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YSU students will take a trip around China in 30 days
YOUNGSTOWN
Beginning June 1, some Youngstown State University students will embark on the $5,400, 30-day trip through China.
From Yanqing to Beijing to Lhasa and back to Shanghai, about 16 students in the Geologic and Human History of Tibet course are participating.
They will join Felicia Armstrong, associate professor of environmental science and environmental science graduate program director of the Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences; and Ray Beiersdorfer, associate professor of geology; in what Beiersdorfer calls a “life-changing traveling experience.”
“Where we will be traveling is a continent-continent-collision zone,” Beiersdorfer explained. “All of the geologic features are exposed. There are all different rock types, faults, folds, glaciers and other erosive features and students can see parts of the earth’s mantle that are now exposed.”
Beiersdorfer said China’s mountainous landscape provides students opportunities to see different types of rock formations and geological processes they may not see elsewhere.
Despite the beautiful sightseeing, he said students are always reminded that the trip is a course – and he holds true to enforcing academic standards.
“[Students] have readings to do, answer questions on Blackboard – quiz questions – and videos to watch,” Beiersdorfer said.
He added that students are required to keep a field journal every day to record a number of different topics they will be prompted to write about.
Nathan Myers, YSU associate provost for International and Global Initiatives, said the cultural aspect students best benefit from is “a sense of perspective consciousness.”
“[Perspective consciousness] allows students to reach outside themselves, realize and experience that not everyone sees the world the way they do,” he said. “When students have the opportunity to spend time embedded in a culture not of their own, it’s good not only for their career, but also for them personally.”
Myers commended Beiersdorfer as “a real leader in terms of giving YSU students opportunities to connect their professional knowledge with a deep cultural knowledge.”
He added that between 150 and 175 students travel overseas each school year, and YSU has a goal to “expand those opportunities.”
The cost for 30 days is $3,930 plus international airfare, about $1,200. There also is a study abroad fee of $45 and a Chinese visa for $234.
The YSU Foundation recently established a Global Scholars Program fund for students in need of financial assistance to enable them to have experiences such as this trip.
For information about the Global Scholars Program, contact ysuf@ysufoundation.org or 330-941-3211.
For information about the trip, contact Beiersdorfer at 330-941-1753 or rbeiersdorfer@ysu.edu.