CIEE Study Centers
Spring 2004 Program Dates
Check our website for a comprehensive, updated list of start
and end dates for the Spring 2004 CIEE Study Center programs. Click here,
select “program dates” and then select “spring semester 2004” to view
the list.
Cost Breakdowns and Fall 2004 Fees
Fall 2004 and Academic Year 2004-05 CIEE Study Center
fees are available on the CIEE website as of Friday, December
12.
Cost breakdowns for Summer 2003, Fall 2003, Spring
2004, Academic Year 2003-2004 and Calendar Year 2004 are now
available as one comprehensive file on our website here.
Summer and Fall 2004 Bulletin
The Summer and Fall 2004 CIEE Bulletin, an update to CIEE
Study Center Catalogs, will be available on the CIEE website
on January 1. The Bulletin outlines significant changes to
summer and fall 2004 CIEE programs since the publication of
the 2004-2005 catalogs.
Student Recognition Awards
Khon Kaen, Thailand
Four students were honored with the CIEE 2002-2003 Student
Recognition Award at the Budapest Conference last month: Robin
Reineke, Sam El-Silimy and Allyn Steele from the CIEE Study Center
in Khon Kaen, Thailand, and Paula Eichenbrenner from the CIEE
Study Center in St. Petersburg, Russia. These exceptional students
not only excelled academically, but put their hearts and souls
into the community.
Read what David Streckfuss, Resident Director of
the CIEE Study Center in Khon Kaen, Thailand had to say about
his three students:
These three exemplified the best of "service learning" by
committing themselves, body and soul, to getting the struggle
of the Pak Mun villagers registered within the human rights community.
Through their work of documenting a violation of the political
and civil human rights of Pak Mun villagers on 18 September 2002,
and through their efforts to place the Pak Mun issue within a
framework of economic, social, and cultural rights, these three
students made a modest but significant contribution to this issue.
More than that, they made real connections with the Pak Mun villagers
and these connections helped them come to identify the struggle
of these villagers as their own.
One thing that was apparent to staff and other students
is that these three students, by giving this issue their all,
transformed through the process. They learned to work together,
to recognize each other's strengths, and to forgive each other's
weaknesses. Through their work, they learned about themselves,
their roles as concerned global citizens, informed themselves
about the importance of human rights, and through it all, helped
give voice to a group of villagers that have been fighting
for more than a decade to bring life back to the river on which
their lives, communities, and culture depend on.
Robin, Sam, and Allyn, at least for a time, sharing a
common destiny with the poor and oppressed, gave of themselves
so that the struggle of the poor could have a voice in larger
society. They learned skills and developed an awareness and
sensitivity for the silenced in society. They entered
into a vastly different world, a vastly different cultural
place. They were touched and moved by it, by the faces of the
elderly that were beaten, by the immensity of the struggle
of thousands of villagers that have fought to open the Pak
Mun dam gates.
And they acted upon it. In a short, four-month study
abroad experience, what more could we expect than this in creating "concerned
global citizens"?
Click here http://www.irn.org/programs/pakmun/index.asp?id=030122.violate.html to
read the article that appeared in The Nation.
St. Petersburg, Russia
Nathan Longan, Resident Director of our Study Center in
St. Petersburg, Russia wrote the following about Paula Eichenbrenner:
Paula Eichenbrenner asked last fall if there was
a social service project that she could work on. I pointed her
in the direction of one local American charity but after two
weeks she came back and explained that that particular organization
was too interested in her religious testimonials and asked if
I could find another organization. The other organization
is one that my family is associated with, a children's home called
House of Mercy. Ironically, this organization looks more explicitly
religious with icons in all the rooms and a chapel on the second
floor, but there is, in the best traditions of Orthodoxy, no
proselytizing; Paula had found the perfect fit for her energy. By
the end of the first week there she had made up for lost time,
had suggested and got the approval of the director for her Toys
for Tots campaign, and had pulled in other students to come and
volunteer their time at the home.
