BestSemester Magazine - Issue 4, Spring 2009

BESTSEMESTER The Off-Campus Study Magazine • Spring 2009 • Issue 4

FACE CULTURE Speak the language; hone a craft; make a difference

Visit us online at

Living on the Inside PEELING OFF THE LABEL LEARNING THE KUNA WAY

| GETTING AROUND MUKONO |

EXPERIENCING ELECTION DAY

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YOUR ITINERARY FEATURES

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BREAKING BREAD, CROSSING BORDERS

Danielle Steadman, USP, Spring 2008

THE SCOOP ON FINANCIAL AID

DEPARTMENTS & PROGRAMS

7 LAFSC STUDENT’S FILM CAREER FAR FROM A WIPEOUT! Los Angeles Film Studies Center

By Ryan Millbern

14 TWO SIDES OF ELECTION DAY American Studies Program Washington Journalism Center

16 UNPLUGGING AND RECHARGING Contemporary Music Center

25 BIKE OR CAR? What’s the best way to travel in Uganda? (Hint: One requires converting dollars into shillings.

The other just needs two wheels and two feet.)

Uganda Studies Program

26 BEYOND THE SHIRE Take the High Street out of town to experience another part of Oxford.

Programmes in Oxford

29 TAI CHI: AN ACT IN MAINTAINING BALANCE AND HARMONY China Studies Program

30 SIGHT FOR THE BLIND

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Chelsea Beth Hodgson, RSP, Fall 2008

PEELING OFF THE LABEL

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By Mimi Wiggins Perreault

The ministry of touch and compassion helps residents to dig out of the Garbage City.

Middle East Studies Program

LIFE ON THE INSIDE

Homestays and service-learning projects offer the opportunity to step into the shoes of a different culture to see how they fit.

32 ENGAGING RUSSIA’S ‘CURSED QUESTIONS’

By Kendra Langdon Juskus

Russian Studies Program

PLUS

34 LEARNING THE KUNA WAY GOOD TO GO

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PROGRAM DETAILS

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For many LASP students, experiencing Panama through the eyes of excluded indigenous groups like the Kuna Yala proves to be a transformative experience.

Latin American Studies Program

On the cover

The Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) is an international higher education association of intentionally Christian colleges and universities. Founded in 1976 with 38 members, the Council has grown to 110 members in North America and 70 affiliate institutions in 24 countries. The CCCU is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

Cover photos provided by Nate Lundstrom, MESP, Fall 2000 and the Australian Studies Centre See yourself in a different context or in the face of someone on the other side of the world. Crossing and shaping culture is crucial to knowing how BestSemester works.

37 POSING FOR AN EXPRESSION A sketch is more than lines on a page — it’s a formation of a self.

Australia Studies Centre

CCCU Mission

BestSemester magazine welcomes advertisements that are in line with the vision of the

To advance the cause of Christ-centered higher education and to help our institutions transform lives by faithfully relating scholarship and service to biblical truth.

BestSemester programs and are mindful of the audience of BestSemester. For advertising rates and stipulations, contact the Advertising Manager at advertising@cccu.org.

BESTSEMESTER

Editor’s Note

The Off-Campus Study Magazine

HOW DO YOU ENGAGE CULTURE? Sounds odd, but it’s an important question.

More simply, what is culture?

Often, culture is explained as something foreign, far away and mostly unknown. Usually, that defi nition is true. Spending a few weeks in Kuna Yala, Panama, and experiencing the Kuna Way is entering into another culture. Same with getting around in Mukono, Uganda, by bicycle — and constantly converting dollars into shillings — or doing tai chi in China with the locals.

But culture also is prevalent at home. Why is a celebration on U Street in Washington, D.C., the night of the election, a vital part of culture? Or getting away to an island in Massachusetts to create music a cultural experience?

BestSemester magazine is published each year in the fall and spring. BestSemester programs are offered by the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU), based in Washington, D.C. To subscribe, please go to www.BestSemester.com.

Dr. Paul R. Corts President Nate Mouttet Executive Editor Vice President for Communications Mike Plunkett Managing Editor Media Relations & Publications Manager Editorial Board

The programs that make up the BestSemester experience all engage local cultures and promote an engagement of culture in general. It’s more than just traveling to a new land and spending a semester there; it’s getting acquainted with and understanding the unknown.

Brandon Rush Art & Brand Manager

We like to say that some programs are culture-shaping and some are culture-crossing. Some programs are professional in nature: Write stories for a D.C. newspaper or learn about the process of accomplishing initiatives while working for a senator or a major non-profit. Create a fi lm in a lab on the Miracle Mile in Los Angeles or craft a portrait on the other side of the world with the Australian landscape as perfect inspiration.

Elizabeth Hanna Campus Relations Manager

Dr. Ken Bussema Vice President for Student Programs

Terry Mattingly Director Washington Journalism Center Mark Bartels Director Uganda Studies Program

Whatever culture you want to engage, BestSemester provides the chance to do so.

For readers of BestSemester magazine, you’ll notice some upgrades with this issue. We are telling more stories about what students like you are experiencing and doing all over the world and providing more information on things you need to know to get on your way. This is the start of new things for BestSemester, and we are always happy to hear what you think.

If you’re ready to leave your culture and enter into something new and incredibly exciting, go to www.bestsemester.com and start the application process.

Rebekah Clark Copy Editor Amber Palmer Advertising Manager Brian Ross Creative Director Richard Harrison Bailey/The Agency Elissa Chudzicki Lead Designer Richard Harrison Bailey/The Agency

Your BestSemester awaits you.

Contributors

Ryan Millbern Contributing Writer Richard Harrison Bailey/The Agency

Annie F. Carter is currently the intern for the Uganda Studies Program and an alumna of the fall 2007 semester. While originally from Oklahoma, Annie spent the last four years studying Communications and Creative Writing at Olivet Nazarene University in Illinois. She graduated in May 2007 and ran as fast as she could back to Uganda and the USP.

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BESTSEMESTER.COM

Since July 2007, Kami Rice (American Studies Program alum, fall ’97) has been traveling the world as a freelance writer and loving it. She can be found online at www.kamirice.com.

Kendra Langdon Juskus, a graduate of Wheaton College and an American Studies Program alumna, is managing editor of Creation Care magazine. She lives in Illinois with her husband Ryan.

Mimi Wiggins Perreault lives in downtown Washington, D.C., with her husband Greg. She attended the Washington Journalism Center in the summer of 2004 and graduated from Baylor University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism in 2005. She has since written for several Palm Beach County Florida publications, including The Palm Beach Post and Florida Horseman magazine.

These programs are offered exclusively through the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities. Learn more about these intentionally Christ-centered institutions at www.cccu.org.

Jessica Assink, SSO, Fall 2006

THE CCCU’S BESTSEMESTER OFF-CAMPUS STUDY PROGRAMS SERVE THE FOLLOWING INSTITUTIONS: Members Abilene Christian University Anderson University Asbury College Azusa Pacific University Belhaven College Bethel College (IN) Bethel University Biola University Bluefield College Bluffton University Bryan College California Baptist University Calvin College Campbellsville University Carson-Newman College Cedarville University College of the Ozarks Colorado Christian University Corban College Cornerstone University Covenant College Crichton College Crown College Dallas Baptist University Dordt College East Texas Baptist University Eastern Mennonite University Eastern Nazarene College Eastern University Erskine College Evangel University Fresno Pacific University Geneva College George Fox University Gordon College Goshen College Grace College & Seminary

Greenville College Hardin-Simmons University Hope International University Houghton College Houston Baptist University Howard Payne University Huntington University Indiana Wesleyan University John Brown University Judson College Judson University Kentucky Christian University King College The King’s University College Lee University LeTourneau University Lipscomb University Louisiana College Malone University The Master’s College & Seminary Messiah College MidAmerica Nazarene University Milligan College Mississippi College Missouri Baptist University Montreat College Mount Vernon Nazarene University North Greenville University North Park University Northwest Christian University Northwest Nazarene University Northwest University Northwestern College (IA) Northwestern College (MN) Nyack College Oklahoma Baptist University Oklahoma Christian University

Oklahoma Wesleyan University Olivet Nazarene University Oral Roberts University Palm Beach Atlantic University Point Loma Nazarene University Redeemer University College Roberts Wesleyan College San Diego Christian College Seattle Pacific University Simpson University Southeastern University Southern Nazarene University Southern Wesleyan University Southwest Baptist University Spring Arbor University Sterling College Tabor College Taylor University Toccoa Falls College Trevecca Nazarene University Trinity Christian College Trinity International University Trinity Western University Union University The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor University of Sioux Falls University of the Southwest Vanguard University of Southern California Warner Pacific College Warner Southern College Wayland Baptist University Waynesburg University Westmont College Wheaton College Whitworth University Williams Baptist College

North American Affiliate Colleges & Universities: *Does not include seminaries/ graduate-only schools

Ambrose University College Atlantic Baptist University Baylor University Bethany University (CA) Briercrest College Campbell University Central Christian College Charleston Southern University Columbia International University Crestmont College Emmanuel College Franciscan University of Steubenville Johnson Bible College Kuyper College Lancaster Bible College Lincoln Christian College & Seminary Mid-America Christian University Moody Bible Institute Multnomah Bible College North Central University Ohio Valley University Philadelphia Biblical University Prairie Bible Institute Providence College & Seminary Regent University Southwestern College Taylor University College & Seminary Tyndale University College & Seminary Valley Forge Christian College Walla Walla University William & Catherine Booth College William Jessup University

Spring 2009

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Good to Go

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY

FIRST THINGS FIRST: If you are a U.S. citizen and want to travel outside of the United States, you u must have a passport issued by the U.S. Department of State.

You might have heard horror stories of wrong documents, long delays, longer lines and worse photos than the picture of you playing pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey in the 1st grade.

DON’T WORRY. IT’S REALLY NOT THAT DIFFICULT. IF YOU HAVE THE RIGHT MATERIALS AND GIVE YOURSELF ENOUGH TIME, GETTING A PASSPORT IS A SNAP.

