GEOGRAPHY, GEOGRAPHERS, AND STUDY ABROAD

Few transformations of the American educational system have been as rapid and potentially profound as the proliferation of “study-, research-, and service-abroad” programs during the past two decades. From high schools, to community colleges, small liberal arts colleges, and large public and private universities, more students are traveling to more places for more reasons than ever before. During the 2006–2007 academic year, for example, more than 240,000 students at U.S. colleges and universities participated in some form of formal overseas educational experience, representing a 150 percent increase since 1995 (Institute of International Education [IIE] 2008). This recent enthusiasm for study abroad reflects sincere financial and programmatic commitments, not only among the leaders of higher education, but by the students and families who participate in these programs as well. Simply put, the goal is to broaden perspectives, promote international awareness, and better prepare students for the interesting times that are sure to follow. Although the Grand Tour has certainly not disappeared, it now competes for students among a myriad of overseas educational experiences, including international research projects, alternate spring break, thematicallyfocused programs ranging from anthropology to zoology, and traditional language-immersion programs. There are more tailored choices in more places and the duration of programs has also become more fluid, with options spanning several weeks to the traditional year abroad. Indeed, in order to accommodate students and their increasingly busy lives, shorter programs (of eight weeks or less) represent the fastest growing segment of overseas study (55.4% in 2006–2007 versus 40.5% in 1995–1996), while participants in programs covering a full academic year have declined from 12.1 percent to 4.4 percent during the same period (IIE 2008). The “shortening” of the experience not only alters the way these programs and places are perceived, but also how they are presented to students and parents. Furthermore, while the variety of potential destinations has increased significantly, the vast majority of students (45%) still attend programs in just four nations (United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, and France) (IIE 2008). As the articles in this collection demonstrate, the growing number and diversity of programs ostensibly respond to calls by educators, business leaders, and government policymakers to internationalize the nation’s students and workforce in order to better prepare graduates for the realities of a shrinking and increasingly inter-related world. Similar to support for alternative energy, it is difficult to imagine opposition to the lofty goals espoused by proponents from all quarters of what might be called the wide-world classroom. Still, given the proliferation of study abroad and the potential of overseas educational programs to provide life-altering experiences, it is perhaps reasonable and prudent to consider the implications of these trends and how academic faculty and administrators can improve both the programs offered and the experiences of participating students, partner institutions, and host communities. Given the importance of the topic, there has been considerable research related to internationalization and study abroad, including evaluations carried out by several national and international organizations, including the Institute for International Education, NAFSA: Association of International Educators,1 the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, and others. Unique to this edited issue, however, is a focus on the actual and potential contributions of our discipline of geography. Specifically, we charged participants in this collaborative effort to consider the role of geography, as an academic pursuit, in overseas study and to critically assess and, potentially, reconceptualize the role of the discipline within study abroad and the internationalization of higher education. Reflecting on their personal experiences, contributors to this special issue collectively reveal the unique contributions of geography and geographers to overseas study, including: the inner-workings and transformative potential of multicountry programs (Moline); how to integrate geography into traditional language-oriented programs (Jokisch); the challenges of doing geographic research and training undergraduate and graduate students in an international, multidisciplinary context (Bishop); how contrasting social, political, and economic contexts provide valuable “teaching moments” within overseas educational programs (Kolivras and Scarpaci); the inherent conflicts between the traditional demands of academia and the potential benefits of international service-learning and public scholarship (Taylor); the need for faculty and administrators to assess and mitigate the impacts of international educational activities in host communities (Schroeder et al.); and the dissonance between the dogma of strong globalization, which serves to justify study abroad, and the potential of overseas study to promote crosscultural understanding and an appreciation of difference (Biles and Lindley). From the outset, it should be noted that all contributors to this edited issue have devoted a significant portion of their careers to working with students in a variety of international contexts. Accordingly, they are active and enthusiastic advocates of overseas education efforts on their campuses and beyond. In fact, and perhaps not surprisingly, the majority of participants in this collaborative effort are themselves the “product” of study abroad, having taken