Paula’s work involved flyers, phone calls, meetings, and at
least one and most of the time more than one day a week at
the Home helping her "kids" with their homework, playing and
being a real big sister. I visited the home one afternoon
when she was there. The girls were simply enthralled with
Paula, and Paula was running from one project to another as
the girls called for help with their art (that day's activity).
Paula taught many people many things last fall. She taught "her
kids" things about kindness and art and math and love; she
taught her classmates and the other students about taking a
little initiative and making a good difference in the world. She
taught her teachers about grass roots traditions in America. She
taught her Resident Directors that American charities in Russia
aren't necessarily the best place to put American students
who want to do good things here.
And I think that Paula learned a lot, too. She learned
about gaining understanding, about acquiring knowledge and
developing skills to make a positive difference in our world.
Annual Conference
Budapest 2003
Thank you to all who attended the CIEE Annual Conference
in Budapest last month. The feedback we’ve received on sessions
has been very positive, as have overall conference
evaluations. However, we’d like as much feedback as possible as
we begin planning for 2004, so if you haven’t already sent in
your evaluation, please do so. You can fax it to 207.553.7699
or mail to CIEE, Conference Evaluation, 7 Custom House Street,
3rd Floor, Portland, ME 04101. Include your business card
(or a copy of it) and we’ll include you in a drawing for a free
registration to next year’s conference in Santa Fe. Evaluations
must be received by December 31 to be included in the drawing.
A comprehensive overview of the conference will be posted
to our site (www.ciee.org/conference) in
mid-December. Check back then for session handouts, plenary
speeches, and related information.
Propose a Session for Santa Fe 2004
It is time to start planning for the CIEE 2004 Annual Conference:
Closing the Circle, Creating an Enduring International Experience.
Join us next November in Santa Fe, a city influenced by local
Pueblo and Navajo cultures that regard time and life as cyclical
paths.
Propose a session related to continuing the student’s
international experience once home, alumni networks and re-entry
programming. If you have not already received the 2004 Call for
Proposals, you can download or order one here or
call us at 1-800-4-STUDY and we’d be happy to send you one.
Meet our New Resident Director in Perth,
Australia
The Resident Director of the CIEE Study Center in Perth,
Australia is Mr. Paul Hollick. Paul has worked with the CIEE
program in Perth since 2001 and has a wide range of experience
in the fields of tertiary and sports administration and recreation.
His work with CIEE has given him considerable experience in revealing
his native state of Western Australia to students from across
the U.S. Though he has lived most of his life in Perth, Paul
has traveled extensively in Europe, South East Asia, and the
United States. His degree in Environmental Science is just one
part of his life long commitment to the environment and all things
green. His other interests include football, rugby, camping,
water sports and all outdoor recreation. Click here to
learn more about the CIEE Study Center in Perth.
Meet Kelli Locke, Portland Staff
Enrollment Officer, Western Europe and Latin America
As an Enrollment Officer, Kelli Locke talks daily
with students who are applying to CIEE Study Center Programs
in Western Europe (excluding Spain) and Latin America. She reads
applications, accepts students to the programs and advises participants
as they get ready to depart. Kelli is integral in getting students’ paperwork
in order and counseling them about what to expect on their program.
Her previous experience as a Claims Representative for the Farmers
Insurance Group prepared her well for constant communication
with diverse groups of people – in this case, students, resident
staff, advisors and, sometimes, parents.
Kelli got her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University
of Maine in International Affairs and French. She studied abroad
at the Université du Mans in France and went on an exchange program
to Fivel College in the Netherlands. Kelli speaks French and
Dutch and is currently enrolled in a Spanish class - as her duties
in Latin America have expanded her language needs. She was excited
to return to her home state of Maine after a year in Connecticut
and currently she and her fiancé are busily planning their September
2004 wedding.