Eleven Penn State Behrend students and two faculty members participated in a fifteen-day study abroad experience in London and Kyiv, Ukraine.
This spring, eleven Penn State Behrend students and two faculty members participated in a fifteen-day study abroad experience in London and Kyiv, Ukraine, where they got a firsthand look at European politics at a particularly significant time in history.
The students met with members of the U.K. Parliament in London, including Lord David Hunt of the House of Lords and the Honorable Luke Graham and Honorable Nick Boles, who are members of the House of Commons. They also attended a panel discussion on Brexit at the London Business School and met with representatives from several U.K. businesses and financial firms.
In Kyiv, the students heard six lectures by Kyiv School of Economics faculty members about issues related to Ukraine’s integration into the European Union, as well as the country’s economic, political, and social development since the fall of communism in 1991. The students visited Ukraine’s parliament as well as the offices of the World Bank and International Financial Corporation. They also attended a roundtable with a member of the European Union delegation in Ukraine and arrived in Kyiv in time to witness the inauguration of the new Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky!
“It was a thrilling trip filled with academic and cultural experiences,” said Dr. Lena Surzhko-Harned, assistant teaching professor of political science, who led the trip with Dr. Chris Harben, assistant teaching professor of management.