Director’s Message – Fall 2023

All us in Study Abroad & Away (SAA) hope that the start of the fall 2023 semester is off to a great start. The SAA team has been keeping busy over the summer and into the fall, developing new programs and helping students find the right study abroad program to further their intellectual and personal growth. We encourage all of you, students, staff, and faculty, to attend our Study Abroad Fair on Thursday, September 28th to learn about these many opportunities. You can see more information about this event here.

We are happy to report that in summer 2023, we successfully launched 17 faculty-led programs in which faculty took over 210 students to 13 countries with faculty from 3 colleges. We would like to recognize the faculty champions who worked tirelessly to make these opportunities possible for our students: 

  • Lynne Andonian (Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Health and Human Sciences)
  • Dan Brook (Department of Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, College of Social Sciences)
  • Elizabeth Carroll (Department of Art and Art History, College of Humanities and the Arts)
  • Irene Carvajal (Department of Art and Art History, College of Humanities and the Arts)
  • Megan Chang (Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Health and Human Sciences)
  • Seung Ho Chang (Department of Kinesiology, College of Health and Human Sciences)
  • Danijela Dudley (Department of Political Science, College of Social Sciences)
  • Alison George (Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Health and Human Sciences)
  • Tabitha Hart (Department Communication Studies, College of Social Sciences)
  • Mary Juno (Department of Justice Studies, College of Social Sciences)
  • Kristine Kirkendall (Department of Kinesiology, College of Health and Human Sciences)
  • Christine Ma-Kellams (Department of Psychology, College of Social Sciences)
  • Kasuen Mauldin (Department of Nutrition, Food Science & Packaging, College of Health and Human Sciences)
  • Sung Jay Ou (Department of Anthropology, Department of Environmental Studies, College of Social Sciences)
  • Giselle Pignotti (Department of Nutrition, Food Science & Packaging, College of Health and Human Sciences)
  • Deepa Singamsetti (Department of Nutrition, Food Science & Packaging, College of Health and Human Sciences)
  • Gigi Smith (Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Health and Human Sciences) 
  • Susan Trimingham (Department of Art and Art History, College of Humanities and the Arts)
  • Andrew Wood (Department Communication Studies, College of Social Sciences)

This fall 2023, we will have 83 students abroad in 17 countries. We are already seeing an increase in the number of applications for exchange for spring 2024. In the past academic year, we have had a few Gilman scholarship recipients. They are: 

  • Rahel Adebabay (Global Studies, College of Social Sciences)
  • Peter Domingo (Art/Studio Practice, College of Humanities and the Arts)
  • Viridiana Galvez Garcia (Business Administration, College of Business)
  • Sophia Garske (Communication Studies, College of Social Sciences)
  • Amanda Harmon (Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering)
  • Lisette Vasquez Perez (Forensic Science, College of Social Sciences)

Congratulations, we are so proud of you!

The SAA team continues to find innovative ways to promote global learning opportunities for our students, faculty, and staff successfully. To that end, the team successfully launched the Global Ambassador Program in spring 2023. You can read more information and highlights below. The team also relaunched the in-person pre-departure orientation and developed a re-entry course for study abroad returnees, as we continue to find ways to promote the reflection that is critical to any global experience. In addition, we transitioned to  a new website platform for current students and partners.

We are eager to (continue to) work with each and every one of you to find ways to broaden your global learning, teaching and service. Our commitment remains to promote a global ethos on campus and to move forward comprehensive internationalization as a priority for SJSU. Please do not hesitate to reach out to any of the SAA team members with any questions or ideas by contacting them directly or by emailing spartansabroad@sjsu.edu.

In the meantime, we wish you continued success and the best of luck as you navigate the opportunities this fall 2023 semester!

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