When OSU’s International Degree program went on indefinite hiatus in 2011, word spread fast among former students and faculty. The consensus: The International Degree is an invaluable experience for OSU students, and needed to be revived.
After several years of advocacy from ID alumni and OSU faculty on behalf of the program, students will be able to enroll in the International Degree program in fall 2019. It will be housed in the World Languages and Cultures program within the School of Language, Culture and Society.
“My participation in the International Degree was a deeply formative experience,” says CLA alumnus Joe Bergeron, who lives in Portland and is focused on education, advocacy and nonprofit work. “The advanced Spanish language skills, along with study abroad experiences in Latin America, opened my mind in ways I had not anticipated when I was a high school student in Bend applying to OSU in 1993.”
Bergeron was among a group of International Degree alumni that emeritus professor Ray Verzasconi called upon to propose improvements to the program. Among them were more scholarship funding, especially for students who cannot afford to be abroad for an entire term, certificate options for students who cannot travel, and a greater network of students throughout OSU who crave international experiences.
“Although the program will be housed in CLA, it will be open to students throughout OSU,” says Bradley Boovy, an assistant professor in SLCS and the future director of the International Degree program. “Students in any discipline will gain a critical edge through global learning and engagement.”
Adrienne Livingston was one of those students. A double major in business and the international degree, she studied in Denmark and Ecuador while at OSU in the ‘90s. She now works as the director of anti-sex trafficking initiatives at WorldVenture, an organization that employs 500 people in 633 different countries. Her focus is educating churches about sex trafficking prevention as well as ending the demand.
“The travel opened my eyes to the world,” she says. “Now, with world issues and how they are today so many people want to get involved. No matter what the degree, the international experience will help them take their work to the next level.”
For more information about the International Degree, contact: [email protected].