Around the World

All students arrived safely for their spring semesters at our three study centers across the world! They are jumping right into the culture of their new cities, exploring and making new friendships.

Students completed Orientation Week at OUA, “experiencing the beauty of this quaint Tuscan town,” as spring semester student Chelsea Horn put it. This semester welcomed the LARGEST group of students in OUA’s history – nearly 60 students, plus two from the University of Siena (UNISI). The new Kathleen and Francis Rooney Family Residential Learning Center is at full capacity and many students are participating in homestays with local Italian families. Additionally, almost 60 percent of these OUA students received a semester-long internship in Arezzo – also a new record!

OUP students began the semester with an invite to Anahuac University in Puebla, one of Mexico’s prestigious private universities. OUP’s Faculty in Residence, Dr. Charles Kenney, lectured about the recent presidential election in the United States and the associated international and domestic outcomes. Students also embarked upon a trip to Mexico City, Mexico’s capital and one of the LARGEST cities in the world with eight million residents and 20 million residents throughout its surrounding metro area. The trip highlights included visiting Templo Mayor, the Pyramids of Teotihuacan and the Castle of Chapultepec; taking in a local musical theater performance in Spanish and exploring other areas of the Mexican arts scene; and spending an unforgettable day at the US Embassy in Mexico City, where students met with members of the US Department of State on the topics of politics, economics, trade and safety.

OUR hosted a 12-day intersession focused on inequality, activism and global citizenship. Participants met with local activists to learn about their experience with the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio, particularly those who fought against community displacement from the Olympic Park construction – now an empty structure. This was a humbling experience for the students, who all gained a better understanding of government tactics used to execute an event the size of the Olympics and discovered how to be agents of change during times of adversity.