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED: 1

Application for a Passport (Form DS-11)

You can get this online from the Web site of the U.S. Department of State (HTTP://TRAVEL.STATE.GOV) or you can get it at a passport acceptance agency. Usually, your local post office serves as a passport acceptance agency.

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Proof of U.S. Citizenship

Get your birth certificate from your parents or whoever has that information for you. It has to be the original with the notarized seal, as photocopies are not accepted. If the original was lost, stolen or torn, you can order a new one from the County Registrar in the city where you were born. If a birth certificate wasn’t issued for you when you came into this world, the State Department’s Web site lists some alternate ways to prove your citizenship.

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Proof of Identity

This has to be a government-issued identification card, such as a driver’s license, state ID or military card. Your social security card won’t be accepted because it doesn’t have your photo; neither will your school ID card because it isn’t issued by the government. If you don’t have any of these, check the Web site for alternatives.

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Two Passport Photos

Photos have to be 2x2 inches in size, identical, taken within the past six months, in color, your full face showing and with you wearing normal clothing. Don’t wear a hat. If you wear glasses, have them on for the photo.

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Pay the Fee

For routine service for a new passport, it’s $100. Add on $60 for expedited service. If you’re applying by mail, a check or money order will work. If you’re applying in person, they might take all the usual credit cards, but make sure to check.

NOTE Usually, it takes about 4-6 weeks to get your passport in the mail — less if it’s expedited.

Some of the BestSemester programs require you to have a passport before you fi nish your application; so the earlier you get your passport, the better.

Also, when you’re traveling for an extended period of time, it’s a good idea to register with the local U.S. Embassy so they know you’re in their neck of the world in case something happens and you need the Embassy’s assistance. It’s quite easy to do. Before you leave for your time off-campus, go to this Web site to register: HTTPS://TRAVELREGISTRATION.STATE.GOV/IBRS/UI/.

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Los Angeles Film Studies Center

LAFSC STUDENT’S FILM CAREER FAR FROM A WIPEOUT! in June, and worked the entire first season and most of the summer at Wipeout! He also did various production assistant jobs throughout L.A. and was later offered a promotion to his current position when the show was picked up for a second season.

His wife, Katie, also works in the film industry at a talent agency whose actors include Julia Roberts, Al Pacino, Tom Cruise and Jennifer Aniston.

Matt Maxwell, LAFSC, Spring 2008 Vats of mud and other random forms of goo are all in a day’s work for Matt Maxwell, who works on Wipeout!

elping put together a show where 24 adults compete in goofy obstacles involving gallons of mud and giant inflatable red balls is just what Matt Maxwell gets paid to do.

“If the show needs 20, two-foot blackiron pipe-sticks, then they come to me. I research where to purchase them and then purchase the needed items,” said Matt, the assistant production office coordinator for ABC’s Wipeout! “I then communicate with the producers what has been ordered, what challenge it is connected with and how much the fi nal bill comes to.”

Wipeout! is a reality competition show that awards money to the contestant who makes it the farthest in a series of obstacles. The show was the second highest-ranked show on television this past summer and has been picked up for a second season.

Matt, a Spring 2008 graduate of the Los Angeles Film Studies Center (LAFSC), graduated from Abilene Christian University

www.BestSemester.com/lafsc

Matt developed his interest in fi lm during a trip he took to Brazil his junior year of high school, and he decided to study electronic media in his Bachelor of Science program at ACU. But it was the LAFSC program that allowed him to explore the film industry.

“My job allows me to be right in the middle of all the action and to witness how the executive producers and the other producers actually create and manage a TV show,” he said.

“It opened the world of filmmaking to me and allowed me to use tools that I never thought I would be able to use.”

After growing up in a Christian home and attending a Christian university, Matt sometimes longs for that community again, but he said the challenges he faces daily are easier with his faith.

“In fact, I enjoy knowing that every day I just don’t go to work but I enter the mission field, not with the purpose of conversion but with the purpose of love, friendship and kindness,” Matt said.

And as for a career wipeout? Matt is nowhere close. He’s working hard and enjoying it and can’t wait to get behind the lens of a camera again.

“It opened the world of filmmaking to me and allowed me to use tools that I never thought I would be able to use,” he said.

“The professors are nothing but top-notch and there wasn’t a day that went by that I did not feel like I learned something new.”

Matt Maxwell, LAFSC, Spring 2008

LAFSC

However, the most beneficial part of the program for Matt was the Hollywood cultural experience. Through the LAFSC program, he was instantly plugged into the world of film.

“It provided Katie and me a chance to familiarize ourselves with the culture of Hollywood,” he said. “This allowed [us], to simply move straight into work out here without going through that initial counterculture shock.”

Both benefited from their involvement in the LAFSC community during the program and as they began to work in Los Angeles. Matt knows the program helped him get connected and eventually led to landing a job with Wipeout!

Matt and his wife, Katie, made the trek from Abilene Christian University to California to work in the entertainment industry.

By Mimi Wiggins Perreault

For more information about a semester at the Los Angeles Film Studies Center, visit www.BestSemester.com/lafsc.

Spring 2009

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Feature Story

THE SCOOP ON FINANCIAL AID ursuing off-campus studies comes with a fi nancial cost, but that doesn’t mean the opportunity is out of reach — even in this tough economy. It is important to do the homework to get all the fi nancial aid you need to fund your off-campus experience. Like planning for a trip, your BestSemester requires preparation, but it’s not as daunting as it might seem if you know who to talk to, what questions to ask and where to go for answers. Here are some things to keep in mind.

MOST IMPORTANT: START EARLY. If you have an inkling that you might want to study off-campus, take some time to meet with the off-campus or study abroad advisor on your campus. She or he can point you to all the fi nancial aid materials you’re going to need. If you’re a freshman or sophomore, it’s not too soon to speak with your academic advisor and your financial aid counselor to see what options are available.

The sooner you start, the better off you’ll be.

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BESTSEMESTER.COM

Types of Aid

Budgeting

Similar to the fi nancial aid you received to attend your school, there are a variety of fi nancial aid options for off-campus study.

In addition to tuition, here are things that you need to consider when trying to plan how much money you’ll need to study off-campus:

Student financial aid falls into four main categories: Federal and state aid Institutional aid Private (non-institutional) aid Scholarships

Each type of fi nancial aid has its own stipulations and guidelines.

Most federal and state aid will go with you when you study offcampus, but there may be limits on how much aid qualifies toward off-campus study. Check with your fi nancial aid officer to see what applies to you.

Each school offers institutional aid, and your campus might have specific provisions for off-campus study. With a few exceptions, private aid can also be applied to your education costs, including off-campus study.

Scholarships often have stipulations on their use and can change based upon several factors, including if you choose to study offcampus. If you have an academic scholarship from your school, be sure to ask if the entirety of the scholarship will transfer over.

Private scholarships can also have stipulations regarding offcampus study, so be sure to ask.

Questions You Should Ask: Is there an established off-campus study office on my campus?

How do I apply for fi nancial aid to study off-campus?

3 Are there any special fi nancial aid deadlines for students wanting to study off-campus?

4 How will the amount of academic credits I want to take in my program affect my fi nancial aid?

5 Is federal aid transferable to off-campus education?

6 Will institutional aid transfer to off-campus education?

7 Will it cost more to off-campus than to stay on-campus?

8 Are there other sources of fi nancial aid available in addition to the federal, state and institutional aid I would be receiving already? Is this aid applicable to off-campus education?

Housing Usually included in the tuition fees Application fees Housing deposits Housing/meals/travel during holiday breaks Some

BestSemester programs have trips included in the curriculum and are included in the price. But, if you want to travel before or after, that’s on you.

Internet access Most places have Internet access that might be free or at a minimum cost, but you might need to pay at Internet cafes, which can charge by the minute.

Meals This is very important: Some programs allocate food allowances and have an on-site chef and some don’t. If you like to eat out a lot, budget a little more than what the program recommends.

Air transportation Getting to your BestSemester destination is included in your tuition for some programs, but not all, so doublecheck with the BestSemester advisor.

Medical/accident insurance Students often are required to have their own primary insurance either on their own or through their parents/guardians. Supplemental insurance might be provided, such as by getting the International Student Identity Card (ISIC) or purchasing it through another carrier.

Passport fee Visa fees Student excursions Books, labs, laptop Local transportation Access to mobile phone plans

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The Thing About Academic Credit Your school has the legal authority to determine how aid can or cannot be transferred and to which programs this aid can be applied. Because of this, make sure to check with your school to see what the process is for transferring credits and for transferring fi nancial aid. Your off-campus study coordinator can point you in the right direction.

Scholarships Money is out there if you’re willing to do a little research and start early. As a heads-up, most scholarships are meant for international programs. Money to study in another city in the States might be hard to find. Here are a couple of scholarships that previous BestSemester students have received.

Gilman Scholarship: The Gilman International Scholarship Program offers grants for U.S. citizen undergraduate students of limited fi nancial means to pursue academic studies abroad. Such international study is intended to better prepare U.S. students to assume significant roles in an increasingly global economy and interdependent world. The Gilman Scholarship is part of the Institute for International Education. In addition to the Gilman, many opportunities for scholarships are available if you’re willing to do a little investigation. Check out www.iie.org for more information.

Ambassadorial Scholarships, The Rotary Foundation’s oldest and best-known program, was founded in 1947. Since then, nearly 38,000 men and women from about 100 nations have studied abroad under its auspices. Today it is the world’s largest privately funded international scholarships program. Nearly 800 scholarships were awarded for study in 200506. Through grants totaling approximately $500 million dollars, recipients from about 70 countries studied in more than 70 nations.

Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship:

Spring 2009

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LIVING OUT THE CALLING â&#x20AC;Ś STEPHAN BAUMAN

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Stephan came to Wheaton after working as the Director of Programs and Training for Mercy Ships, where he oversaw medical, water and sanitation, community health, and capacity building programs on the Anastasis, a hospital ship based in West Africa. Stephan completed his M.A. in Intercultural Studies, with an emphasis on theology and development, in 2001. He worked with World Hope International for four years, before joining World Relief in 2005.

