May 19, 2011: Dhina Susanti is a senior majoring in electrical engineering. Originally from Semarang, Indonesia, Dhina first came to Madison in 2007 through a scholarship from the Freedom Institute. She will be leaving for Beijing, China in summer 2011 to take part in an international internship with Bucyrus International. What inspired you to apply [...]
Continue reading about Dhina Susanti: Student Takes on Summer Engineering Internship in China
Originally born in Romania, Vlad Ionescu moved to Chicago at a young age and came to Madison to study finance and real estate in the School of Business. He is leaving to spend the summer 2011 semester abroad working as a finance intern for an international company called Abbott Labs located in Zwolle, Netherlands. What inspired [...]
Continue reading about Vlad Ionescu: Student Spends Summer as a Business Intern Abroad
Jake Heyka is a freshman planning to major in international studies and political science. Though he had never been abroad before, he recently spent a few weeks in Cambodia teaching English to students of all ages. In this Q&A he tells us about life as a Badger within the Khmer culture. What was your reason [...]
Georgette Condos is an International Studies major working toward a certificate in African Studies at UW-Madison, and is one of the first students to do course work toward a new certificate, which is still under development, that focuses on global health. Condos has plans to study public health after graduation, and works as the Empowerment [...]
Continue reading about Georgette Condos: Student With A Passion for Global Health
“You can’t just stay in and study all the time. If you don’t get to know people on an intimate level, you won’t really experience the culture. You cannot be afraid of getting harassed or of the stereotypes. Until you get to know the Egyptian people, the stereotypes feel true, but when you get to [...]
Continue reading about Meet Katrina Gray: Student Shares Study Abroad Experience in Egypt
The Division of International Studies invited students who were in Egypt on study abroad programs to reflect on their time during the recent unrest within the country. Antoinette Pick-Jones is a senior political science and economics major, who went abroad on the IFSA-Butler and Middlebury University program through the International Academic Programs (IAP) office. Antoinette [...]
Continue reading about Student Reflects on Her Time in Egypt During the Recent Political Upheaval
Badgers who wrote for the Badgers Abroad Blog (BAB) this past semester, share their abroad experiences. John Wells John Wells graduated from UW-Madison in December of 1973. He had studied East Asian studies and taken five semesters of Japanese before deciding to start a new life in Japan. He has lived in Japan ever since, [...]
Continue reading about Read a Few of Our Fall Semester Favorites from the Badgers Abroad Blog!
This past summer, Helen Beckner, an International Studies major and a sophomore at UW-Madison took time out to travel. Helen’s travel was a bit more unique than most. Through the help of the Latin America, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies (LACIS) department, Helen was able to fund a two-week volunteer trip to the Dominican Republic. Helen, [...]
Will Naythons is a senior majoring in Languages and Cultures of Asia (LAC). Naythons spent last year abroad in Vietnam through the International Academic Programs. This past summer he returned from a year abroad in Cambodia and Vietnam. Why did you decide to study abroad? I really was looking to go abroad to immerse myself [...]
Continue reading about Q&A with Vietnam/Cambodia Study Abroad Participant Will Naythons
“I learned so much, not just about Indian culture, but also about myself. …I think [study abroad] improves foreign relationships with Americans … because often the only exposure they may have is raunchy TV and cultural stereotypes. It felt sometimes like I was an ambassador. Just to hear different perspectives on your own culture is [...]
Continue reading about Meet Kelly Fox: Recipient of the Study Abroad Fund Scholarship
Mandy [Sioman] Chan grew up in Macau, China. She came to UW-Madison in 2008 to study computer engineering. Mandy has worked in UW–Madison’s Division of International Studies’ communications office for the past year. This summer, she traveled back to China to intern at Companhia de Electricidade in her hometown of Macau. She works there as [...]
Karen Bien is a senior, double majoring in political science and history. She spent this past spring semester studying in Copenhagen, Denmark. Karen was the recipient of the ScanDesign Foundation Fellowship Program Scholarship. The foundation was established by Jens and Inger Bruun, who emigrated from Denmark to the United States in 1961. The mission of [...]
