Top, Florence, Italy.
Above, Jay Kimmel, senior in politial
science and international studies.
Founded in 1946, KU study abroad now sends students to more than 50 countries through 100 programs each year. KU Endowment helps with scholarships and program support.
During nine months in Tajikistan, KU junior Jay Kimmel bought vegetables at the bazaar, attended a bride’s pre-wedding ceremony with 50 middle-aged women, and picked up a new habit.
“There’s a gesture the men use when greeting others,” he said. “You place your right hand on your chest or abdomen and say, ‘Peace be upon you.’ Now, back in the U.S., when I say hello, I can’t help putting my hand on my chest. And people ask me if I have a stomach ache.”
Kimmel’s cultural immersion meant study, too: intensive language study through the American Councils for International Education. With the goal of a career overseas, he chose this off-the-beaten-track option from among dozens offered through KU’s Office of Study Abroad.
KU Endowment helped send Kimmel abroad with assistance from one of its six study abroad scholarship funds. Ten percent of study abroad participants get help from these scholarships, but that’s just one way KU Endowment supports study abroad.
It also helps build the range of options — so students like Kimmel can pursue their specific interests — through its Study Abroad Program Development Fund. The fund provides study abroad’s only flexible source of spending, said Susan Gronbeck-Tedesco, KU study abroad director. “We use it to send faculty to new sites to create new programs and develop existing ones,” she said. “For example, Jonathan Boyarin, professor of religious studies, was able to visit Lithuania to develop the Jewish studies options there. We want our programs to reflect KU’s academic programs, so students can use credits earned abroad toward their degrees.”
Gronbeck-Tedesco said decades of interest and support from faculty and administrators have contributed to study abroad’s success. Kimmel himself learned about the possibility of going to Central Asia from a professor.
“Once I knew the opportunity was there, I got excited about it,” he said. The wealth of study abroad options available is one of the factors that help make KU a world-class university.