Stephan notes that, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Wheaton has been a foundation stone as I seek to

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The mission of the INTERCULTURAL STUDIES Department at Wheaton is to develop effective cross-cultural professionals who are competent communicators of Christ, sensitive to other cultures, and effective servants.

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Feature Story

PEELING OFF THE

LABEL

By Mimi Wiggins Perreault

Pursuing excellence in your work for Christ is more than just using an adjective to describe yourself; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s truly making a difference.

Spring 2009

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Peeling off the Label eing in the world but not of the world has never been an easy formula for Christians to live out in daily life, and that’s certainly true for those who work in the public square.

At BestSemester’s culture-shaping programs, the goal is to help students learn how to be Christians who live and work in entertainment, politics, news and public service — but not necessarily in “Christian” jobs in “Christian” offices.

At the Washington Journalism Center (WJC) in Washington, D.C., students learn to look beyond the boundaries and represent all stories with journalistic excellence. The program teaches students to strengthen their reading, reporting and writing skills, and prepare for the challenge of working in the mainstream news media.

“From the variety of speakers we had at the Summer Institute of Journalism, it was clear that being a Christian in the workplace doesn’t mean being a liberal or a conservative,” said Ariel Emery, a Northwestern (IA) grad who attended the Summer Institute of Journalism in 2004 (now the Washington Journalism Center), and currently works as News Editor at the Northfield News in Northfield, Minn. “But from those guest speakers and from my own experience, I’m seeing that it means being especially careful in giving all sides of a story, being consistent and even just being dependable as an employee.”

Warren Pettit, CMC director Playing one particular note doesn’t make a song “Christian,” neither does mentioning God or Jesus a set amount of times. Yet, playing truthfully and honestly is essential to glorify God through music.

Emery said she is challenged daily to live her life in a way that represents Jesus, without adding “Jesus is Lord” as a tagline to her stories, but rather by being a silent witness and a positive influence in her newsroom.

Sometimes being a Christian is easy to hide in your art, but for students like Rachel Belgard, an Australia Studies Center (ASC) Fall 2008 student from George Fox University, her graphic design’s excellence reflects her morality and basic Christian values.

Christians are called to make a difference, but this means making an impact, not just claiming a label.

When we peel back the label and allow others to see us for who we are, we have the opportunity to make a deeper, more lasting impact on the world around us.

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For her, it is not labeling it “Christian Graphic Design” or using Christian symbols that will make an impact, but rather the fact that her designs are subtly influenced by Christian virtues and values. Belgard said as long as the companies she designs for use ethical practices to create their products, they don’t necessarily have to be a Christian company. When she freelances on design projects, she reserves the right to say no to products or ad campaigns which she feels are unjust or use unfair practices.

Matthew Von Herbulis, another graphic design student in the program, said that being mindful about his source of creativity and inspiration is an

important way to demonstrate his Christian values, even if those values aren’t explicit in every project he undertakes.

“The truth and creativity entrusted to me are desperately needed in a world searching for answers,” Matthew said. “I commit my talents to the principles of truth, beauty, creativity and excellence found in the gospel…

To a visual world, I design to reveal a new, ancient world vision.”

ASC program director Kimberly Spragg observed that how one person represents their faith within their career can be different from another person.

“In the ASC program, we talk quite a bit about how faith does and should influence a person’s vocation and/or art,” she said. “Yet we always agree that how it influences each person’s artistic expression is unique and open to wide creativity. There is no one right answer to this question.”

It is not labeling it “Christian Graphic Design” or using Christian symbols that will make an impact, but rather the fact that her designs are subtly influenced by Christian virtues and values.

The Los Angeles Film Studies Center (LAFSC) program holds a similar view, as its purpose is to integrate a Christian worldview with an introductory exploration of the work and workings of mainstream Hollywood entertainment. According to program director Rebecca Ver Straten-McSparran, who also serves on the planning committee for Reel Spirituality, a think-tank for fi lmmakers and theologians sponsored by Fuller Theological Seminary, those working on a fi lm sometimes may not know the nature of what they are working on until the movie is released in its fi nal product.

Ver Straten-McSparran said the most important part of being a Christian in Hollywood is not necessarily making Christian movies, but rather being involved in a Christian community where you can talk about the culture you are in. She said they encourage students and alumni of the program to stay in contact with others through their alumni network and by getting involved in local churches. By discussing the culture that they live in, Christians can co-exist with the Hollywood culture.

Jamie Pettito, an LAFSC alumna, said it is important to understand that Christians in the film industry should not make solely “Christian movies,” because they have the responsibility to grapple with the struggles of humanity so that God can redeem and renew the world.

“Humans cling to that with which they are familiar, to that with which they can relate,” Jamie said. “And films on evil, destitution or even plain everyday life can be just as striking to the soul as fi lms on honesty, trust, love and faith.” Jamie also said that by remembering she works for God, she can sometimes make it through days that would be hard otherwise, and so her faith has become more and more of a personal stronghold rather than a crutch in the secular film industry.

Donn Hadman For Contemporary Music Center (CMC) alumna Tina Parker (Fall 2003), working in the Christian music industry does not always mean working with just Christians. Parker works for Thomas-Vasquez Entertainment, a Christian artist management company that manages five acts.

Parker is based in Nashville, Tennessee, where she works as a marketing and events manager. Previously, Parker “We talk quite a bit about how faith does and should uence a person’s vocation and/or art,” said Kimberly worked for Third Day and had infl Spragg, ASC director. “Yet, we always agree that how the responsibility of working it influences each person’s artistic expression is unique at non-Christian venues, often and open to wide creativity.” with large non-Christian crews.

“When I was on the road with Third Day, we would encounter people who were not necessarily believers,” Tina said. “My job was to serve well the people from the security guard to the promoter. Sometimes people were a little apprehensive with how we were going to act. We had to act professionally and treat people well and not necessarily preach to them.”

Tina said that when she fi nished the CMC program she was looking mainly to go into secular music, but discovered that with the skills she learned in the program, she would be comfortable in either the secular or Christian music industries. She said that being able to work in a secular environment is essential, because even being involved primarily in a Christian industry does not mean you will always work with Christians.

The American Studies Program (ASP), also based in Washington, D.C., teaches students that vocation is more than a job or career. ASP tries to instill in students an emerging awareness of who God wants you to be, not just what He wants you to do.

“ASP does not focus so much on the tension between being in the world, but not of it, as much as we explore what it means to be in ‘the story,’” said Dr. Peter Baker, the Program Faculty and Internship Director for ASP. Dr. Baker helps students get plugged into internships on Capitol Hill and in the Washington, D.C., area. Through their work at national and global organizations, students gain perspective on how they fit into the public sphere and can write their own story. Students learn the challenges of working in both secular and Christian organizations while living in a community eight blocks from the U.S. Capitol.

“The sacrifices and sufferings associated with our labor often serve as stark daily reminders of our present separation from our loving Creator,” Dr. Baker added. “Even so, we believe that this is God’s world we live in.”

Christians are called to make a difference, but this means making an impact, not just claiming a label. When we peel back the label and allow others to see us for who we are, we have the opportunity to make a deeper, more lasting impact on the world around us.

Spring 2009

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WJC

Washington Journalism Center

TWO SIDES OF IN THE NEWSROOM The results came fast and furious, bringing months of campaigning to a thrilling close. t 10:45 p.m., the street between Lafayette Park and the White House was silent, save for a few individuals playing soccer and some passers-by leaving election results parties.

By 11:15, the street came alive.

Spontaneous eruptions poured out in front of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and throughout Washington, D.C., when it was announced that Barack Obama would become the next president. For those who covered the elections as part of their respective internships, it was the story of the day.

Anna Martin, a student at Bethel University, who interned for TheHill.com, was up close and personal with some of the leading Democratic Party officials at their celebration party on Capitol Hill.

As she wrote on InkTank, the official WJC blog: “No one at the DSCC/DCCC Election Night Watch Party was frowning Tuesday night.

The place was a madhouse of young Democrats and classy older women. Even though a few Democratic seats went to Republicans and the party did not make it to the filibuster-proof goal of 60 seats, everyone there was confident and carefree. Even some of the cameramen in the press risers celebrated as they followed Speaker of the House and Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Representative Hoyer and Senator Reid.

“During my chaotic night of helping two writers and the videographer for The Hill, I truly experienced the changes in journalism that we have been talking about in class. Erica, The Hill’s only videographer, is expected to shoot video of the event(s), edit the video, write

14

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a script for a ‘HillTube’ clip or two, and fi lm herself (thank you, tripod) at the event like a television reporter would, but without the fi lm crew. I was thankful to assist a bit and was able to help her by writing the script and holding the microphone while she interviewed (and fi lmed) Florida Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

…it was one of those once-in-a-lifetime moments.

“In the Press Filing Room (another ballroom, minus the strobe lights and alcohol), I watched as she skillfully and speedily edited her 30-some minutes of video into a short clip and sent it to the web editor, Klaus, to post on TheHill. com — ‘Dems Cheer Obama Win.’ During this time of maybe 45 minutes, the two staff writers on either side of me kept asking me to check for updates on the specific races they were covering. Not two minutes after I had quoted the stats to them, their stories with those statistics and results popped up online!”

Opportunities like these only come around once every few years and those who are WJC students in the spring of 2009 will get to cover the inauguration. In any case, for Anna, it was one of those once-in-a-lifetime moments.

“I will probably never again be in a Press Filing Room at a huge Democratic party in Washington, D.C., on election night,” Anna wrote. “Before I left the newsroom for the hotel, my editor said ‘Enjoy the night — you’ll never forget it.’ And I never will.”

www.BestSemester.com/wjc

ASP

American Studies Program

ELECTION DAY Stories by Mike Plunkett

ON THE GROUND Block by block and person to person, students volunteering receive a fi rst-hand education in politics. hen Virginia was called for Barack Obama at 11 p.m. Eastern time on election night, the announcement not only secured the traditionally Republican state for a Democrat for the first time since the 1960s, but it also secured the victory for Obama to become the 44th President of the United States.

The students from the American Studies Program (ASP) — who volunteered in Virginia for both political candidates — had an up close and personal experience into this historical campaign. They also saw the nuts and bolts of how campaigns work.