Continue reading about Q&A with ScanDesign Scholarship Winner Karen Bien
Enjoy this entry taken from UW-Madison student John Krippinger’s blog, Selamat Datang ke Malaysia I am writing this post Sunday night, marking the end of my last weekend in Penang, Malaysia, before heading back to the United States. Due to a busy work schedule the last few weeks coupled with wanting to spend some time [...]
Continue reading about John Krippinger: Last Weekends in Penang
Enjoy this entry, taken from UW-Madison student John Krippinger’s blog, Selamat Datang ke Malaysia (7/25/2010)- This weekend the PDC Mechanical team had a team outing in Hat Yai, Thailand. The one downside of this trip: long travel times. We left Penang at 5:00 am on Saturday, which meant waking up at 4:00 to get ready [...]
Enjoy this entry taken from UW-Madison student John Krippinger’s blog, Selamat Datang ke Malaysia (7/16/2010 & 7/18/2010) – Friday night I went with a few friends from work to Batu Ferhinghi for dinner and a night out after work, see the pictures below! (Saturday was the trip to Kedah– see the post below this one) [...]
Enjoy this entry taken from UW-Madison student John Krippinger’s blog, Selamat Datang ke Malaysia (7/17/2010)- Today Zan and CW (two of my co-workers and good friends at Plexus) offered to take me to the State of Kedah, or “The Rice State”, as Zan explained to me. As it’s nickname implies, Kedah grows rice… lots of [...]
Enjoy this entry, taken from UW-Madison student John Krippinger’s blog, Selamat Datang ke Malaysia Hey guys, Saturday, July 10th was the birthday of Yang Dipertua Negeri of Penang, or the Governor of Penang’s Birthday, so Penang had a replacement for this public holiday on Monday, and I had a 3 day weekend. I had originally [...]
Enjoy this entry, taken from UW-Madison student John Krippinger’s blog, Selamat Datang ke Malaysia Two weekends ago, most of my co-workers had alternative plans for the weekend, and were not going to be around. However, multiple people told me that Langkawi, an island north of Penang, would be a neat place to visit, so I [...]
Enjoy this entry, taken from UW-Madison student John Krippinger’s blog, Selamat Datang ke Malaysia (6/27/2010)- Sunday afternoon, I decided to do some sight-seeing in Penang, so I went to Penang Hill. Penang Hill is famous for the old cable car that carried passengers up and down the mountain. Unfortunately, in February of this year, this [...]
Enjoy this entry, taken from UW-Madison student John Krippinger’s blog, Selamat Datang ke Malaysia Hi All, First off, sorry I have been absent in posting the last week and a half. I haven’t been able to get internet access at my hotel, which hasn’t been conducive to writing new posts. An update of what I [...]
Enjoy this entry, taken from UW-Madison student John Krippinger’s blog, Selamat Datang ke Malaysia My first weekend in Penang proved to be a lot of fun. On Saturday afternoon I went to a durian feast with a few co-workers from the Penang Design Center. It was great to meet a few people from work before [...]
Continue reading about John Krippinger: Durian Trip/ First Weekend
Enjoy this entry, taken from UW-Madison student John Krippinger’s blog, Selamat Datang ke Malaysia. Today I successfully made it to Penang! Since I left Chicago at 7:30 PM on Wednesday, I was able to sleep for most of the 14 hours of my first flight, and the second two flights were a breeze after that. [...]
Mandy [Sioman] Chan grew up in Macau, China. She came to UW-Madison in 2008 to study computer engineering. Mandy has worked in UW–Madison’s Division of International Studies’ communications office for the past year. This summer, she traveled back to China to intern at Companhia de Electricidade in her hometown of Macau. She works there as [...]
Continue reading about Meet Mandy Chan: Chinese Student Shares Benefits of Studying at UW–Madison
Kara Payne is a senior majoring in German and International Studies. Her emphasis is on Culture in the Age of Globalization with certificates in East Asian Studies and European Studies. She studied in Freiburg, Germany for the 2008-2009 school year as part of the Academic Year in Freiburg (AYF) Program. Why did you choose to [...]
Bridget Roby, from St. Paul, Minnesota, is a UW–Madison senior, graduating with degrees in international studies and journalism, as well as a certificate in African Studies. She studied abroad during the spring of her junior year (2009) in Nairobi and Mombasa, Kenya through the Minnesota Studies in International Development program (MSID) which is co-sponsored by [...]
