Contact: Jean Dykstra
(212) 992-9825
jmd7@nyu.edu
The world is more connected than ever, and the opportunities for students to study away are abundant—from two weeks in Cuba to a summer course in Florence to a semester in Ghana. The Office of Global Programs at Gallatin is the place to investigate these possibilities.
Last year, 217 Gallatin students studied away; 65 additional students participated in short-term travel courses; and 60 others went abroad for seven to 12 days through Gallatin’s scholars programs. Also, 11 students received $5,000 each from the Gallatin Global Fellowship in Human Rights to fund summer internships at international organizations that pursue humanitarian work.
NYU has 13 global sites—including the most recent site in Sydney, as well as Shanghai, Berlin and Buenos Aires, among others. Patrick McCreery, Gallatin’s assistant dean for global programs and associate faculty member, and the key adviser for all things related to study away; and Melissa Daniel, the School’s director of study away, help students understand the international programs that are available to them. They also develop courses at global sites and work with Gallatin faculty who teach summer and January-term travel courses.
One such course is “Italian Renaissance, Art and Literature,” a summer humanities seminar that Professor Bella Mirabella has taught in Florence for 25 years; another is “Black in the City of Light,” a travel course in Paris conducted by Professor Myisha Priest; and a third is Professor Karen Hornick’s “Berlin: Capital of Modernity.” Professor Ritty Lukose has taught a travel course in Bangalore, India, over winter break, and Professor Hallie Franks occasionally teaches in Istanbul.
In addition, five students received funding for study away from the Horn Family Fund for Environmental Studies last fall, three students received China Summer Fellowships last year and two summer fellowships were offered with NYU’s Africa House.
Regardless of which study-away program students choose, they invariably find it enriching on many levels. “Students return from a semester away excited about how the experience made them think more deeply about their academic concentrations,” McCreery said. “For sophomores and new juniors, the study-away experience is often pivotal in helping them bring their concentrations together. For second-semester juniors and seniors, the experience is often a logical culmination of their studies. Unsurprisingly, a student studying global public health will have tremendous new insight into the issue after a semester in Accra—or London, for that matter.”
Gallatin senior Sal Lavallo, who studies culturally sustainable development, has taken advantage of Gallatin’s study abroad opportunities. "Studying abroad in Tel Aviv and then Abu Dhabi has given me the practical and specific knowledge to complement the theoretical foundation that I gained while in New York,” he said.
“I've also been fortunate enough through Gallatin and NYU fellowships and grants to do research on culturally sustainable development in East Africa and Venezuela with the NGO I founded, Trail of Seeds. Even when I was thousands of miles away, I would talk very often with my advisers back in New York to help me unpack my experiences and new insights. They showed me that Gallatin's support doesn't exist only at 1 Washington Place, but that it is a truly global force."