“Campaigning during the 2008 presidential election was an exciting experience, to say the least,” said Linsey Wages, a junior at George Fox University (OR). “I chose to work with the McCain campaign and worked most of my hours out of the Virginia headquarters. Spending many hours phone banking, canvassing neighborhoods and working rallies, I felt as if I came away with a great picture of how campaigning works and what passionate supporters really do to get a candidate elected.”

ASP students were tasked with working with either the presidential campaign or a congressional race. Volunteering for the candidates showed students a fundamental rule about elections: no ground game, no victory.

Kristyna Berrios, a senior at Eastern University, explained that Obama volunteers were extremely driven. At one point the phones went down, but the calling did not stop.

“Automatically, people went out and called people on their cell phones. When an older gentleman noticed I did not follow their lead, he said, ‘You’re young; you must have a cell phone. Get it out!’

I explained to him that I did not want to use my minutes, to which he replied, ‘You young people

www.BestSemester.com/asp

do not understand that if you want something done, it will take sacrifice!’”

Kristyna supported Obama, but also volunteered for the McCain campaign. Her classmates were surprised to hear her provide a caller many reasons not to vote for the Democratic nominee.

“I got a phone call where I was asked why McCain would better handle the economy than Obama. So I answered the question. I told the man that Obama has no experience and would just raise taxes, and therefore if he wanted to keep money in his pocket, he should vote for McCain,” she said. “When I hung up the phone, I laughed and proceeded to promise Obama that I’d make it up to him somehow.” In his victory speech, Obama mentioned that change comes block by block and person by person. It was that philosophy that resonated most with volunteers.

‘You have my support.

Win or lose.’ And sometimes that can be the best way of making a difference.

“I realized through this experience that campaigning can be exhausting, rewarding, and that it takes hundreds of volunteers like myself to make it work,” Rachel Waugh, a senior at Palm Beach Atlantic University (FL) said. “Any presidential campaign that does not have a strong grass-roots effort is more likely to lose than win.

I don’t really know if I have made that much of a difference, but I do know that by showing up and volunteering, I was saying ‘You have my support. Win or lose.’ And sometimes that can be the best way of making a difference.”

Both the Washington Journalism Center and the American Studies Program are located in Washington, D.C. Learn more about the semester at www.BestSemester.com.

Spring 2009

15

CMC

Contemporary Music Center

UNPLUGGING AND RECHARGING Artists’ colonies are still thriving — including this East Coast escape.

By Tom Willett

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t first glance, the concept of an “artists’ colony” might seem odd. Why would musicians want to get away from the hustle and the bustle to fi nd some solitude and a place conducive to creating music? Tom Willett, the assistant director of the Contemporary Music Center and long-time music executive, explains the concept through his experiences and tells why every musician ought to try it at least once.

Kelly Toney, CMC, Spring 2006

One great benefit of working in the music industry is that you get to live in some really great cities. As a booking agent and artist manager, I lived in Nashville—that great city of biscuits and grits and drawls and y’alls. While working as an Executive Producer and A&R Director for Word/ A&M Records, I lived in L.A.—home of the illuminati and glitterati, romance and the psychic trance, face lifts and implants.

And as a VP of Marketing for Sony Music I lived in New York—the diamond where the art world plays hardball. Each of these cities has their own distinct character, but what they share in common is the kind of energy and opportunity that come wherever a large number of creative people join together in hot pursuit of their dreams.

However, city life does have its drawbacks.

During many late-night conversations with my artist and industry friends, we often mused about the need to fi nd a place that offered a creative community, but also a modicum of sanity, solitude and… well, just plain peace and quiet. One night while in the recording studio with über-producer T Bone Burnett (O Brother Where Art Thou and the Robert Plant/Allison Krauss pas de deux, Raising Sand), it hit us that the best place to do meaningful creative work might not be in one of the much-vaunted “music cities,” but in a place far, far away where incipient artists could fi nd their voice, discover their calling and plant the seeds of their future careers.

My reading at the time included histories of artists’ communities in Europe (Barbizon, Pont-Aven) and America (MacDowell Colony, Yaddo) as well as the work of contemporary contemplatives such as Thomas Merton and Annie Dillard. I began to search for a remote,

www.BestSemester.com/cmc

The power of the program, we believed, would come from the ability of students and faculty to focus on living, learning and working together in intimate interconnectedness, free from the distractions of everyday life. inspiringly beautiful place that could serve as part monastery and part bohemian artists’ colony. The dream was to get away from the distractions of city life — not forever, but for a season of going deeper with the Lord, our craft and each other. As the late singer/ songwriter Mark Heard said at the time, “All I want is a beautiful place with great recording equipment where we can do our best work and love each other.” Like the line from the Blues Brothers movie, we felt “we were on a mission from God.” Fast-forward to 2000 when the then-head of student programs for the CCCU, Rich Gathro, called me and said, “Tom, we have a donor who is willing to help us start up a semester-away study program in music.

What do you think we should do?” Over

the course of several conversations, I described to Rich the idea of modeling the program on a creative community of like-minded people who could sharpen and support each other as artists and as believers. The power of the program, we believed, would come from the ability of students and faculty to focus on living, learning and working together in intimate interconnectedness, free from the distractions of everyday life. We saw the artists’ colony model as affording young artists and music industry entrepreneurs a rare opportunity to dig down deep in search of a holistic Christian vision of the arts, while stretching out wide in dogged pursuit of the best they can be in music-making and marketing.

Now, 15 semesters and 450 students later, Contemporary Music Center (CMC) director Warren Pettit and I are happy to report that it works! Our campus on the Island of Martha’s Vineyard off the coast of Massachusetts is knock-your-eyes-out beautiful, and our three recording studios are stuffed to the brim with only the best musical and recording equipment. Students work together as songwriters, performers, managers, agents, recording engineers, backup musicians and marketing executives to write, record and perform their own music, culminating in the production of a class CD. When they leave the CMC, they have a complete portfolio of master recordings, photographs, bios and marketing tools to help them take the next steps in their careers. And they have an alumni network of lifelong friends throughout the country made up of both past and current students who are continuing to support each other’s dreams back in the big cities where the critical work of shaping popular culture goes down.

The Contemporary Music Center is located in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. Learn more about the semester at www.BestSemester.com/cmc.

Spring 2009

17

Feature Story

By Ryan Millbern

uring your BestSemester experience, you might stand at the foot of the Sphinx or the front door of the Kremlin. You might walk the Great Wall of China or wander the stacks of the Bodleian Library. But sharing a meal with your new friends or host family can teach you more about a country’s culture and customs than any of these once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

The rituals and routines surrounding food can help illuminate the ways in which place and history have shaped the habits of a country’s people; the preparation of a meal can reveal the rhythms of everyday life; and the conversation you share over dinner can help form lifelong bonds of friendship that cross continents and cultures.

American Studies Program Find the recipe for Senate Bean Soup (at www.senate.gov), a century-old staple of the Senate’s restaurant, and cook it up with your roommates in the ASP. Rachel Bannister, SSO, Fall 2006

Australian Studies Centre Crocodile. Emu. Kangaroo. Witchetty grub. During your Outback trip at the ASC, you’ll experience “Bush Tucker” or “Bush food,” the traditional diet of the Aborigines.

China Studies Program Not all Chinese food is created equal. In fact, four regional cuisines — Cantonese, Sichuan, Shandong and Huaiyang — have been dubbed the “Four Great Traditions.”

Try them all during your time at the CSP.

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Contemporary Music Center Songwriters, talk strategy with your new manager over crab cakes cooked by Bubbles, the CMC’s infamous chef.

Latin American Studies Program Sample Tule Masi, a meal that consists of fresh fish (boiled, whole) and a bowl of green plantains, boiled in a coconut milk broth.

Los Angeles Film Studies Center Forget the swank sushi places. Satisfy your inner Lebowski (and gather material for your own timeless character) over a late-night meal at In-N-Out Burger (www.in-n-out.com), L.A.’s original burger joint.

Middle East Studies Program

Kraig Cole, CSP, Spring 2008

Discuss gender equality or the impact of colonialism with one of your professors from Cairo University over a plate of Kushari.

Widely considered the national dish of Egypt, Kushari consists of rice, brown lentils, chickpeas and macaroni topped with garlic and vinegar, and a spicy tomato sauce.

www.flickr.com/photos/branditressler/2977210610

Programmes in Oxford Because eating out is so expensive in Oxford, ask your Oxford peers to teach you how to properly cook the classics, like bangers and mash, and fish and chips.

Russian Studies Program In Russia, you’ll literally be “breaking bread” at most meals, and a lot of it. (As the Russian saying goes, “No dinner without bread.”) Don’t be surprised if your Russian host family prepares multi-course meals during your time together — offering guests a hearty meal is a sign of affection for Russian families.

Uganda Studies Program Get to know your Ugandan host family over 20 dinners (one for each night you’ll be staying together), many of which will include some form of beans, rice and mashed bananas.

www.flickr.com/photos/rudiriet/1485925616

Washington Journalism Center Discuss your leads with your fellow scribes at Ben’s Chili Bowl (www.benschilibowl.com), the oldest black-owned establishment in the capital city.

Spring 2009

19

Ben Raber, USP, Fall 2006

Feature Story

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BESTSEMESTER.COM

LIFE ON THE Homestays and service-learning projects offer the opportunity to step into the shoes of a different culture to see how they fit.

By Kendra Langdon Juskus

here is something that changes when you are able to move the experience of interacting with an Islamic culture from the outside to the inside.”

So said Emily Disney, an Oklahoma Baptist University student who participated in the Middle East Studies Program this past fall.

Emily joins the ranks of hundreds of students returning from international BestSemester programs with more than just the red dust of Ugandan roads on their shoes or the scent of tortillas on their clothes. They carry with them, for the rest of their lives, the imprint of the people and places they grew to love during their time abroad.

It may seem improbable that in one semester students develop such strong connections to what they encounter abroad. But “going abroad,” in the BestSemester sense, means more than just setting up camp in a foreign hotel and watching the locals walk by. BestSemester students quickly understand that getting in touch with their host cultures means anything from learning how to properly navigate a squat “long drop” toilet in Uganda to physically touching and nurturing the children of Cairo’s Garbage City. It means developing intercultural intimacy through lasting relationships.

