New Program Allows Miami Students to Study Abroad... At Home!

Miami has one of the highest rates of students who study abroad of any university in the U.S., but a new program will open opportunities for students to   "study abroad . . . at home," as Peggy Shaffer, director of American studies, put it.

The program, Acting Locally, is designed to help students understand the impact of globalization while furthering leadership skills and understanding how local communities work together. Faculty and students will get the chance to go "abroad" to Cincinnati, Hamilton or rural Butler County, where they can study businesses and how people interact within the community.

The American studies' Acting Locally initiative is one of several programs being launched with the help of the 3-year-old Harry T. Wilks Leadership Institute.

The communities targeted as project sites are the city of Hamilton, where the students will study the growing Hispanic immigration; Over-the-Rhine in Cincinnati, where they will study race, diversity and poverty; and rural Butler County, where the focus will be on businesses, agricultural ideas and how to work with a growing community. When the program starts in 2006, the students get to choose the site they work in.

The work they will do will count toward four courses and a six-month summer workshop over the span of two academic years and one summer term.   Even though most students will still be taking other classes in Oxford, they will be expected to engage personally and frequently with people in their chosen areas. One example of a likely study subject is the community's crime rate and its effect on the residents.

Shaffer believes this program will "help students and faculty feel they have an impact with what they are learning."

Funding for this new program comes from the College of Arts and Science, the George Gund Foundation and Harry T. Wilks.

Wilks, a local businessman and Miami alumnus, founded the leadership institute with a gift of $5 million.   The main goal is to ensure that Miami has one of the best leadership education programs and that students learn the importance of ethical standards and be ready and eager to serve their communities.

Other schools also have programs much like Acting Locally. The University of Michigan has the Arts of Citizenship program, and at Loyola in Chicago they have the Urban Leadership program. All of these programs work to engage students in problem-solving.

 Read more of Jenny Hall's articles:

 10 Years and Still Growing