Leading a study-abroad trip for undergraduates can be a challenging endeavor for faculty chaperones. No one likes diving into the Seine to retrieve an intoxicated student.
Against this background, a recent Chronicle of Higher Education article offers excellent advice for professors who are about to embark on such an overseas journey (October 15th online). Here are six additional suggestions, based on University Life interviews with faculty members across the country with extensive excursion experience.
Language — For trips to non-English-speaking nations, make sure students know some basic phrases and sentences in the host country’s language so they can communicate crucial information. For example:
“How much weed can I buy with 50 euros?”
“Excuse me, but what I did is not a crime where I come from.”
“Do you know how important my father is?”
Assignments — Don’t burden your students with boring writing assignments during the trip. Instead of asking, “What was your favorite piece of furniture at Versailles — and why?”, request an essay on the 10 things about Parisians they find most annoying.
Goody Bags — In the tote bag you give students before they board the plane, include condoms that represent the colors of the host nation’s flag. For students who are not sexually active, or whose sexual preference renders condoms unnecessary, put in a few Twizzlers instead, so they don’t feel left out or stigmatized.
Self-Defense — Let’s be honest. Sooner or later, one or more students on the trip will get into a physical altercation with rowdy patrons at a bar or club who make the mistake of criticizing the United States. Take the time now to instruct them in the essentials of street fighting (e.g., how to use a ballpoint pen as a stabbing device; the art of precision biting; deploying piping-hot comfort food as a weapon). You owe them that much.
Diet — If you’re visiting a country where every main dish is cattle- or swine-based, vegan students are going to have a difficult time. Remind them that fasting for a week or more is a sacred practice that feeds the soul, and encourage them to drink lots of wine in order to forget that their body is hungry.
Religious Services — It’s fine to force non-Catholic students to attend Sunday mass at a Roman Catholic cathedral of historic importance, but you should draw the line at requiring them to receive Communion, especially if you suspect they’ve committed a mortal sin the night before.
Bon Voyage!