“Relationships are the fundamental part of community experiences,” said Laura Barnard, a faculty member at the Latin American Studies Program. “Until we know one another we are all just statistics or characters out of a book. Meeting and getting to know someone who is supposedly different proves that we are actually more similar than we are different.”

Students in BestSemester programs form these relationships by being thrust into the vibrant, throbbing, daily life of their host cultures. Through homestays and service-learning projects, students get to not only see but also live life in a completely different context.

Homestay durations and situations vary from program to program, but whether it’s semester-long living with a family in Uganda or a week-long stay in a Muslim household in Cairo, each case encourages, in the words of Dr. David Holt, director of the Middle East Studies Program, “mutual respect and friendship between individuals across boundaries of faith and culture.”

Daily interaction with Ugandans helps students grapple with issues of poverty, injustice and systematic corruption, yet discover and enjoy the spiritual depth which many in this country understand and live out in their everyday life.

Spring 2009

21

Life on the Inside (continued) Service-learning projects help plunge students into elements of society where even their homestays may not lead them. In Xiamen, in the Fujian province, China Studies Program participants leave the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s urban centers for week-long projects in the rural towns and cities of western China. There they work with local Chinese organizations to serve wherever they are most needed.

Russian Studies Program participants serve by teaching English to local schoolchildren or helping to rebuild a church. Even in the U.S., the American Studies Program and the Washington Journalism Center allow students consistent opportunities to serve the poor living in the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s capital, providing a cross-cultural experience right in oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s homeland.

Barnard explains the rationale behind these cultural immersions: â&#x20AC;&#x153;We often compare other programs or experiences to a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;veranda experience,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; where the students travel to another country, but stay on the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;verandaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;Ś and never actually leave it to see what life is really like for the people who live there. At LASP [Latin American Studies Program], we encourage students to leave the veranda, to get to know people for real, to breathe the air they breathe, eat what they eat, sleep where they sleep and truly get the other perspective.â&#x20AC;?

Kimberly Spragg, the director for the Australian Studies Centre, mentions how homestays help students understand and eventually come to appreciate the nuances of American and Australian culture. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Australian culture is subtle and tourists who visit Australia for a short period only notice the very small surface differences between the Australian and U.S. cultures,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But the longer you stay in this country, the more you notice that this is an extremely and completely different world from the United States. Our homestay families are a huge part of helping our students see this.â&#x20AC;?

Chelsea Beth Hodgson, RSP, Fall 2008

(From left) Jeremiah Vallotton, Mike Wolfgang and David Dawson spent time restoring the Church of the Resurrection, which was converted into a bread factory during the Soviet Era. Since the fall of communism, ordinary heroes of Nizhni Novgorod have spent endless hours attempting to restore this holy building back to its pre-Soviet state.

BestSemester program staff and participants understand that empathy â&#x20AC;&#x201D; that act of stepping into anotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life and truly looking at things from his or her point of view â&#x20AC;&#x201D; is a fundamental part of loving oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s neighbor. At the same time, a vulnerable and

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empowering step, a radical shift in perspective, opens the door to discovering new truths and learning to care and advocate for others in humility. It is a step in the path blazed by Christ’s incarnate love.

waking and going to bed with the Nicaraguan sun, discovering the warmth of Russian hospitality in the middle of a cold winter, or understanding the difficulties of a small non-profit working amongst the wealth and power of Washington, D.C.

Service-learning projects help plunge students into elements of society where even their homestays may not lead them.

Samuel Pirondi, a Messiah College student who participated in the China Studies Program in Spring 2008, explained the nature of this indelible imprint: “When you come in touch with [people of] a different culture, you see the reality of their humanity, and they are not strangers anymore, but simply brothers and sisters who grew up in different environments.”

Matthew Erdel, from Bethel College (IN), partook in the Uganda Studies Program in the fall of 2007. During his service-learning work with street children in Uganda’s capital city, Kampala, he led the children in a discussion about forgiveness. They all expressed a willingness to forgive those who had wronged them: parents who abused them, policemen who beat them, peers who stole from them. “If ever I am tempted to harbor anger and withhold forgiveness from someone,” said Matthew, “I seem to remember those poor kids in Kampala. Their willingness to forgive in very difficult circumstances melts my heart.”

“I think, in general, the students who study in Russia come away with a very close bond to Russia,” said Sara Tanney, a Nyack College graduate who participated in the Russian Studies Program in Fall 2005. “It goes deeper than nostalgia.”

Similar tenacious bonds root all BestSemester students to their host countries and the brothers and sisters they meet there. More than nostalgia, truly being on the inside of a different culture sparks transformation in students’ hearts and — eventually — in the world.

The marks left by BestSemester immersion experiences don’t rub off easily — learning tough lessons from suffering children,

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USP

Uganda Studies Program

BIKE OR CAR? What’s the best way to travel in Uganda?

(Hint: One requires converting dollars into shillings. The other just needs two wheels and two feet.)

hese days, the bicycle is fast approaching a peak in popularity.

Across college campuses and even busy city streets, it’s often the bike that’s getting the environmentally aware and the gasoline-price-oppressed from place to place.

In the United States, when the pump prices hit four dollars a gallon during the summer, we pulled out the tennis shoes. For students in the Uganda Studies Program, when gas prices hit 2,300 shillings a liter, we pulled out the calculator.

How do the costs of automobile travel in East Africa compare to the rising costs we have come to know in America?

The current cash exchange rate in Uganda is roughly 1,600 shillings to the dollar. While this can be a luxury for the BestSemester students who join the Uganda Studies Program, there is certainly a learning curve when it comes to correlating expenditure. A plate of chips (French fries) for 1,000 shillings comes out to about 60 cents. However, a liter of gasoline for 2,300 shillings is roughly the equivalent of $4.50 a gallon.

Petrol prices in Mukono, Uganda, are at a nearly intolerable high. USP students, studying at Uganda Christian University in Mukono, can recognize the strain of price hikes by observing how the locals in town choose to get around. Where there aren’t crowds on foot, there are packed taxi buses. Bicyclists battle with boda-bodas

(motor bike staxis) for what little room there is on the roads. Everyone is looking for a ride to share.

“The petrol prices vary from town to town,” he said. “Driving around a 76-liter tank, it’s almost impossible to fill up regularly.”

While bikes and boda-bodas may not be an option for the students in Uganda, the popular walk into town and a trip on foot from campus to Mukono always provide for intriguing sight-seeing and cultural encounters. From street vendors selling roasted maize and flatbread to the school children in brightly colored uniforms on their way home, a trek on the red dirt roads of Mukono is always a sensory experience.

It is conditions like these that keep locals like Vincent from doing much personal driving. The streets of Mukono are ever bustling with taxis and carpoolers, bicycles and pedestrians.

But what about student travel beyond the borders of their campus town?

The USP travels often during the semester abroad. Nearby destinations such as Rwanda, Jinja, and Soroti offer valuable insights and experiences. However, they also offer many long and bumpy hours in a bus. These bus trips, while filled with road-trip games and iPod headphones, have felt the burn of the worldwide gasoline crisis. Right now, 20,000 shillings (nearly twelve dollars) won’t buy the USP van a quarter of a tank.

Vincent Mujuni, the USP driver, points out that Mukono is actually one of the cheaper districts when it comes to petrol prices. With that being the case, one can only imagine the extent to which the crisis of fuel reaches in East Africa.

But while high prices call for footing from campus to market and back again, they do not call for cancelling trips. The travel that is part of the Uganda Studies Program is indispensable in what it has to offer. Rather than let those opportunities slip away, there is instead a new focus on increased efficiency.

Students become experts at packing light, (one backpack per trip, please!) and sharing resources. All of which contribute to the ultimate goal of the Uganda Studies Program.

Community. Relationship.

After all, what could be a better recipe for camaraderie than 37 backpacks, two packed buses, 12 hours on the road, three bathroom breaks, two rolls of toilet paper, and one bottle of shampoo to go around?

It sure beats bicycling to Rwanda.

By Annie F. Carter

The Uganda Studies Program is located in Mukono, Uganda. Learn more about the semester at www.BestSemester.com/usp.

www.BestSemester.com/usp

Spring 2009

25

OSP Oxford Summer Programme

BEYOND THE SHIRE Take the High Street out of town to experience another part of Oxford.

By Kami L. Rice

xford. Whoa. Just saying it (or writing it) sends shivers down the spines of those who love learning.

The centuries of lore associated with that sacred name rarely distinguish between the University and the town it is in. A sojourn to the town reveals an unexpected story, though. The University and its town are not one and the same, as declared by gentle signs noting that visitors aren’t allowed inside the hallowed walls of many of Oxford’s colleges. And just as it can be challenging for townspeople to experience life behind those walls, so it can be challenging for students to experience life outside the books and tutorials, the papers and the thinking-of-great-thoughts of those centuries of lore.

26

BESTSEMESTER.COM

But when they do, they discover rich opportunity indeed.

According to Andy Cox, a senior from Southern Nazarene University and a Fall 2008 participant in The Scholars’ Semester in Oxford, taking part in non-academic life is essential for learning British culture.

One of Andy’s primary engagements has come in the form of football (the kind known as soccer to Americans). He was part of the Wycliffe Hall team and was surprised when, for example, a play-by-play recap of games was e-mailed out to students following matches — because people care about it.

“Through football culture, I’ve been able to gain insight into British culture,” he explained. “I had no idea of the passion they had. It’s shaken my impression of the British as austere. They’re still deeply passionate, just not about the same things as Americans.”

Andy noted that it’s incredibly easy to be insular and only hang out with other Scholarship & Christianity in Oxford (SCIO, as the Programmes in Oxford are referred to across the pond) students. In one instance, he’d made plans to attend a lecture with a SCIO cohort, but that person was unable to make it after all. As a result, he met some British and Canadian students he wouldn’t have met if he hadn’t been on his own — students he reconnected with at another lecture.

