excitement over the new programs.
‘The Ireland program interests me a little, but I want to go abroad partly to learn a language with which I am unfamiliar,’ Christian Hurley, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. ‘The other programs sound really good, especially for kids looking to get some practice in a foreign language.’
Hurley said BU’s expansion into Paris is a welcome change.
‘It’s especially exciting for French students to finally have an option in Paris as well as Grenoble,’ Hurley said.
In addition to the BU programs, other organizations are offering BU students the chance to go overseas.
International Student Travel is also opening its volunteer programs to BU students in its 50 abroad locations. According to flyers handed out in lecture rooms on Thursday, the four-week program brings students to Australia, New Zealand, the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica.
Students will be allowed to receive academic credit for the programs through the University of California at Santa Barbara, according to IST spokeswoman Sue White.
The IST program has been in operation of 19 years, but this is the first time BU students have been invited to participate, White said in an email.
The first two weeks of the four-week program include ‘volunteer work in either conservation or community development,’ White said in the email. The final two weeks are, as White explained, ‘an outdoor adventure tour in [the students’] host country.’
The program costs as little as $300 because of fundraising opportunities, White said.
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