By Nina Gehan Alice Toy is a senior from Waukesha, WI majoring in biology and French. Last year she studied in Lyon, France through the TransAtlantic Science Student Exchange Program (TASSEP). TASSEP is a consortium of universities from the European Union and the United States that has designed an academic year exchange program specifically for [...]
Continue reading about Studying Science in a French Context: Q&A with Alice Toy
2010 February 18 [NB: This interview first appeared in last week's Oconto Reporter.] Ed Wallace, Oconto, WI native, is a senior majoring in Languages and Cultures of Asia (LCA) and English. Last year, he studied abroad in Varanasi, India on an intensive Hindi language and research program. He has recently been awarded a Fulbright scholarship [...]
Continue reading about How a Year in India Changed Everything – Q&A with Ed Wallace
“Just being able to go to Ghana at all was an invaluable experience. It was good overall, and although a lot of situations weren’t ideal, I learned a lot. And everything I did with the Beacon House Orphanage kids was invaluable – if I go back someday to Ghana, it will be for them.” Kyle [...]
[This article first appeared in the European Studies Alliance Newsletter spring/summer 2009 newsletter.] By Mike Osberg, UW-Madison Alumnus (A.B. 2009, International Studies and Economics; Certificate: European Studies) Studying abroad in Brussels, Belgium was one of the most influential and enjoyable experiences during my time in college. Learning to live in another country presented me with [...]
Continue reading about Moving On…With a European Studies Certificate
[This article first appeared in the European Studies Alliance Newsletter spring/summer 2009 newsletter.] By Lorie Grushka, UW-Madison Alumna (A.B. 2009, Political Science, International Studies, French; Certificates: European Studies, Global Cultures) Throughout my four years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I have had the opportunity to take a diverse assortment of classes, ranging from “French Literature [...]
Continue reading about Europe and the US – a Certificate Student’s View
By Grace Tran, IAP Study Abroad Correspondent Trying to read Nabokov in his native tongue is comparable to a masochist gouging his eye out. It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye, and in this case, it’s a sad realization of how long it’s going to take for me to be able to [...]
Continue reading about At Least Pointing and Grunting is Still Internationally Understood
By Elizabeth Chadwick, IAP Study Abroad Correspondent Classes Classes are in full swing now. My class schedule is quite hectic with most days going from 10-5. However, I am thoroughly enjoying my classes and I have some really great professors. My science classes are really interesting and they’re much smaller than I’m used to. My [...]
By Elizabeth Chadwick, IAP Study Abroad Correspondent Classes So my first day of classes went really well. I missed the bus to school so I was a bit late to my first class, but other than that everything went smoothly. My first class was Xhosa which was at 10, followed by ecology of vertebrates at [...]
By Elizabeth Chadwick, IAP Study Abroad Correspondent January 25, 2010 Cape Town is the most beautiful place in the world. People have told me this before but I didn’t really believe them. Trust me though, I can not imagine anything better. I’ve moved into my semester house now. It is very nice and actually quite [...]
By Elizabeth Chadwick, IAP Study Abroad Correspondent Friday, January 22nd, 2010 We arrived in the Cape Town airport early this morning, after watching the sunrise over the coast of Namibia. The UCT (University of Cape Town) people were at the airport to greet the ten of us coming from that flight. We took a bus [...]
Continue reading about "Ahh, the power is out. Welcome to Africa!
By Elizabeth Chadwick, IAP Study Abroad Correspondent November 12, 2009 COUNTDOWN: ONE WEEK I’m leaving in 7 days! I’m flying out of O’Hare on the 19th, with a 12 hour layover in London (Heathrow) and finally arriving in Cape Town on the 21st. The total trip duration will be about 31 hours..ugh! When I arrive [...]
By Julie Strupp, Study Abroad Correspondent for 2009-2010. I’m browner now. My feet are tougher on the bottom from walking and my hair is lighter, curlier, and way more nappy. And I’m usually covered by some sort of sweat, varying from winsome little dots of perspiration to a small deluge that soaks through my shirt—complements [...]
