Students enter Blair McElroy’s office at 331 Martindale and tell her a place they have always wanted to visit.
“I ask, ‘Is there a place you are dying to see?’” McElroy, director of the study abroad office, said. “If they can narrow it down to that, then we’ll find them something to fit them academically.”
The university’s study abroad program sends approximately 600 students abroad every year. Each student spends between two weeks and two semesters in his new home, depending on the subject he is studying and his location.
For psychology student Allie Stein, that place was Europe. Stein was one of many students who traveled to Vienna during the summer term. It was there that she studied Freudian theory as a homage to Vienna native, Sigmund Freud.
“I just wanted to go to Europe. I honestly was not picky as to where,” Stein said. “I ended up doing research on Vienna and became super excited about the program because of its relevancy to my field of study since psychology was arguably born there.”
There are some students, however, who haven’t decided where they want to study. In those cases, the study abroad office will ask a student what his major is and will then determine a place for him based off what he is studying.
“All of our partners are universities,” McElroy said. “They have classes, just like the University of Mississippi has classes. So, there are a wide variety of courses that you can choose from.”
Of the 600 students participating in the program, about 50 students participate in the winter session. The remaining students travel during the fall, spring and summer sessions.
This winter, students will be offered the chance to study abroad in Europe and Southeast Asia. Spring and summer sessions for 2017 have not been determined yet.
McElroy said she hopes that information including details and prices will be available for students by the time the study abroad fair arrives on September 6 and 7 in the Circle.
“Our biggest time to send students is the summer,” McElroy said. “But, I encourage students to go for as long as they can. If you can go for a semester, go. It’s a great experience.”
The Croft Institute’s professor of sociology, Miguel Centellas, with his wife and eight students, traveled to Bolivia over the summer.
“My research is on Bolivia, so it was very interesting to go,” Centellas said. “With studying abroad, I think students get a lot more one-on-one time with the instructor, which can be helpful to them and make them feel more comfortable.”
