ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses some of the challenges of studying abroad, yet also offers some reflection on its power to personally transform students and where foreign study may develop as a possible discipline in the future. There are many organizational challenges to running a study-abroad program. Many countries’ colleges and universities rely on rote learning as the basis to their pedagogical thinking. The history of study abroad, as it has become more socially “acceptable” as a legitimate college-centered activity, reveals an expansion in popularity but not necessarily in academic standing. Even as students sought the wonder and exotic awe of overseas travel, they also wanted the freedom to partake in socialization not normally accorded back home. Some may ask whether foreign study is even needed today when students can tap into “international experiences” through their laptops on their own schedule and desire without any of the academic or scheduling rigors of study-abroad programs.
