May 20, 2009
The associate directors of St. John’s University’s European
campuses visited the Queens campus on May 19 to give faculty and
administrators an enticing glimpse of their respective “turfs” and
to describe the amenities available at each.
Associate Directors John Carrion (Paris center) and Juliet Manto
(Europe-based programs, including the Rome campus and programs
offered in Dublin and Salamanca, Spain) spoke to a group of about
100 intrigued faculty and administrators. Each also took the
audience on a virtual tour of sorts, screening short videos that
not only featured the facilities but also the students studying
there during the recently ended spring semester.
Both the
Paris and
Rome locations offer students a unique international
experience. Each is newly renovated and includes classrooms, a
dining facility (Paris), a library, computer lab, a student lounge,
laundry, wireless internet access, administrative offices and, of
course, comfortable housing in the heart of the city. Each campus
is located in an upscale neighborhood: the Prati section of Rome,
which is close to the Vatican and within walking distance of many
of that city’s historic and cultural sites; and the popular
St.-Germain district of Paris, where art galleries, bookstores and
cozy cafés abound.
Both sites host segments of the University’s innovative
Discover the World program in which students spend one amazing
semester in three European cities, as well as semester-long
programs. Summer session and winter intersession courses are also
offered at both. St. John’s also welcomes students and faculty from
partner colleges and universities at the two locations.
The virtual tours were part of a larger presentation intended to
acquaint the University community with the varied programs and
Vincentian service opportunities offered abroad and to advise
faculty in particular on how to transform the programs they teach
into study abroad opportunities for their students OR even create
new programs for Rome or Paris. Representatives from the Office of
Global Studies, Student Financial Services and Enrollment
Management were also available to provide supplementary information
and guidelines on how to make it all happen for students.
Changing the Face of Study
Abroad
The event was hosted by Matthew Pucciarelli, Executive Director of
Global Studies at St. John’s, who explained that the University’s
goal for study abroad is to provide every student with the
life-changing opportunity to live and study abroad.
“We’re trying to change the conversation on St. John’s campuses so
that we speak about when students go abroad, not
if they go abroad. We want to make it possible for every
one of our students—no matter what the major or the socio-economic
background—to study abroad, whether it’s for a full semester, a
short-term program, or whether it’s for a ‘plunge’ [a short
immersion in which students work and serve in a community needing
assistance]. There are many different ways they can encounter this
international spirit of engagement. We want them to do one of those
things before they leave us.”
Director Pucciarelli reports that overwhelmingly, outside of St.
John’s, the profile of a study abroad student is white,
female and middle-class. At St. John’s, however, study abroad
students “buck national trends and already represent the
University’s diversity more widely than generally found
elsewhere.”
That’s because St. John’s is making the international experience
attainable for students who have been traditionally priced out of
these programs by offering
financial assistance to those who are eligible. The
University is also creating programs that “breach the barriers” of
traditional study abroad, such as the very unique Discover the
World program for Pharmacy students that allows them to stay on
track for their degree. “There is nothing like it in the country,”
he notes.
“We’re trying to change the face of study abroad by making it
available to all who want that experience,” he emphasizes.
For more information about St. John’s University’s study abroad
opportunities or for help in creating a study abroad opportunity
for your students, contact the Office of Global Studies:
Queens Campus
Marillac Terrace
718-990-6105
globalstudies@stjohns.edu
Staten island Campus
Rosati Hall, Room 113
718-390-4035
globalstudies@stjohns.edu