The Honors College offered four faculty-led study-abroad trips over the summer of 2024 to Guatemala; Ireland and Northern Ireland, Italy and France; and Nepal. Each of these trips supported students’ individual holistic development and engagement beyond themselves, across disciplinary boundaries, and in collaboration with others. Honors College students are required to complete a total of nine semester hours of Honors College (HON) seminar credits to graduate with University Honors, and Honors College faculty-led study abroad experiences count for three-to-six semester hours of HON 2515 and/or HON 3515 credits, depending on the program. Students in Honors College seminars explore interdisciplinary topics from a variety of perspectives and engage together as a community of learners. In HON faculty-led study abroad seminars, students also meet the Honors College international education requirement by traveling together abroad.
Annie Deakle is a psychology major and chemistry minor who entered the Honors College at App in Fall 2022 semester and plans to graduate May 2026. She participated in the Honors College faculty-led study abroad to Italy and France and explained that the most important part for her was traveling and experiencing historical cities in-person. She stated,
Learning about a town versus being immersed in what it feels like to physically be there is one of the coolest things I have gotten to experience.
The Honors College’s international education requirement asks students to broaden their perspectives as they consider global interconnectedness through exploring other cultures, worldviews, and frames of reference. As students fulfill the requirement, they will:
- Apply a holistic approach to global engagement that encompasses intellectual, cultural, and social dimensions as they explore, discover, learn, and grow with others.
- Cultivate cultural competence and humility by examining the importance of understanding, respecting, and valuing difference in building inclusive communities and addressing global challenges collaboratively.
- Reflect on their interactions with individuals and communities from cultural backgrounds different from their own and explain how these cross-cultural experiences have supported their individual personal, academic, and/or professional growth.
Honors College faculty-led study abroad courses are not the only way students meet these goals. Many students complete their International Education (IE) experience by earning academic credit abroad through short-term faculty-led programs offered by departments across campus or through more individualized semester study abroad programs or international internships. Others participate in international Alternative Service Experiences (ASEs) in conjunction with a preparatory 1-hour Honors Independent Study. Still others fulfill the international education requirement at home through engagement with globally-focused Honors seminars or by incorporating global engagement into their thesis work. Courses meeting the international education requirement are marked with an IE designator in our Honors course descriptions. Students interested in receiving international education credit for their thesis work should write to the associate vice provost of the Honors College in advance of beginning their thesis hours requesting this credit and explaining how the work they propose in their Honors Thesis Application fulfills the three outcomes outlined above.
Gracelyn Donahue joined the Honors College faculty-led trip to Nepal summer 2024. She is an exercise science major also pursuing a minor in psychology. She entered the Honors College at App State in the Fall 2023 semester and plans to graduate in May 2027. Donahue highlighted the importance of study abroad and taking advantage of these once in a lifetime opportunities. She stated,
I will always encourage others to study abroad. This experience taught me so many things and I believe I am a better person because of it. Don't be afraid of the unknown or new experiences because exposing yourself to these situations will make you more confident, a better student and a better person overall. We always have more to experience and more to learn and study abroad is a great opportunity for this. When deciding to study abroad I asked myself: When else in my life am I going to get the chance to trek to Everest Base Camp in Nepal? The answer was always "probably never again," so I knew I had to take advantage of the opportunity. I believe that even though I faced a lot of daunting challenges through my experience, it was well worth it.
Donahue further reflected on the cost of study abroad and opportunities for scholarships, sharing:
If cost is a concern for you, there are scholarships available for study abroad experiences that can be really helpful. Study abroad can be an expensive thing. In my opinion, it was well worth the expenses, but I got some scholarships to help me cover it. The trip I took was more expensive than most offered through App State, so the scholarships I got helped out a lot. I would say that you should always apply for scholarships because they can be well worth the time it takes to apply for them. Apply for them even if you feel you can cover the cost without them. In my opinion, not applying for scholarships is always a missed opportunity.
To learn more about the many ways they can participate in international experiential learning, students can attend or watch a YouTube video of the Study Abroad 101 workshop from the Office of International Programs. The Honors College encourages University Honors students to talk with their faculty mentors regularly about their interest in and plans for international study. Honors students should also work with their mentors to explore the many opportunities available to apply for funding to support those plans.
These include the Honors College International Education Scholarship, funded by the Ron and Marilyn Mitch Fund for Academic Excellence in the Heltzer Honors Program in International Education, and additional scholarships offered through the Office of International Programs’. The Office of Nationally Competitive Scholarships also supports students in applying for funding opportunities outside the university such as the Gilman Scholarship, the Fulbright Student Program, the Freeman-ASIA Award, and more (see a full list of supported scholarships).
Stay tuned to the next four Honors Wednesday Memos to learn about the individual Honors College faculty-led trips from summer 2024. The Honors College looks forward to hearing about and sharing future stories from students traveling on its summer 2025 faculty-led study-abroad trips to England and Scotland; Guatemala; Ireland and Northern Ireland; and Vienna, Austria.
Top photo feature the group touring the Bogside neighborhood of Derry/Londonderry, U.K., during the summer 2024 Honor College faculty led trip, “Human Rights and Peacebuilding in Ireland and Northern Ireland” co-led by Dr. Jessica Martell, associate professor in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies and program coordinator for Global Studies, and Dr. Belinda Walzer, associate professor in the Department of English. Photo by Belinda Walzer.