The 2009 Study Abroad Fair hosted by International Academic Programs (IAP) welcomed a record number of visitors–at last count 2,500 students stopped by the tables in Memorial Union’s Great Hall to learn more about opportunities to study and intern abroad. With more than 150 programs to choose from in more than 50 countries, IAP offers [...]
Continue reading about 2009 Study Abroad Fair Welcomed Record Number of Visitors
[Editor's note: UW-Madison engineering student Jeff Schacherl spent his summer interning at Plexus Corporation in Penang, Malaysia. We lifted this post from his blog, with permission.] Hi! I haven’t had time recently to update the blog because I have been very busy with work! Two of my projects are at critical points and two deadlines [...]
Continue reading about Mechanical Design Engineering Internship–in Malaysia
So I got home about two weeks ago and didn’t have time to blog yet…so here it is… I guess not much has changed since I’ve been gone. I’ve been gone for about four months and the only change is that the weather is no longer cold. My family is still the same and so [...]
By Leecreesha Hicks Sorry for the long gap once again, but I spent the last four days in Uruguay! Friday and early Sunday I stayed in Montevideo, and late Sunday until early Monday I spent the rest of my time in Colonia. Montevideo literally seems exactly like Buenos Aires - Palm trees, some of the [...]
1. Bring your own toilet paper/tissue to use in the bathroom — there is not always toilet paper. 2. Most bathrooms have a 1 – 2 inch lip of marble separating it from the rest of the room. Be sure to step over this so your feet or toes do not get injured or stubbed. [...]
Continue reading about Words of Wisdom When Traveling to Taiwan: Compiled by the UW Dancers
By Mai Her So time is winding down…and I’ll be back in America in less than 2 weeks…sounds crazy because when I get back, I have to do a blog on the “retuning” portion of studying abroad…So I wanted to introduce some food and a few little interesting things (kind of looking back) that I [...]
Sent from Taiwan by UW-Madison dance student Brittany Wittmann Wednesday, June 17, 2009 Unlike street fashions, dancers here in Taiwan wear similar clothes, for the most part, as in the United States. Last week all of us UW dancers came to class clad in leotards and tights. We quickly found that their dancers take class, [...]
Continue reading about Lots of Sweating Happening in Taiwan by the UW Dancers!
By Leecreesha Hicks Ahhh!! So much to do! I wish I could write more in detail about every aspect of my days here, because I know that those of you who want to go abroad would love to know as much as you can about Buenos Aires. But I have been so busy and tired [...]
By Leecreesha Hicks Whew! The end of the week is finally here!! The second week has immediately switched gears from getting accustomed to the culture, to school work, activities, and spending time with host families. By host family, I don’t mean a traditional “family.” A host family here usually consists of a woman, either a [...]
Continue reading about Week Two in Buenos Aires: On Host Families, Dancing, and Peanut Butter
By Leecreesha Hicks This is a very delayed start to this blog, because of some misunderstandings, but no worries, I have a lot to say. Hopefully, I have enough time to say it all right now. If not, then I can always just blog again tomorrow, or maybe, perhaps, later tonight. Whew! I am one [...]
Posted from Taiwan by UW-Madison dance student, Brittany Wittmann Sunday, June 7, 2009 Today was a wonderful day. Laura, Megan, Natalie, Ali, Mychelyn, Amy, and I ventured off on our own and spent the morning and afternoon at the Shimending Market. The market surrounded a metro station and curved and winded along large and small [...]
Continue reading about UW Dancers Spend Sunday in Taipei Market
Posted by Kelley Conway, associate professor, UW-Madison Department of Communication Arts. June 2009 [Author's note: In my course on French cinema, I asked the students to work on the economics of the French film industry for their final paper. Most students chose to write about the exhibition sector. Part of the project involved conducting interviews [...]
Continue reading about Students Tour French Cinema, Attend Cannes Film Festival
A missive from Kate Corby, assistant professor in the UW Madison Dance Program… June, 5, 2009 Hello!! We are having a great time and wish you were here! After a 25-hour journey starting in Madison, we arrived safe and sound in Taipei last evening. The hotel is clean and comfortable and the staff are very [...]
