Northwestern College students will head around the world this summer on four-week study abroad trips led by NWC faculty and staff.
The growing program set two records this year—for the most trips and most participants. Nearly 70 students signed up for courses in Ecuador, Germany, Great Britain, India, Tanzania and Thailand.
Rick Clark, a Northwestern Spanish professor born and raised in Ecuador as the son of missionary parents, will lead the trip to that South American nation. Students will study Spanish, learn about Ecuadorian society and culture, live with host families, and travel into the Amazon jungle to conduct a Vacation Bible School program with the Huarani tribe.
German language, culture and history are the focus of a course taught by Dr. Michael Kensak, a professor in the English and foreign languages departments. Along with daily German language classes, students will study German consumer habits and lifestyle choices, the country’s Gothic cathedrals and art, and attitudes toward the environment and American foreign policy.
Theatre professors Dr. Bob Hubbard and Karen Barker are leading a course that examines British culture through art and theatre. Students will attend up to 10 theatre productions and visit as many as eight museums in London. They will also live with English families in Worcester and visit Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare.
Students traveling to India will study the social structures and religions of that country. In addition to visiting a juvenile home, orphanage, and women’s training center, they will spend time with an audio Scripture ministry and attend classes at the Christian Counseling Center in Vellore. Psychology professor Dr. Jennifer Feenstra and Barb Dewald of the college’s campus ministry department are teaching the course.
Northwestern nursing students will travel to Tanzania with Dr. Ruth Daumer, chair of the nursing department. The cross-cultural experience—required as part of Northwestern’s nursing major—will include an introduction to Tanzania’s health services; visits to Selian Lutheran Hospital, rural clinics and an orphanage; and opportunities to observe health teaching in villages.
Education professor Derek Brower and his wife, Joan, an adjunct art instructor, will lead the study abroad trip to Thailand. The Browers, who spent two years teaching at an international school in Thailand, will guide students in an exploration of Thai culture—from its language, religion and education to its food, market and artists.
Three Northwestern students are also enrolled in a study abroad trip to Korea offered by Dordt College, while a Dordt student is participating in the Northwestern study abroad course in Great Britain.