One of Quinn Harr’s forms of cultural engagement during the Fall 2008 semester was church. Harr, a Calvin College senior, attends an Assembly of God church back home in Michigan. When he checked the denomination Web site for a church in the Oxford area, he found Cornerstone Christian Centre in nearby Headington.

“It’s a very friendly church. I’ve never been to a friendlier church,” he said of the congregation of about 90 people representing approximately 20 different nations. His second week at the church, he was invited to the home of a 70-some-year-old British couple for lunch. “It felt very British, like I’d always imagined it,” he said. “That’s been my most authentic taste of Britain.”

www.BestSemester.com/OSP

SSO Scholars’ Semester in Oxford

On Sundays, Quinn made a habit of exploring Oxfordshire’s countryside via its bike paths. That’s how he discovered the village of South Hinksey with its pub, village hall, church and about 20 houses, some with thatched roofs. “I’d forgotten to take my map, and I got totally lost,” he explained. “I was glad I didn’t have my map with me because I wouldn’t have gone there [if I’d had it].” One of his favorite bike ride activities was spotting locals doing “local things,” like looking at the announcement board outside South Hinksey’s village hall, and asking to take their picture. Midway through the semester, other SCIO students began joining his rides, often adding a picnic.

Courtney Weller, a junior from Messiah College, and Haley Ward, a University of Sioux Falls junior, found their extracurricular activities through the annual Universitysponsored Freshers Fair, where all the student organizations connected with Oxford attempt to woo new members. Courtney says she thought people were kidding about there being clubs for every interest, but at the Freshers Fair she learned they weren’t kidding at all. “I kind of signed up for everything because I have a hard time saying no,” she admitted. She settled into regular involvement with just a few of the

opportunities she signed up for: the History Society, a service organization called Raise and Give, Christian Vision, horse riding and Scottish dancing. That was enough to keep her plenty busy. Haley threw in her lot with the Revelation Rock Gospel Choir and with the University Dramatic Society.

“I had no idea of the passion they had. It’s shaken my impression of the British as austere. They’re still deeply passionate, just not about the same things as Americans.”

“Obviously, I’m here to study and get the experience of Oxford, but, beyond the studying, I’m here to experience the whole thing,” said Haley, also describing her regular visits to University Parks, with its trees, walking paths, pond and soccer tournaments. “For people who live in Oxford, it’s one of their favorite places to go. I love walking through it every day.”

Both Andy and Haley recommend engaging Oxfordshire by leaving it, taking advantage of its proximity to travel destinations near and far. At the recommendation of a professor, Haley traveled with other students by bus to Stratford-upon-Avon for what she describes as a “monumental” production of Hamlet.

Cox and Ward were also among a group of SCIO students who took advantage of RyanAir’s cheap fares for a last-minute, 12hour visit to Dublin. And Andy made the trip to nearby London numerous times as well as visiting Norwich in eastern England; Avignon, France; and Paris. He had more travel plans in the works for the second half of the semester.

To students studying in any of the crosscultural BestSemester programs, Andy enthusiastically encourages, “Get involved in something that’s outside of your studies, that’s part of the culture you’re visiting.”

The Oxford Summer Program and the Scholars’ Semester in Oxford are located in Oxford, England. To learn more about the Programmes in Oxford visit www.BestSemester.com.

Photo Illustration includes photos by Amber Shadle, SSO, Fall 2006; Matthew Farber, OSP, Summer 2005; Heather Knowles, OSP, Summer 2006; Rachel Weaver, OSP, Summer 2006

www.BestSemester.com/SSO

Spring 2009

27

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China Studies Program

TAI CHI: AN ACT IN MAINTAINING BALANCE AND HARMONY uring the opening ceremony at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, martial artists performed the 13 steps of tai chi in unison, emphasizing the tension of continual balance in nature and humanity.

For many westerners, the opening ceremony — and the Olympics in general — were an introduction to China and to this ancient practice.

Those coming to China as students will fi nd how intertwined the practice of tai chi is with daily routine.

“I think tai chi helps students to learn more about Chinese culture,” said Heather Carleton, a graduate of Geneva College and the program assistant at the China Studies Program. “It doesn’t take much effort to fi nd Chinese people practicing tai chi outside in the morning.”

Tai chi has been offered since the program’s beginning in 1999. As an elective course, students learn tai chi for the first half of the class and wushu, another martial art that developed from different tai chi forms, for the second half.

Tai chi originally developed in 12th century China as a practice of self-defense without the use of weapons. In Mandarin, t’ai chi ch’uan literally translates to “supreme ultimate fist” or “boundless fist.”

The ideology of the supreme ultimate is consistent with both Taoist and Confucian Chinese philosophies and represents the

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fusion of two opposite forces to create one balanced movement. Accordingly, movement in tai chi relates to yin and yang, a philosophy that for every yielding motion there is a forceful motion that balances it. In tai chi, students move their bodies in slow, relaxed and graceful movements, either alone or with a group.

The movements are made up of routines, or forms, some of which are named for animals or birds. For example, “White Crane spreads its wings” is a movement where the student places both arms bent above his or her head. In its simplest forms, tai chi uses 13 standard movements. Students learn 24 forms, while an 81-form style is used in national competitions.

While tai chi appears to be a simple movement of the arms and legs while practicing different body postures, it can be difficult to do without accurate teaching and instruction. Carleton said the CSP course is always taught by knowledgeable Chinese tai chi instructors who have competed in national competitions.

“Tai chi is a way to mentally rest from the day’s distractions, just like playing the piano,” Carleton said. “It is also a good way to maintain flexibility and balance, but it is easier on your joints than many other ways of exercising, such as running. Tai chi is a way of life; a way to stay healthy physically and mentally.”

By Mimi Wiggins Perreault

The China Studies Program is located in Xiamen, China. Learn more about the semester at www.BestSemester.com/csp.

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MESP

Middle East Studies Program

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SIGHT FOR THE BLIND The ministry of touch and compassion helps residents to dig out of the Garbage City.

By Kendra Langdon Juskus

n September 6, 2008, the international community got a glimpse of a neighborhood that, although home to over 1.2 million people, has remained virtually invisible to the world since its establishment in the 1950s and ’60s. When a massive rockslide from Cairo’s Muquattam cliffs crushed part of the impoverished community of Manshiyet Nasr, killing nearly 100 people and demolishing the homes and livelihoods of thousands of others, the area’s residents were fi nally acknowledged by the rest of the world — for a moment, at least.

Many of these residents are Christians.

In the ’50s and ’60s, both poor Muslims and rural migrant Coptic Christians established homes on and around limestone cliffs on Cairo’s outskirts. Today, Manshiyet Nasr is more commonly recognized by its other name: Garbage City. Its Christian residents make a living from systematically sorting through and selling Cairo’s refuse as part of a recycling process. And while the neighborhood has streets, homes, businesses, a large degree of freedom and a tight sense of community, it operates without infrastructure or support from the government.

But Garbage City is not invisible to everyone. Middle East Studies Program (MESP) students have been doing servicelearning projects in Manshiyet Nasr for years, and some students have even lived in the community in homestays.

“Emotionally, this is one of the hardest service endeavors for MESP students,” said Dr. David Holt, MESP director.

Students participate at this service-learning site through a well-established ministry in the area. The Sisters of Charity is a service location founded by the Catholic order of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Following the example of Mother Teresa’s work in India, the Sisters in Manshiyet Nasr provide residents in the area with a humble ministry of touch and compassion. Operating with limited resources and in a difficult location, the ministry serves three main groups of people: the elderly, infi rm, and mentally handicapped; young babies from families who cannot adequately care for them; and handicapped children from families who

cannot afford — in the absence of state assistance — to provide for them.

“In the end,” explains Dr. Holt, “this ministry reflects the presence of angels on the earth…and proof that they get exhausted.”

The Sisters’ work is that of simple touch and comfort, and it is often heartwrenching. Some individuals die in their care. Others will never progress or become healthy. But the Sisters offer a safe haven for those who have no home and provide for those who have no caretakers. And the MESP students who are privileged to participate in this ministry of compassion have their lives and perspectives on the world radically changed.

“The only reason I chose the Middle East Studies Program,” said Nathan Bramsen, a North Greenville University graduate who did MESP in spring 2004, “was due to the service opportunities and, specifically, the chance to work at the children’s home in Garbage City. Now, four years after MESP, I am working full time in the region, developing and implementing programs for underprivileged children, largely due to my experience with this project.”

They see, as Jesus does, the value of the world’s invisible.

Bramsen’s organization, ROCK International, now connects privileged international high school students with the handicapped children the Sisters care for, providing an avenue for those children to receive occupational therapy. But while the children are cared for, the high school students — like the MESP students who participate with the Sisters of Charity as part of their service learning — also receive an immense blessing from the experience.

They see, as Jesus does, the value of the world’s invisible.

To read more about the people you’ll meet along the way, visit www.BestSemester.com/mesp.

Manshiyet Nasr, otherwise known as Garbage City, has been home to both Muslims and Coptic Christians since the 1950’s.

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RSP

Russian Studies Program

ENGAGING RUSSIA’S ‘CURSED QUESTIONS’

By Kami L. Rice

eading works by the Great Russian writers while sitting in Russia, tasting its food, learning its language, befriending its people and experiencing the way its history informs its present infuses life into literature known for its melancholy and makes clear its relevance to and beyond today’s Russia.

reality when they begin to participate, with their Russian peers, in the way history and suffering shape daily Russian life.

Russia, draws literary fans the world over.

Aleksandr Pushkin, Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Maksim Gorky and Mikhail Bulgakov. Pushkin, recognized as the most outstanding Russian poet, is essential to understanding Russian culture. Literary giants Tolstoy and Dostoevsky defi ne 19th century Russian culture, while 20th century masters Gorky and Bulgakov help explain the convulsions Russia and the Soviet Union experienced during the most recent century. Beyond these core studies, students each choose a tasty dessert, as Wagler described it, of one more work of Russian literature to read and discuss independently. This gives students the opportunity to explore some of Russia’s other literary treasures.

They further experience it when they worship in an Orthodox Church service that engages all their senses and discover the way the history, the suffering, and the aromas of worship “inspire people to fear the Creator, love nature, and accept reality without unseemly quarrels.”

