In an increasingly global world, where corporate team members and business partners might span several continents, learning to work with culturally diverse populations and be comfortable in different countries is an essential skill.
Japan
Fifteen Penn State Behrend students visited Japan in the summer as part of the PSYCH 232 Cross-Cultural Psychology and PSYCH 499 Foreign Studies in Psychology embedded courses. While there, they attended the International Congress of Psychology, a premier psychology conference. Several students presented their research and had the chance to meet Jane Goodall, far right, the well-known British primatologist, ethologist, and anthropologist.
Cuba
Eight Penn State Behrend students, led by Dr. Jessica Piney, lecturer in Spanish, traveled to Havana, Cuba, in March. The students participated in workshops at the Center for Marti Studies, exploring Cuban history and poetry as well as Cuban-U.S. relations. They also visited Revolution Square, Colonial Havana, and Finca Vigia, where Ernest Hemingway lived.
Italy
Each year, Penn State Behrend students enrolled in IT 130: Italian Culture and Civilization spend their spring break on a ten-day study-tour of Rome. The trip, led by Dr. Sharon Dale, professor of art history, and Dr. John Champagne, professor of English, offers students the opportunity to explore the cradle of Western Civilization first-hand as part of the integrated course that blends history, art, architecture, music, literature, film, and food.
Germany
In October, thirty-three Plastics Engineering Technology majors embarked on a tenday trip to Germany, where they visited Frankfurt and Cologne before attending K Show, the world’s largest plastics conference. While in Germany, students also had the opportunity to tour Arburg (an injection-molding machine manufacturer), the University of Applied Sciences Rosenheim, the Mercedes-Benz Museum, the Porsche Museum, and Neuschwanstein Castle, among other sites.
Canada
Students enrolled in PL SC 299/499: North American Politics don’t just travel to another country; they live there for four weeks, immersing themselves in culture and learning alongside their Canadian counterparts at Toronto’s Ryerson University. The course, which is taught by Dr. Robert Speel, associate professor of political science at Penn State Behrend, and Dr. Greg Inwood, professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at Ryerson, focuses on the comparative politics of the United States and Canada and on international relations between the two countries. In the summer of 2016, ten students participated in the course.