Learning Communities are predicated on linking inside-the-classroom teaching with outside-the-classroom experience.  This idea of ‘learning-by-doing’ is not only important for higher education, but is especially relevant at Villanova University, inspired by St. Augustine’s hope that “I may do what I learn and not just learn what to do.”

The Learning Communities Abroad Program (LCA) builds on these ideas by providing select members of the learning communities the unique opportunity to complement their classroom learning with a 6-7 week work placement in London or Madrid. Work placements will be based on students’ academic and personal interests, and will be embedded within the mandatory 3-credit course, Humanities 5950: Citizenship and Globalization

Core Courses

HUM 5950 will be taught by Dr. Bernard G. Prusak of the Center for Liberal Studies. This course will examine what it means to be a citizen in today's world and the obligations that come with this status. (See the syllabus for a much fuller description.) The aim of the course is to complement and to enrich the study-abroad experience, giving students the opportunity to prepare for, deal with, and reflect on the international experience. The course will be divided into three parts. First, the class meets weekly beginning after spring break until the end of the semester. Then, when students are overseas, the discussion shifts to the web. Finally, an intensive workshop/retreat will be hosted over Labor Day weekend of the following academic year, with the goal of helping students connect their abroad experience with the themes of the course. This course-structure thus seeks (like the learning communities themselves) to link learning inside the classroom with learning outside it.

Benefits of Participation

• Take a 3 credit Humanities course before, during, and after your abroad experience so that you thoughtfully prepare and process your international experience;
• Test career assumptions early in college through a 3-credit tailored international work placement:
• Stimulate greater intellectual curiosity for study abroad earlier in your college career, and provide time and financial savings for an additional period of study abroad during your remaining years at Villanova;
• Challenge pre-conceived notions of the world by being engaged in a foreign culture;
• Start building a resume which makes students more competitive for future employment.

Costs

Costs for the London and Madrid LCSA will be announced early-November, 2010. In both programs, costs include tuition, room, work placement, cell phone rental, travel passes, orientations, and airport pickup. In the case of the Madrid program, this cost includes two meals a day. Airfare is not included in either program.

Application Process

Each program location for the LCSA has a limit of 30 students. Therefore, students are encouraged to send a letter of interest to OIS@villanova.edu by Wednesday, October 14. Students will then be sent a full application that must be completed by Friday, January 8, 2010. Successful applicants will be notified the following week.

For Further Information

Feel free to email OIS@villanova.edu.