Wagler noted that most RSP students have not previously read Russian literature, which “enhances the delight of a new discovery.” Still, students who have already ventured into Russia’s classics “discover that reading literature in Russia gives a much different flavor.”

The fictional characters will become more memorable as you gain friends called by these same Russian names. The literature’s cities will become your cities, too, as you walk their streets and learn their rhythms.

And you’ll discover why Russia’s writers inevitably point to the nation’s Orthodox Christian culture for answers to the “cursed questions,” as Dostoevsky called them.

Harley Wagler, director of the Russia Studies Program (RSP), said, “RSP students can experience the palpable reality of an author’s work when they stand beside the desk where Dostoevsky wrote one of the greatest chapters in world literature, ‘The Grand Inquisitor’; or when they view the table where Tolstoy worked, who, with his failing eyesight, had sawed off the legs of the chair; or when they see the graffiti on the stairwell of Bulgakov’s famous Apartment #50.” Students also experience that palpable 32

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During the semester in Russia, students read five seminal Russian authors:

Elizabeth Hanna, SP staff The statue of famed poet Aleksandr Pushkin in St. Petersburg,

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The literature’s cities will become your cities, too, as you walk their streets and learn their rhythms.

Studying a nation’s literature is an important element of cultural study. As Wagler said, good writers are more able even than good historians to “distill the essence of national culture and make it palatable, even though their art may at times be ‘bitter.’” Reflecting the history of a people who have suffered constant foreign attacks and invasions in their thousand years of existence, Russian literature’s unique melancholic cast is come by honestly. But the literature also shows how suffering has driven them to treasure the Incarnation of Christ, who is the centerpiece of their Orthodox culture.

“Some of the greatest Russian writers have wonderful humor,” adds Wagler, “but the laughter sounds through tears.”

Russian authors have traditionally been seen as prophets. A Pushkin poem memorized by every Russian elementary school student characterizes this prophetic calling as it

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essentially paraphrases Isaiah 6. According to Wagler, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitri Medvedev frequently use literary quotes and folk sayings in their speeches, underscoring the impossibility of understanding contemporary Russian politics and international behavior without knowing Russian literature.

Most Russian works are grounded in an historical epoch, but Wagler said that, paradoxically, that’s what gives them universality. Russia’s story is the human story. As Wagler explained, “God always stands behind the curtains of the drama, and sometimes — depending on the author — makes a cameo appearance on stage.”

The Russian Studies Program is located in Nizhni Novgorod, Russia. Read more about Russia at www.BestSemester.com/rsp.

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Since 1906, Educating Students for Christian Ser vice and Leadership Throughout the World

ABILENE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY Graduate School

Laura Barnard, LASP administrator

LEARNING THE KUNA WAY For many LASP students, experiencing Panama through the eyes of excluded indigenous groups like the Kuna Yala proves to be a transformative experience.

A mola, or a quilted shirt, is a unique characteristic of Kuna culture. Using geometric patterns and sometimes shapes of ďŹ&#x201A; owers and animals, Kuna women sew molas to sell to tourists and to help preserve their indigenous culture.

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Latin American Studies Program

hen I first saw Argelis, I remember thinking how beautiful she was, and how tiny,” recollected Northwestern College (IA) graduate Kadie Becker, describing her Kuna Yala mother. During the 2008 spring semester, Kadie and her classmates in the Latin American Studies Program’s Advanced Language, Literature and Culture Concentration, like students for the past six LASP semesters, wrapped up the course with a visit to Kuna Yala, an autonomous region in Panama composed of 365 islands.

Through studying various cultural artifacts, students in the course get to know Latin American culture from the perspective of its excluded people groups. During their six-day stay with the excluded indigenous group living in Kuna Yala, students experience firsthand the things they’ve been studying.

“In the LASP curriculum, we had done readings on indigenous groups and how many have been exploited and treated unjustly,” Kadie explained. “In Panama, the Kuna have a different story from many indigenous groups as they have reached a higher level of autonomy than other groups. The Kuna also take a different route than other groups in that they are not secluding themselves from the outside world in order to maintain their way of life, but are practicing discretion in what influences they bring to the island.”

“I sat with them, in practical silence, enjoying their presence, soaking it in…soaking in the sun, the dust, the smoke from the kitchen hut.”

She says this is why the LASP group is so grateful to be not just allowed to visit, but also warmly welcomed into Kuna life.

Living with families is one of the most significant aspects of the stay with the

Laura Barnard, LASP administrator

LASP

Kuna Yala, part of an archipelago of 365 islands, has been an autonomous region since 1930.

Kuna people. One of Bluffton University graduate Jenny Mierau’s favorite memories from her experience in the region during the fall semester of 2005 was her conversations with her host dad.

“He spoke Kuna, Spanish and some English.

He was one of only a couple people on the island who knew any English. He learned it from American tourists while working at the Galapagos Islands. I taught him more English, and he taught me more Spanish and Kuna,” Jenny said.

Reflecting on the days on the island in Spring 2008, Kassondra Broihier, a student at Evangel University, wrote in her journal: “The food wasn’t what I was used to, but I ate it because it was what the Kuna ate and my Kuna mom cooked it for me. I bathed more than usual because it was what the Kuna people did. I sat with them, in practical silence, enjoying their presence, soaking it in…soaking in the sun, the dust, the smoke from the kitchen hut.”

Kadie left Kuna Yala with “deep questions about my worldview and if it was a healthy one or should be maintained,” explaining, “I’m not saying we all need to live like the Kuna, and the Kuna aren’t saying that either. The Kuna are living a life that works well for them, that was shaped long

ago by geography and such. But, I feel we would only benefit from seeking out the wisdom they have to offer.”

Jarret Roloff, a student at Olivet Nazarene University, visited Kuna Yala during the spring of 2007 and said it was humbling to see people living so simply who were yet so generous, bestowing gifts upon gifts upon him and other students before they departed. Seeing the Kuna live off of what they have introduced him to simpler ways of life that seem infi nitely less stressful than typical American life.

Kadie, Jarret and Jenny have all said they would love to make a return visit to their island families and perhaps bring their regular families along, too. Said Becker, “I would love to go back to Ustupu and sit and listen to the women sing hymns and play with my cousins and let Argelis dress me up Kuna-style with their beautiful molas and eat avocados and fish. I would love to see what they would teach me this time.”

By Kami L. Rice

The Latin American Studies Program is based in San José, Costa Rica. Learn more about the semester at www.BestSemester.com/lasp.

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ASC

Australia Studies Centre

POSING FOR AN EXPRESSION A sketch is more than lines on a page — it’s a formation of a self. he man sitting in the chair is named Hank.

This beautifully simple drawing of Hank is the work of Trevor Hotten, an Australian artist and the head of Graphic Design at the Wesley Institute in Sydney, Australia. This sketching was a fi nalist for the Dobell Prize, Australia’s most prestigious award given to contemporary artists in the country.

“Trevor was great. He made sure that we had fun with our sketching and gave us room to be imaginative and to have our own style. I learned that you can’t be too worried about being perfect or your drawings turn out to be a bit stale.”

“It is a wonderful honor to be selected to hang in this country’s highest prize for drawing, and it’s also a credit to the Art Gallery of NSW [New South Wales] to recognize drawing as an art form in and of itself,” said Trevor. “The Dobell Prize should encourage young people with a passion to draw to have the courage to frame and exhibit their work.”

Trevor also teaches several graphic design and drawing classes for students wanting to study art during their semester at the Australia Studies Centre.

“To me, there is nothing more interesting than people, particularly people who seem to have lived rich and diverse lives.”

“I’ve heard it said, ‘Good art invites, agitates, and exposes.’ While some prefer understated art, I try to get the attention of the viewer with dramatic lighting, then intrigue the viewer to think about the story behind the subject drawn. To me, there is nothing more interesting than people,

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Melanie Hotten Trevor posing with his sketch at the Art Gallery of NSW as part of the Dobell Prize for Drawing exhibit.

particularly people who seem to have lived rich and diverse lives,” Trevor said.

Drawing a picture of another person is more than just getting the eyes and ears correct; it’s drawing personality, emotion and context. It’s more than just a portrait.

It’s an expression.

Studying art and trying to be a working artist means learning how to use light, color and composition in ways that convey what you’re trying to express. Art is an expression, and most important, it’s about expressing the individual and unique style of each creator.

In addition to the drawing component, living in Australia is a continual up-close encounter with some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world. Learning how the Heidelberg School took Impressionist ideals and created some of the first realistic paintings of the Australian landscape helps in seeing how modern art teeters on the artistic tightrope of showing the world as it really is and how the world looks to the artist.

Similarly, Aboriginal dot art not only portrays the starkness of the sky, but how indigenous cultures engaged and continue to engage with modernity.

Look again at the sketching of Hank. What do you see? What is being expressed? If you can come up with some answers, then Trevor has done his job.

By Mike Plunkett

“I have had some previous experience with drawing, but Trevor’s Drawing IV gave me a creative space to express myself unreservedly,” said Tara Quinn, a 2008 ASC student from Eastern University.

The Australia Studies Centre is located in Drummoyne, Australia, just outside of Sydney. Learn more about the semester at www.BestSemester.com/asc.

Spring 2009

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BESTSEMESTER PROGRAMS You’ve read the stories; now you want the details. What does each program offer?

How many credits will I receive? Do I live in a hut or in a dorm? Read on.

AMERICAN STUDIES PROGRAM Since 1976, Washington, D.C., has been a stimulating educational laboratory for the American Studies Program. Participants explore pressing national and international issues in public policy seminars led by ASP faculty and Washington professionals. The aim of the program is to help Council schools prepare their students to live faithfully in contemporary society as followers of Christ.

Students earn 16 semester hours of credit and live in the Dellenback Center in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, exactly eight blocks from the Capitol. Service-learning opportunities are bountiful throughout the District and a crucial piece of learning about the culture of Washington and D.C. The internship is essential to the process. Work for a senator, think tank or action-based non-profit, whatever fits best into your particular track and interests.

