Providing Indiana University Kokomo students with international experiences makes them aware of the interconnected global nature of today’s world.
Offering students the opportunity to travel abroad and enhance the lessons they learn in the classroom creates enriching experiences that foster international awareness and understanding, and is an effective and dramatic experience for students to achieve international and intercultural learning.
IU Kokomo students currently have the option to study the complexities and aftermath of World War II in Berlin, Amsterdam, Normandy, St. Malo, Guernsey, and London; or examine the world of international business in the countries of Denmark and Sweden.
There are some additional courses still in the planning phase which may soon be offered. Be sure to check back!
This trip is directly connected to L384, On the Front Lines: World War II through Literature and Film. Students can register for the Spring 2023 course and trip beginning in Fall 2022. The travel dates for the trip are May 11-25, and will include stops in Berlin, Amsterdam, Normandy, St. Malo, Guernsey, and London. Between 10-20 travelers and two faculty members, Michelle Westervelt and Sarah Heath, are expected. The approximate cost per student traveler is $3,800 - $4,000.
The course will address the following goals:
The travel component will address these outcomes:
This program, led by Gloria Preece and Adam Smith, includes an 11-day trip to Copenhagen and Aarhus in the country of Denmark, and Almhult in the country of Sweden. Students can register for the Spring 2023 course and trip beginning in Fall 2022. The travel dates for this trip are May 23 – June 2. The approximate cost per student traveler is $3,300.
This trip is connected to a three credit-hour, cross-listed course: BUKO-C 566 Issues in International Management: Denmark and Sweden, and D496 Foreign Study in Business: Denmark and Sweden. This special topic, cross-listed graduate/undergraduate study abroad course will explore the most innovative and effective business strategies for developing positive social impact around the world.
The program will begin by introducing students to each of the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals, and will require each of them to identify one or more of the goals to address in a research project. Students will then travel to Denmark and Sweden where they will learn to develop strategies needed to create measurable social impact through sustainable business practices.
Applied learning will connect students with various managers in a range of sectors where they will hear about opportunities and challenges related to social impact. More specifically, students will explore the complexities of social and environmental issues and conduct an economic assessment to identify failures in various international systems and markets.
Students will conduct research for an integrative final project, which will require them to create a plan to drive environmental or social impact through the application of management and marketing principles.
Upon successful completion of this course, students will have gained the experience needed to promote, develop, and implement sustainable business practices to create social impact. Denmark was chosen for this topic, as it is ranked first in the Environmental Performance Index, which provides a quantative basis for comparing the environmental performance of over 180 countries. A one-day visit to Sweden is included, as faculty plan to bring students to the IKEA museum, where students will be introduced to several of IKEA’s sustainability initiatives.
If the trips offered appeal to you, take the next step in your education and apply now!
This program was initially built around sharing with students the experience of seeing how dementia is treated in a very unique way and grew to include the birth place of psychology and other modern experiences of psychological practice across the globe. Students were exposed to the different cultural, ideological and nuanced differences of delivering mental health both in the United States and abroad.
This team-taught, interdisciplinary course offered an overview of Irish historical and literary themes, including Irish national, cultural, and political identity, the relations sustained by people of Irish heritage worldwide, and a sweeping survey of Irish literature and history.
This upper-division course required a ten-day trip to Ireland and considered several important and interrelated questions, such as: In what ways did Irish history change over time? How does Irish literature reflect its national, political, and cultural identity? How does visiting the cultural, historic, and literary sites in Ireland enhance your understanding of the assigned materials in this course?
The broader goal of the course was to familiarize students with the environmental dynamics that arise when business activities transcend international borders. A variety of environmental dimensions - economic, financial, political, legal and cultural - were examined, with a major focus on the impact these factors have on various types of international business functional operations such as marketing, manufacturing, human resources, accounting and finance. Successful completion of this course should allow students to understand and appreciate the diversity and complexity of the global environment today’s businesses have to grapple with.
In addition to the overall goal stated above, the course explored aspects of international business management practices in Istanbul, Turkey. The course consisted of classroom sessions held in Kokomo during which students were given an orientation consisting of a discussion of the course syllabus and other resources, a lecture on Istanbul, Turkey given by a guest speaker from Istanbul, Turkey, and the logistics of the trip. During those sessions students chose a topic for their research paper, which will be the main assignment of the course.
Students concluded the course with a 10-day trip to Istanbul, Turkey during which they were provided opportunities to observe Turkish business practices. Students were also able to interview Turkish/Expatriate managers of businesses in Istanbul, Turkey.
This course covered highlights of Italian architecture, sculpture, and painting from ancient Rome through the Baroque period. It highlighted the art and architecture of Pompeii and the cities of Vesuvius from the Republic period, and the grand architecture of the Early, High, and Late Empires. The students studied the Byzantium cathedral in Venice and the Italian Gothic cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence with its Early Renaissance Baptistery doors. The stunning gold Gothic paintings of Cimabue, Giotto Di Bondone, and Duccio Di Buoninsegna were also studied.
The course also highlighted the Renaissance masterpieces of Sandro Botticelli, Michelangelo Buonarroti, and Raphael Santi, and explored the powerful realism and extravagance of the Baroque works of Caravaggio, Artemisia Gentileschi, Fra Andea Pozzo, and Gianlorenzo Bernini. As part of the course, the students traveled to Italy for a week-long exploration of Italian art, history, and culture. The works highlighted in the course content were studied first-hand in the churches, museums, and historical sites in Rome, Florence, Venice, Siena, and Pompeii.
Students traveled to Krakow and Warsaw in Poland, to observe a variety of Polish business practices, interview managers of businesses in Poland, and collect data for industry-specific projects. This class allowed students to explore a variety of environmental dimensions influencing business practices including economic, financial, political, legal, and cultural.
Students traveled to South Korea, visiting Seoul a city of about 11 million and Jeonju a city of about 500,000. Students visited Eastern medical facilities, participated in daily life activities and visited historical and cultural places of interest, including the Demilitarized Zone, Buddhist temples, and museums. This program is part of a long-standing exchange between IU Kokomo and Jesus University in Jeonju and our newer partner Sungshin Women's University in Seoul.
Indiana University Kokomo
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