The Honors College offered four Faculty Led Education Abroad Programs (FLEAP) over the summer of 2025: Culture and Arts in Vienna; Peacebuilding and the Arts in Ireland and Northern Ireland; Walking in Someone Else’s Shoes to Scotland and England; and Education and Sustainability in Indigenous Guatemala. Each of these FLEAPs 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 FLEAPs count for three-to-six semester hours of HON 2515 and/or HON 3515 credits, depending on the program. Whether in Boone or abroad, students in Honors College seminars explore interdisciplinary topics from a variety of perspectives and engage together as a community of learners. In HON FLEAPs, students also meet the Honors College international education requirement by traveling together abroad.
About the Honors College FLEAPs, Clara Wilson, who joined the trip to Scotland and England, explained,
It’s a great way to see the world and to learn about other cultures while bonding with your fellow honors peers.
Wilson is an environmental science major with a minor in geography who joined the Honors College at App State in Fall 2023 semester and plans to graduate May 2026.
Emily Taylor a psychology major who entered the Honors College at App State in Fall 2023 semester and plans to graduate May 2027, also joined the Scotland and England trip and highlighted the positive experience. She stated:
I loved my study abroad experience, and I would encourage anyone who can to also study abroad. Going into college, I knew I wanted to study abroad, and I am so grateful that I was able to accomplish this. Studying abroad takes learning to a new level. For me personally, I am a visual learner. Being able to see and experience the sites and buildings we had been talking about in class was very valuable for me. Physically being in another country was an amazing experience for me in and of itself, as well. I had never been out of the country, and college is a really good time to explore other parts of the world. I found this trip to be so much fun while also being a place for me to build upon my education.
Photos above feature the four Honors College FLEAPs from Summer 2025, including (beginning top left, then clockwise): Peacebuilding and the Arts in Ireland and Northern Ireland; Education and Sustainability in Indigenous Guatemala; Culture and Arts in Vienna; and Walking in Someone Else’s Shoes to Scotland and England. Photos submitted.
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:
- 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.
Madelyn Haines, a communication science and disorders student pursuing a minor in studio art who entered the Honors College and App State in Fall 2024 semester and plans to graduate May 2028. She joined the FLEAP to Vienna and shared,
Studying abroad is a great educational and worldly experience that you can look back on and feel confident in your abilities to navigate a new place. Everyone deserves to find confidence wherever they are so study abroad!
Aubrey Bews, an anthropology major who joined the Honors College in the Fall 2024 semester and plans to graduate in May 2028, traveled to Ireland and Northern Ireland and spoke to the importance of the experience. She stated,
I would encourage others to study abroad because it broadens your horizons, you get to see the world and explore new places, and in a different way than just through traveling or tourism. Studying abroad is different from tourism, you're more intentional with what you are visiting and seeing, it all has it's purpose and fits into the bigger picture of what you are learning.
Emlyn Soher, a psychology major who joined the Honors College Fall 2024 semester and plans to graduate May 2028 explained that “Studying abroad is a great opportunity and a chance to experience so many new things. Not only are you fulfilling course requirements and earning credit, but you are also getting to grow academically and personally. During study abroad, you get as much as you put into it, which means that you can come back with new knowledge, personal growth, and great memories.”
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.
To learn more about the many ways they can participate in international experiential learning, students can attend 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’s 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).
Daniel Kindy, a computer science major who joined the Honors College in the Fall 2022 semester and plans to graduate May 2026, also joined the Ireland and Northern Ireland FLEAP. He shared: "We were able to talk with people who lived through the conflict, and in some cases they were able to show us places that had significance to them. You simply cannot get that sort of personal perspective on an issue from the comfort of your home."
Soher summed up the experiences of Honors College FLEAP and concluded,
If you’re on the fence about studying abroad, do it! I think that the summer faculty-led courses are the perfect starting point because there’s a lot of support, but you also get to learn how to navigate a different culture. Studying abroad is worth it and something that everyone should consider doing!
Jillian Bogart is a nursing major and Chancellor’s Scholar who joined the Honors College at App State Fall 2024 semester and plans to graduate May 2028. She joined the FLEAP to Scotland and England, and added,
If you are teeter-tottering on whether or not to study abroad, always go with your gut and go!
Stay tuned to the next four Honors Wednesday Memos to learn about each of the individual Honors College faculty-led trips from summer 2025. The Honors College looks forward to hearing about and sharing future stories from students traveling on its summer 2026 FLEAPs to study Love, Sex, and Power in Christianity in Italy and France; Meaning and Fantasy in Japan; African Climate Literacy and Development in Zambia; and Landscapes of Post Conflict in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Top photo features Jillian Bogart in the Isle of Skye in the Highlands of Scotland, June 15, 2025, making a stop on our scenic and educational MacBackpackers tour to admire the fog-covered "giants" (according to Scottish folklore). Photo by Isabel "Izzy" Rains.