AUSTRALIA STUDIES CENTRE Since Spring 2004, the CCCU has partnered with the Wesley Institute in Sydney, Australia, to offer the Australia Studies Centre.

Throughout the semester, students study theology, global justice issues affecting Australia, indigenous cultures and the arts.

Every student is required to take a course about religious, political, economic and cultural issues in Australia, as well as a course about indiginous history, cultures and identity.

Additionally, students choose electives in theology/ministry, music, drawing/graphic design, dance and/or drama. Homestays, service-learning and travel around Australia are important components of the ASC. Students observe Australia’s beautiful landscape, live in the cosmopolitan melting pot of Sydney, connect with the poor of Sydney’s multicultural ghettos, and engage the political capital Canberra and its power players. Students also come to know the traditions of Aboriginal people during an Outback excursion and spend the last week of each semester traveling to New Zealand to meet with Maori people.

ASC students earn 16-18 semester hours of credit, with campus approval. Due to visa requirements, getting a passport is required before fi nishing the application process.

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CHINA STUDIES PROGRAM The China Studies Program enables students to engage China’s ancient history and intrigue from an insider’s perspective.

While immersed in Chinese culture, students participate in seminar courses on the historical, cultural, religious, geographic and economic realities of this strategic and populous nation.

Students choose between completing a broad Chinese Studies Concentration or a Business Concentration. Students also study standard Chinese language and apply their skills by serving in an orphanage or tutoring Chinese students in English. The program begins and fi nishes the semester in Hong Kong and introduces students to the diversity of China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an and Xiamen.

This interdisciplinary, cross-cultural program enables students to understand the unique culture and people of China with an informed, Christ-centered perspective. Students earn 16-17 semester hours of credit. Due to visa requirements, getting your passport is required before fi nishing the application process.

CONTEMPORARY MUSIC CENTER The Contemporary Music Center provides students with the opportunity to live and work in the refining context of community while seeking to understand how God will have them integrate music, faith and business. The CMC offers three tracks: Artist, Executive and Technical. The Artist Track is tailored to students considering careers as vocalists, musicians, songwriters, recording artists, performers and producers.

The Executive Track is designed for business, arts management, marketing, communications and related majors interested in possible careers as artist managers, agents, record company executives, music publishers, concert promoters and entertainment industry entrepreneurs.

The Technical Track prepares students for careers in live sound, concert lighting and studio recording. Students within each of the tracks receive instruction, experience and a uniquely Christ-centered perspective on creativity and the marketplace, while working together to create and market a recording of original music. Each track includes coursework,

labs, directed study and a practicum. Students earn 16 semester hours of credit. The CMC was founded on the concept of the artists’ colony, so students live and work in Martha’s Vineyard, MA.

LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES PROGRAM Based in San José, Costa Rica, the Latin American Studies Program introduces students to a wide range of experiences through the study of the language, literature, culture, politics, history, economics, ecology and religion of the region. By living with local families, students become a part of the day-to-day lives of Latin Americans. Students also take part in a practicum or internship. Students participate in one of four concentrations: Latin American studies (offered both Fall and Spring terms); advanced language and literature (designed for Spanish majors and offered both Fall and Spring terms); international business (offered only in Fall terms); and environmental science (offered only during Spring terms). Depending on their concentration, students travel to nearby Central American nations including Nicaragua, Guatemala and Panama. Students in all concentrations earn 16-18 semester credits with campus approval.

LOS ANGELES FILM STUDIES CENTER Founded in 1991, the Los Angeles Film Studies Center trains students to serve in various aspects of the fi lm industry with professional skill and Christian integrity.

The curriculum consists of two required seminars, Hollywood Production Workshop and Theology in Hollywood, focusing on the role of film in culture and the relationship of faith and work in this very influential industry.

In addition, students choose one elective course from a variety of offerings in fi lm studies. Internships in various segments of the fi lm industry provide students with hands-on experience. The combination of the internship and seminars allows students to explore the film industry within a Christian context and from a liberal arts perspective.

Students earn 16 semester hours of credit and live in the Fairfax District in Los Angeles.

MIDDLE EAST STUDIES PROGRAM Based in Cairo, Egypt, the Middle East Studies Program offers students a unique opportunity to explore and interact with the complex and strategically important world of the modern Middle East. Students explore diverse religious, social, cultural and political traditions of Middle Eastern peoples through interdisciplinary seminars. They also study the Arabic language and may work as volunteers with various organizations in Cairo. Through travel in the region (typically Israel, Jordan and Turkey), students are exposed to the diversity and dynamism of the local culture. At a time of tension and change in the Middle East, MESP encourages and equips students to relate to the Muslim, Eastern Christian and Jewish worlds in an informed, constructive and Christ-centered manner. Students earn 16 semester hours of credit.

RUSSIAN STUDIES PROGRAM The Russian Studies Program strives to give students a broad learning experience in the largest nation in the world. RSP students are exposed to the depth and diversity of Russian culture through encounters with the Federation’s three largest cities: Moscow, St. Petersburg and Nizhni Novgorod. Students are offered three seminar courses (entitled History and Sociology of Religion in Russia; Russian Peoples, Culture and Literature; and Russia in Transition), and receive instruction in the Russian language, choosing either four or six semester hours of language coursework.

For those choosing four hours of Russian, a seminar course, International Relations and Business in Russia, is available. The majority of the semester is spent in Nizhni Novgorod (Russia’s third-largest city). Students live on the campus of Nizhni Novgorod State University while they complete intensive language-learning and live with a host family in the second half of the semester. Additionally, students complete course requirements in Moscow, the heart of both medieval and modern Russia, and St. Petersburg, the Russian “window to the West.” Students earn 16 semester hours of credit. Due to visa requirements, getting a passport is required before fi nishing the application process.

SCHOLARS’ SEMESTER IN OXFORD The Scholars’ Semester in Oxford is designed for students who want to study intensively and to a high standard. Students develop their academic writing and research skills and explore the disciplines and interests

of their choice. As Visiting Students of the University of Oxford and members of Wycliffe Hall, students study in the oldest university in the English-speaking world. SSO students enroll in a primary and secondary tutorial, an integrative seminar (or thesis, in the case of second-term students), and the British landscape course. Students group their work in a concentration so that all elements of their programme work together. SSO is designed for students interested in classics, English language and literature, theology and the study of religion, philosophy and history, though all majors may apply. Applicants are generally honors and other very high-achieving students and must have a 3.5 GPA to be considered for the programme. Students earn 17 semester hours of credit for a semester and may complete two semesters of the programme.

UGANDA STUDIES PROGRAM The Uganda Studies Program provides students with both immersion in a local community and broad exposure to a variety of people and places in Uganda and Rwanda.

Students in the Uganda Studies Emphasis (USE) live on campus at Uganda Christian University (an international affi liate of the CCCU) in Mukono, Uganda, sharing their lives with university students from Uganda and other parts of Africa. Students in the Intercultural Ministry & Missions Emphasis (IMME) live with host families within walking distance of the university. All USP students take classes from UCU professors and share meals with UCU students. These relationships give students a fi rsthand perspective as they explore issues such as poverty, aid and missions, and as they seek to reconcile the realities of East Africa with their Christian faith. Students also spend time in Rwanda and rural Uganda.

In addition to the core experiential course, students will choose from an approved selection of courses from the UCU curriculum to earn up to 16 hours of credit.

WASHINGTON JOURNALISM CENTER The Washington Journalism Center is a semester-long study program in Washington, D.C., created for students interested in the field of journalism. While in Washington, students take classes focusing on their personal writing skills and on the history and future of the media. These classes — Foundations for Media Involvement; Reporting in Washington; and Washington, News and Public Discourse — combined with an internship at a top news publication help students learn to integrate

their faith in a journalism career. Students also participate in service-learning opportunities as part of the WJC experience. Students earn 16 semester hours of credit and live in the Dellenback Center in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.

OXFORD SUMMER PROGRAMME The Oxford Summer Programme allows students, as affi liate members of Wycliffe Hall, University of Oxford, to do intensive scholarship in the oldest university in the English-speaking world. During the five-week programme, students hone their research and writing skills, and delve into the areas that interest them most while exploring the relationship between Christianity and the development of the British Isles. Seminars and tutorials are given on specialized topics under expert Oxford academics in the areas of English language and literature, history (including the history of art and the history of science), philosophy, and theology and the study of religion. The programme is structured for applicability to rising college sophomores, juniors and seniors, graduate and seminary students, non-traditional students, teachers and those enrolled in continuing education programs. Students earn six semester hours of credit.

Two more of your questions Who on campus can help me prepare for a BestSemester program?

Each college or university designates a main contact person on its campus. To identify the main campus contact at your school, visit www.BestSemester.com/campuscontactlist.

This contact person can also help answer your questions about program costs and how to apply.

How are academic credits granted?

Visit www.BestSemester.com. The “Academics” and “Courses” sections for each program contain detailed information — including syllabi for most courses, which are helpful in determining the applicability of credit.

Spring 2009

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BestSemester This is one great ride.

Take one semester to study off campus for a learning experience that will challenge your thinking, broaden your horizons and strengthen your faith.

Culture Shaping

Culture Crossing

Engage with popular culture and public life through off-campus study that shapes culture.

Study abroad to better understand and engage your place in God’s world.

• American Studies Program (Washington, D.C.)

• Australia Studies Centre (Sydney, Australia)

• Contemporary Music Center (Martha’s Vineyard, MA)

• China Studies Program (Xiamen, PR China)

• Los Angeles Film Studies Center (Los Angeles, CA)

• Latin American Studies Program (San José, Costa Rica)

• Washington Journalism Center (Washington, D.C.)

• Middle East Studies Program (Cairo, Egypt) • Programmes in Oxford (Oxford, England)

Important Dates

• Russian Studies Program (Nizhni Novgorod, Russia) • Uganda Studies Program (Mukono, Uganda)

Applications for the Oxford Summer Programme: March 1 (Early Admission: January 15) Applications for the Fall Semester: April 1 (Early Admission: February 2) Applications for the Spring Semester: October 1 (Early Admission May 1) Visit your off-campus study coordinator for more information, or visit us online at www.BestSemester.com Warren Pettit, CMC director