Leecreesha Hicks Buenos Aires, Argentina Vitals: Sophomore, International Studies and Spanish Major. 2009 Rothschild Study Abroad Scholarship recipient. Goals: I want to know more about Latin American culture, and want to experience an outside perspective of the United States from an Argentine point of view. I also really, really, REALLY want to become fluent in [...]
June 3, 2009 – Fourteen UW-Madison dance majors and three faculty members are flying halfway around the world today to participate in a three-week cultural exchange program in Taipei, Taiwan. Students will join Taiwanese students at the country’s most prestigious dance school, Taipei National University of the Arts, for daily technique classes, rehearsals, and a [...]
By Pooja Singh It’s the end of finals and I’m finishing up two papers but very soon, I’ll be finished with the academic aspect of study abroad already. In anticipating going home, I’ve been looking back at some of the places and things I’ve seen and done, and I have to laugh a little. It [...]
Continue reading about Reasons to Study or Live Abroad for at Least a Little While
By Pooja Singh Ah. Three weeks. And then I’m reunited with the good old US of A. The end is in sight. I don’t know if it was seeing my mom and sister again when they came to visit me during spring break or the fact that I really do not want to write 14 [...]
By Pooja Singh To start off, I have some random musings about my new perspective on learning a foreign language. When I started the whole study abroad process, the iceberg analogy was brought up numerous times when describing transitions to understanding beyond superficial cultural differences. In the context of learning a language, I find that [...]
By Pooja Singh I can’t believe it’s been two months since I left Wisconsin for France. All other semesters have flown by but for some reason, I thought that this semester was going to feel longer. I have essentially nine weeks left, two of which are spring break, and one of which is my last [...]
Continue reading about “Defer No Time, Delays Have Dangerous Ends.”
After a summer spent studying in China, UW-Madison undergraduate Ben Nyquist came back to Madison with more than just a suitcase full of souvenirs: he had an idea for a business. Thanks to a student exchange between UW-Madison and Nankai University, Nyquist spent three months in Tianjin, China, where he earned a full year’s worth [...]
Continue reading about Entrepreneurial Student Finds Inspiration Abroad
Undergraduate John Bedessem spent the summer of 2008 in Tianjin, China on a business program. Life in Tianjin: I’ve been in China for three enjoyable weeks, living in Tianjin, a city of about ten million people. The city is surrounded by factories, and since Tianjin is one of China’s largest industrial cities there’s not much [...]
Ben Hesprich, originally from Byron, Wisconsin, is a fifth-year senior majoring in Business Management and Human Resources. Ben spent the 2006-2007 academic year in Varnasi, India, and won a U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship in summer 2008 for the Advanced Hindi Language Program in Jaipur, India. He also completed a Business Internship in [...]
Continue reading about Q & A: Preparing for an International Business Career
Rebecca Gilsdorf spent a month in Rabat, Morocco teaching English the summer after her sophomore year in civil engineering studies. She went through a program called Projects Abroad that was recommended by an international advisor on campus. Day 1: Arrival After nearly 20 hours of travel I finally arrived in Rabat. The taxi driver suddenly [...]
By Rebecca Heffernan Greetings from Ireland! Here I am, in Galway studying for the semester. This is my third week here, and I am already having the time of my life! I live in a very nice apartment with two other girls from UW. (We are getting along great!) School is in full swing as [...]
By Adam Lichtenheld, a UW-Madison student majoring in political science When I tell people that I’m studying abroad in Cairo this semester, I brace myself for a facial response that has become all too common—initial interest inevitably twisted into a concerned frown. Next, I’m badgered with questions about safety, bombings, and Islamic terrorism. Having known friends [...]
Julie Curti studied abroad in Bonn, Germany during her junior year in 2004-2005. When she returned to her studies in political science and geography at the UW-Madison, she worked as a peer advisor in the International Academic Programs’ (study abroad) office. She was awarded a Truman Scholarship in April 2006, the first UW-Madison student to [...]
Continue reading about Reflections & Perspectives on Study Abroad: Julie Curti
This past semester, I was honored to be one of five students participating in the pilot program of the “Washington DC Semester in International Affairs” through the University of Wisconsin – Madison’s Division of International Studies. The program allowed me to fully experience the remarkable city of Washington, D.C., where I interned at a prominent [...]
